Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Student Test Scores Suffer from Even Subtle Background Noise
According to research on third- and fifth-grade classrooms presented at the 162nd meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), fifth-grade students were found to have lower reading test scores...
Green Blog: On Our Radar: Smog Dispute in Beijing
Residents of Beijing want to know why the Chinese government's air pollution readings differ from those of the American Embassy.
Fighting violent gang crime with math
Mathematicians working with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns have designed a mathematical algorithm to identify street gangs involved in unsolved violent crimes -- the first scholarly...
Calif. said failing in science education
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- California, a symbol of scientific excellence, is failing to invest enough time, money and training to teach science, teachers and administrators say.
Findings offer new clues into the addicted brain
What drives addicts to repeatedly choose drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overeating, gambling or kleptomania, despite the risks involved? Neuroscientists have pinpointed the exact locations in the brain where calculations are made...
Psychological traumas experienced over lifetime linked to adult irritable bowel syndrome
The psychological and emotional traumas experienced over a lifetime -- such as the death of a loved one, divorce, natural disaster, house fire or car accident, physical or mental abuse...
Sister's eulogy reveals Steve Jobs' family life and final moments
Mona Simpson's eulogy for her brother Steve Job has grabbed attention online for its intimate recollection of their time together, and the painfully frank details of his illness. Could you...
Zombies never die—because we love 'em
Halloween is a popular time for zombie activity, but even when the pumpkins are gone and the witch costumes are put away, the zombies will keep on marching.
Gates dismisses Steve Jobs' criticism
Microsoft co-founder downplays stinging criticism by Jobs in new biography
China hits back over US claims of satellite hacking
Foreign ministry spokesman accuses US commission of ulterior motives over claim that government satellites were targetedChina has dismissed allegations that it may have been responsible for hacking US satellites as "not worth a...
Most migrant sex workers are not forced to sell sex
Most migrants working in the London sex industry do not feel they are forced to sell sex. In fact, they decide to work in the sex industry to achieve a...
Barking mad: the weird world of pet ownership
With a new book claiming that animals have strategies for coping with grief, Matt Thomas wonders why we anthropomorphise our pets. What's the most indulgent thing you've done for your pet –...
Solar Panel Makers Cry Foul
Trade: U.S. companies complain of market dumping by China
Montel Williams: Israel leads in medical marijuana
(AP) -- Emmy Award-winning television personality and patient activist Montel Williams said Sunday he was impressed with Israel's liberal attitude toward medical marijuana, and he believes the U.S. could...
Hackers threaten Mexican drug cartel
An internet video threatens Mexico's Zetas drug cartel with exposure of its allies in the local police and news media unless the gang frees a abducted member of the international...
Homo Stupidus
You are in a game with one hundred other players. They don't know you, you don't know them, and you can not communicate with any of them. The game is...
Dopamine release in human brain tracked at microsecond timescale reveals decision-making
A research team led by investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has demonstrated the first rapid measurements of dopamine release in a human brain and provided preliminary evidence...
Letters: Gamete consultation
Rachel Pepa (Letters, 27 October) hit the nail on the head when she wrote that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has "set the UK back on the road to the commercialisation...
Pass notes No 3,069: Sally Morgan
The celebrity psychic has been invited to prove that her powers are genuineAge: 60.Appearance: Both bubbly and down to earth, according to her website.I'm getting a picture of a hot-air balloon straining against...
Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed
Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts,...
As Is Well Known About Elliptic Orbits
When we teach, and even communicate with people whom we assume to belong to some sort of common circle with ourselves, we simply assume that our audience knows or at...
Daniel Kahneman: How cognitive illusions blind us to reason
Why do Wall Street traders have such faith in their powers of prediction, when their success is largely down to chance? Daniel Kahneman explains how cognitive illusions skew our thinkingMany decades ago, I...
Getting Our Mad On: Saturday Morning Trolling; Feeling Community
It's always a little surreal to see a new comment in the email on an old article. The older the article is, the stranger it is, especially when the comment...
Schizophrenia: 100 years of bad treatment | Rachel Whitehead
A century after the term 'schizophrenia' was coined, life for people living with the illness is still stuck in the dark agesImagine for a minute what life might have been like if...
'Gossip Girl,' other CW shows coming to Hulu
(AP) -- Current-season shows on The CW including "The Vampire Diaries" and "Gossip Girl" are coming to Hulu.
This column will change your life: inspirational quotes
Self-help books are brimming with the inspiring words of Nelson Mandela… But did he really say those things?This is the story of one of the most popular inspirational quotations in the history of inspirational...
Happy Halloween from PumpSci!
Pumpkin Science (Night) Susannah F. Locke From all of us here at Popular Pumpkin Science, have a happy, safe, mischievous, drunken, costumed, candy-gorged, family-friendly, slightly illegal, well-meaning and in some...
Press Rules and Logistics
Applying for credentials Media credentialing for Harvard College Class Day and Harvard University Commencement is presently closed. If you have questions about press access to either event, please contact Harvard Public Affairs &...