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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: scientific study

scientific study stories: 139 news summaries

1 - 20 of 139 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 7 Next >>

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shark alert

On Calif. Coast, Great Whites Lurk Closer Than You Think

Turns out they winter off beaches, in 'Frisco Bay

Nov 4, 09 11:48 AM CST
(Newser) - The great white shark population in the eastern Pacific Ocean has a more regimented migratory schedule than previously thought—and one which brings the predators much closer to shore than was previously believed. Researchers in California tracked 179 great whites over 10 years, using acoustic tags and satellite info. Rather... More »

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California • San Francisco • shark • Pacific Ocean • migration • Hawaii • scientific study • great white shark • coastal waters

 Biased? 
 Harvard 
 Wants to Know 

Web test tries to suss out implicit prejudice via picture exercise

Nov 1, 09 5:57 AM CST
(Newser) - Do you have a subconscious love of gays—or hatred of white people? There's an app for that. Actually, it's a website that's part of a study by Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington . “Project Implicit” gathers personal information, then puts you through a... More »

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Internet • Malcolm Gladwell • racism • University of Washington • website • University of Virginia • bias • scientific study • Harvard University • prejudice

eye of the beholder

 Men Prefer 
 'Normal' Weight Women 

Pictures of faces give info about subjects' health, too

Oct 29, 09 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Celebrity culture and body image issues aside, women of “normal” weight are by far the most attractive to the opposite sex. College-age men asked to rate headshots of their counterparts judged women in the normal weight range more attractive. “This sends a strong message to all the girls... More »

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women's health • fat • weight • overweight • scientific study • underweight • thin • attractive

 Curry Spice Kills Cancer Cells 

Chemicals in turmeric turn cancerous cells on themselves

Oct 28, 09 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Curcumin, a compound present in that yellow curry spice turmeric, has been shown to kill cancer cells. A new study found that the chemical, which has long been thought to have curative properties, begins to kill esophageal cancer cells within 24 hours of application. The reaction also causes the cells... More »

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Iraq • medical research • medication • scientific study • esophageal cancer • scientific research • curry • cell death • curcumin

 Multitasking Causes 
 Serious Brain Drain 

Constant switching of focus is inefficient, can lead to trouble

Oct 26, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Multitasking isn’t helping you do anything faster, and constant exposure to multiple electronic media makes people really bad at—multitasking. “When you’re pushing yourself to perform two or more tasks, especially complicated tasks, it’s not beneficial,” a researcher tells the Boston Globe . “It’s... More »

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brain • multitask • texting • scientific study • cognitive overload • multitasking • electronic media • concentration

 Women Getting 
 Shorter, Heavier 

They'll lose 1 inch and gain 2 pounds by 2409

Oct 21, 09 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Humans are still changing, and the female winners of the evolutionary crapshoot will be shorter and heavier down the line. A new study that tracked the motherly productivity of the slim-and-tall set alongside their squatter peers concludes that a lower center of gravity will win out in the end, and... More »

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evolution • women • menopause • childbirth • human • scientific study • medical study • women's issues • inherited traits

Men More Likely to Abandon
Sick Partners

Seven times as many women stay when serious illness strikes

Oct 15, 09 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Relationships fail seven times more often when illness strikes the female partner than when it strikes the man. Researchers don't know why, but theories abound: “There is an immediate shift in a relationship when an illness is diagnosed,” a counselor tells the Times of London. Gender roles... More »

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cancer • divorce • disease • women • men • marriage • multiple sclerosis • chronic illness • gender roles • relationship • scientific study • medical study • terminal illness

h1n1 outbreak

Swine Flu Turns Critical With Deadly Speed, Taxing ICUs

Sickest H1N1 patients deteriorate rapidly, studies say

Oct 12, 09 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Swine flu can turn from mild to critical extremely rapidly, with the sickest patients needing to be moved to intensive care only a day or so after being admitted to the hospital, new studies show. The worst cases have the potential to overwhelm health care facilities in the event of... More »

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Canada • influenza • academic research • scientific study • swine flu • H1N1 virus

 Half of US Babies Will See 100 

Upward life expectancy trend shows no signs of slowing

Oct 2, 09 10:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - More than half of the children born today in wealthy developed countries will live to see their 100th birthday. New research coming out of Denmark also suggests life expectancy in general has increased dramatically as medicine and diagnosis of diseases afflicting the elderly have improved. Since the 1950s, the BBC... More »

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medicine • elderly • Europe • life expectancy • Denmark • lifespan • developed countries • scientific study • babies

 Fossil Find 
 Shakes Up 
 Evolution 
 Timeline 

Ardipithecus ramidus lived in trees and walked upright

Oct 1, 09 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A primate fossil found in Africa in 1994 predates the famous “Lucy” skeleton by 1 million years and offers clues to human evolution, researchers say. “This is huge,” a paleoanthropologist tells the Washington Post. “This is the biggest discovery really since” Lucy. The researchers believe... More »

