 Humans
30 January 2012
Ankle gets top rating for scratching pleasure
American itch boffins have been studying which parts of the body produce the most pleasure when scratched. Their analysis of itch relief at different body sites and related pleasurability reveals the ankle to be a scratch-pleasure hotpspot...
23 January 2012
IQ plummets for women in social settings
A new study highlights the unexpected and dramatic consequences subtle social signals in group settings can have on individual cognitive functioning, especially for women...
20 January 2012
Say what? Ambiguity makes language more efficient
To avoid conversational confusion and optimize language, linguists argue that every word should have just one meaning, but a new study from MIT turns that notion on its head, showing instead that ambiguity in words actually makes language more efficient...
18 January 2012
Why gossip is good for you
Gossip has traditionally had a bad reputation, but a convoluted series of experiments carried out in the US have demonstrated the physiological benefits of gossiping...
13 January 2012
Researchers mull bacterium's link to autism
The bacterium Sutterella was found to be present at "remarkably high levels" in the gastrointestinal tracts of children with autism and scientists are pondering what the connection might be...
1 December 2011
Creative types more likely to cheat
While creativity helps people solve difficult problems, it also makes them more likely to cheat than less creative people, claims new research that suggests creativity increases a person's ability to rationalize their cheating...
1 November 2011
Boffins take aim at finance bubbles
US and European scientists have proposed two different methods for detecting finance bubbles, one analyzes verb and noun usage in financial reporting and the other throws some heavy mathematics at the problem. The verdict? There isn't a gold bubble but some recent IPOs look bubblish...
20 October 2011
Men 2% funnier than women
A University of California study has found that men are funnier (funnier ha-ha, rather than funnier peculiar) than women, but not by much, and probably not because it helps them find mates...
14 October 2011
Londoners lead in cell phone crap stakes
British poo boffins say that, on average, one-in-six cell phones is contaminated with fecal matter and that phones owned by Londoners were by far the worst, with nearly one-in-three contaminated with dangerous E. coli bacteria...
29 September 2011
Awfulness of poverty ensured global spread of class system
Ironically, it appears that the worst inequities of the class system were the reason they spread across the planet and destroyed more egalitarian cultures during the early era of human civilization...
16 August 2011
Is the quest for romance causing the gender gap in science?
Four new studies suggest that the goal of being romantically desirable is causing the persistent gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math...
27 July 2011
Scientists quantify critical-mass required for spread of ideas
If just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority, say cognitive scientists from the Rensselaer Institute. The findings have broad implications for the study of innovation, the spread of ideas and the movement of political ideals...
29 June 2011
War cheaper, more popular than ever
Far from the planet becoming more peaceful, the frequency of wars between states has increased steadily from 1870 by 2 percent a year. A new study argues that the rise in conflicts is being fed by economic growth and the proliferation of new borders...
20 June 2011
Chick-magnet pulling power confirmed
Driving a sports car makes a man more desirable to women, but only for uncommitted romantic flings and not as a marriage partner...
3 June 2011
The color red provides speed and strength boost
When humans see the color red, their reactions become both faster and more forceful. Most people are unaware of the color's muscle boosting effect, but a new study suggests it could give sportspeople the edge in activities in which a brief burst of strength and speed is needed...
27 May 2011
Radiation exposure impacting gender ratio
Analyzing data from population centers around normally functioning nuclear power stations, researchers have found that exposure to nuclear radiation leads to an increased percentage of male births...
26 May 2011
Happy men not sexually attractive to women
Men who date online may be inspired to update their profile photos after researchers discovered that women find pictures of brooding men sexier than smiling men...
11 May 2011
Study reveals how cops spot liars
The ability to effectively detect deception is a cornerstone of successful law enforcement, and now, the investigative interviewing techniques used by detectives and intelligence officers are available to everyone thanks to a new paper in the American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry ...
3 May 2011
Experiments reveal aggression to be a "manhood-restoring tactic"
Manhood is something that is difficult to earn and easy to lose; suggest experiments that also showed aggression as the preferred way for men to hold onto this precarious status...
29 April 2011
Scans reveal brain's in-built caste system
MRI scans reveal that people of higher subjective socioeconomic status show greater brain activity in response to other high-ranked individuals, while those with lower status have a greater response to other low-status individuals...
22 April 2011
Why are the happiest places also suicide hotspots?
