Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Why Musicians Make Us Weep And Computers Don't
Music can soothe the savage breast much better if played by musicians rather than clever computers, according to a new study. Neuroscientists looked at the brain's response to piano sonatas...
Brain activity encodes reward magnitude and delay during choice
Good things may come to those who wait, but research has proven that humans and animals actually prefer an immediate rather than a delayed reward. Now, a study published by...
Psychiatric genetics: The brains of the family
Does the difficulty in finding the genes responsible for mental illness reflect the complexity of the genetics or the poor definitions of psychiatric disorders? Alison Abbott reports.
Avatars As Communicators Of Emotions
Current interactive systems enable users to communicate with computers in many ways, but not taking into account emotional communication. A Ph.D. thesis puts forward the use of avatars or virtual...
Money makes the heart grow less fond... but more hardworking
Money is a necessity: it provides us with material objects that are important for survival and for entertainment, and it is often used as a reward. But recent studies have...
More sex please, we're 70
Men and women in their early seventies are having sex more often and enjoying it more than their counterparts three and four decades ago, according to a Swedish study published...
Male kidneys for men only?
The gender of donor and recipient plays a larger role in kidney transplants than previously assumed. Female donor kidneys do not function as well in men - due to...
Weight Gain In Adolescent Girls: Role Of Internet, Alcohol And Sleep
Girls moving through adolescence may experience unhealthy levels of weight gain, but the reasons for this are not always clear. In fact, many potential causes of weight gain are easily...
Do we think that machines can think?
When our PC goes on strike again we tend to curse it as if it was a human. The question of why and under what circumstances we attribute human-like properties...
The first autism disease genes
The autistic disorder, a neurodevelopmental disease first described in 1943, represents a challenge for treatment and a puzzle for research. Alongside Asperger syndrome, a milder form of the disorder, autism...
Sex Really Does Get Better With Age (Just Ask A 70 Year Old)
An increasing number of 70 year olds are having good sex and more often, and women in this age group are particularly satisfied with their sex lives, according to a...
Male Cyclists Risk Sexual Problems If They Don't Choose The Right Bike
Cycling may seem like a healthy and environmentally friendly pastime, but men who choose the wrong bike could be heading for a range of sexual and health problems, including erection...
Sex at 70 better than ever before: Swedish study
Today's 70-year-olds are having good sex, and they're having it more often than 70-year-olds at any time in the last 30 years, according to a Swedish study.
Fringe autism treatment could get federal study
CHICAGO (AP) -- Pressured by desperate parents, government researchers are pushing to test an unproven treatment on autistic children, a move some scientists see as an...
Court keeps cell tower backup rules on hold
(AP) -- More than a year after they were introduced, federal rules intended to keep cell phone towers operating during natural disasters remain in limbo.
Artists Get Creative In "Vomit Comet"
Three British artists tried to make art in zero gravity - one used a cat and a mouse for a performance piece - aboard an aircraft used to train cosmonauts,...
Why can`t I learn a new language?
Adults, even the brightest ones, often struggle with learning new languages. Dr Nina Kazanina in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bristol explains why.
Older workforce requires variety of recruitment strategies
Employers globally are facing challenges and needs posed by baby-boom generation employees. A new Penn State study of 208 U.S. employers found a wide range of strategies used to recruit...
Keeping Text Messaging Bills In Check
Recent price hikes are making it tougher, but CNET's Natali Del Conte had tips to help you, on The Early Show.
FTC wants to end tar-nicotine statements
WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is proposing rescinding statements concerning cigarette tar and nicotine yields that are based on a 1966 test.
Uganda pilots scientist–MP 'shadowing scheme'
The Uganda National Academy of Science will trial a new pairing scheme where scientists shadow MPs and vice versa.
Splendid Oscillation
A few weeks back we looked at the phenomenon of resonance with oscillating metronomes. As a follow-up to that meditative and Zen-like video, we've included a crystal-clear demonstration of that...
Does a gene variant make women more prone to alcoholism?
A particular gene variant might make women more susceptible to alcoholism. At least, a study carried out by the Universities of Bonn and Sweden's Karolinska Institute makes this a plausible...
Pet Owners Favor McCain Over Obama
If the presidential election goes to the dogs, John McCain is looking like best in show.
Failure Of The First Attempt At Assisted Reproduction Justifies At Least One Additional Cycle
Research into the effect of age and the number of times women undergo assisted reproduction technology (ART) shows that for younger women, the overwhelming majority achieve a pregnancy within the...
IVF Does Not Increase Risk Of Developmental Disorders In Children
Couples who need IVF in order to become pregnant can be reassured that this will not lead to developmental problems in early infancy, a Dutch researcher told the 24th annual...
Vitamin D and diabetes: An over-simplified solution to a complex problem
Confusion often comes about in science and the reporting of science when you try to find a simple solution to what increasingly looks like a complex problem, writes Stephen Strauss
Personal Health: In Act 2 of Life, Doing Work That Matters
After retirement, so-called encore career possibilities are endless and they can be both lucrative and personally fulfilling.