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Africa • evolution • archaeology • paleontology • fossil • chimpanzees • Lucy • primates • scientific study • Australopithecus • Ardipithecus ramidus

(Newser) - Women may be more “selective” daters, but that distinction could well be based not on innate personality but on social norms and the simple prospect of which gender is doing the pursuing. A new study had subjects participate in a few rounds of speed dating. When the males approached... More »

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gender • women • men • dating • romance • speed-dating • scientific study • selectivity • social mores

 How Thin People 
 Make Other People Fat 

New study shows we mimic habits of those whose bodies we aspire to

Sep 29, 09 11:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Existing research suggests those trying to control their food intake should avoid dining with hefty companions with heaping plates. Not quite, says a new study. While the "I'll have what she's having" effect was confirmed in this experiment with college-age women, it was much more pronounced if the person... More »

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obesity • psychology • eating • portions • scientific study • thin • fashion model • aspirational

 Spanked Kids 
 Have Lower IQs 

Offspring of hands-off parents test better: scientists

Sep 25, 09 12:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - American children whose parents use spanking for discipline have lower IQs than those who aren't spanked, a new study finds. Researchers assessed about 800 2- to 4-year-olds and 700 5- to 9-year-olds and revisited them 4 years later, reporting a dropoff of up to 5 IQ points in kids whose... More »

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parenting • children • discipline • scientific study • spanking • corporal punishment • babies

(AP) - Being fat could become the leading cause of cancer in women in Western countries in the coming years, say European researchers. Being overweight or obese accounts for up to 8% of cancers in Europe. That figure is poised to increase substantially as the obesity epidemic continues, and as major causes... More »

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cancer • obesity • Europe • women • obesity epidemic • fat • estrogen • hormones • scientific study • medical study

Lather, Rinse, Disinfect the Showerhead

But even bleach may not kill stealth bacteria invading your bathtub

Sep 14, 09 4:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - The showerheads of America are crawling with bacteria that can cause pulmonary disease in people with weakened immune systems, LiveScience reports. Around 20% of showerheads tested for a new study held significant levels of Mycobacterium avium, which can be suspended in air when water flows and be inhaled deep into... More »

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water • bacteria • scientific study • medical study • contaminants • lungs • pulmonary disease • showerhead • Mycobacterium avium

 Nighttime Snacks  
 Worse Than We Thought 

Mouse study shows weight gain more than doubles on opposite schedule

Sep 5, 09 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Eating when you should be sleeping—the proverbial midnight snack, say, or the meals of night-shift workers—could put you at higher risk of obesity, Time reports. A new study fed two groups of mice the same high-fat diet on opposite schedules; the group that ate during “normal”... More »

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obesity • hormones • eating • scientific study • circadian rhythms • lab mice • midnight snack • chemical imbalance

 Climate Change Reverses 
 8 Millennia of Arctic Cooling 

Temps, up 2.2 F Since 1900, Would Be 2.5 Degrees Cooler Without Greenhouse Gases

Sep 3, 09 4:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Summer temperatures in the Arctic have climbed 2.2°F since 1900 despite an 8,000-year cooling trend, the Guardian reports. For the past few thousand years, the orbit of the Earth and the changing tilt of its axis has put the Arctic 630,000 miles further from the... More »

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climate change • environment • greenhouse gases • global warming • Arctic • temperature • Sun • orbit • scientific study • Arctic sea ice • cooling

 Obesity May Shrink Your Brain 

Study finds cognitive regions smaller in obese elderly

Aug 24, 09 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Important cognitive brain regions are smaller in older obese people than fit ones, scientists have found. Shrinking brains are tied to dementia, so the discovery fuels the notion that obesity can raise the risk of the cognitive disorder, New Scientist reports. In a review of 94 brain scans, subjects with... More »

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obesity • dementia • cognitive decline • overweight • scientific study • brain scans

New Heroin Addiction Treatment? Heroin

Scientists caution that controversial treatment has its downsides

Aug 23, 09 11:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Medical heroin may be effectively used to treat heroin addiction, Canadian scientists have discovered, but their dramatic findings may be railroaded over political and financial concerns, ABC News reports. Injectable diacetylmorphine, the active ingredient in heroin, resulted in 67% less illegal activity and illicit drug use after one year when... More »

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drug addiction • heroin • scientific study • methadone

(Newser) - We may have Erik Satie to blame for hold music—the composer “developed a very cynical attitude” toward a distracted listening public and decided modern music would be more like a chair than an intellectual pursuit—but the science behind it is state-of-the-art, Newsweek reports. Studies on the... More »

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music • science • business • composer • telephone • scientific study • hold • Erik Satie

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