The happiest countries (and happiest U.S. states) have the highest suicide rates, say an international team of researchers, who have pulled together a study that attempts to explain this seemingly paradoxical situation...
5 April 2011
Women: they don't make 'em like they used to
A study of 16th century European skulls has found that women are beginning to resemble men as differences in gender-associated craniofacial features become less pronounced over time...
22 March 2011
Men fueling plastic surgery boom
Statistics released this week show that more men are going under the knife to try and preserve their youthful looks. While cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in men were up only 2 percent overall in 2010, many individual procedures increased significantly. Facelifts for men rose 14 percent in 2010 while male liposuction increased 7 percent...
15 March 2011
Sex selection gender skew in East raises concerns
A preference for sons in China, India and South Korea combined with easy access to sex-selective abortions means that some provinces in China have 130 males for every 100 females, leading demographers to estimate that there may be a 20 percent excess of young men in the near future...
28 February 2011
Conservation scientists mull reconstruction of buddhas
Coordinated by UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a group of scientists is examining the debris left from the Taliban's destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas and considering whether reconstruction of the giant statues might be feasible...
10 February 2011
Testosterone: empathy killer
An administration of testosterone under the tongues of volunteers negatively affected their ability to "read" the minds of others, an indication of empathy. Interestingly, this effect is predicted by a fetal marker of prenatal testosterone and provides further support for the androgen theory of autism...
28 January 2011
Penile presence makes for abominable affairs
Men are more than twice as likely to continue dating a girlfriend who has cheated on them with another woman than one who has cheated with another man, say University of Texas bonk boffins...
11 January 2011
Masculinity trumps intelligence for ovulating women
How human sexual selection evolved is becoming clearer with new findings showing that women in their fertile phase are more likely to fantasize about masculine-looking men and that a man's intelligence has no effect on a female's choice of partner...
7 January 2011
Male sex drive watered-down with tears
When we cry, we send all sorts of emotional signals. But scientists now say that tears carry chemical signals as well, after they observed that merely sniffing a woman's tears reduced sexual arousal in men...
10 December 2010
Country boys boast bigger junk
A European study involving more than 6,000 white males has found significant differences in penis size when comparing urban and rural populations...
1 December 2010
Attractiveness a significant handicap for working women
A new research paper; "Are Good-Looking People More Employable?" found that a double standard exists where attractive men are much more likely to be successful in finding a job than good looking women...
22 November 2010
More of oxytocin's effects revealed
New experiments with oxytocin, known as the love hormone because of its importance in bonding between romantic partners and mothers and children, have shown it to have a profound influence on value judgments as well as feelings of well-being and our sensitivity to advertising...
16 November 2010
Consumers' brains muddled by zero
Why does a one percent credit card interest rate appear more attractive to consumers than a zero percent rate? A new study finds that consumers are often flummoxed when it comes to the concept of zero...
1 November 2010
Modern concerns echoed in ancient papyrus
The annual Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists contains some fascinating insights into what concerned ancient Egyptian minds; miracle medical cures, religious confusion, and monetary safeguards - involving cabbages...
6 October 2010
Top reasons for Facebook unfriending revealed
Researchers spend a lot of time examining how people form friendships online, but little has been known about how those relationships end, until now...
29 September 2010
Fizzy drinks titillate pain receptors
Scientists have discovered that the carbon dioxide in fizzy drinks activates the same pain sensors as mustard and horseradish, leading them to speculate that the consumption of soda is "a macho thing"...
17 September 2010
Placebo a turn-on for women
Many women with low sex drives reported significant increases in sexual satisfaction after taking a placebo, according to new research from The University of Texas...
23 August 2010
Could oxytocin levels identify high risk parents?
It was known that birth and lactation boost oxytocin levels in new mothers and now researchers have found a link between oxytocin in new fathers and the quality of interactions they have with their new offspring; an association, say the researchers, that could help identify high risk parents...
5 August 2010
Ovulating women buy sexier clothes
Ovulating women unconsciously buy sexier clothes, doing so not to impress men, say the researchers, but to outdo rival women during the handful of days each month when they are ovulating...
4 August 2010
Women more likely to bed men in red
Red is typically thought of as a sexy color for women only, but a new study suggests that the link between the color red and sex also applies to men...
7 July 2010
Romantic rejection triggers reward and addiction centers in the brain
The pain and anguish of rejection by a romantic partner trigger activity in the parts of the brain associated with motivation, reward and addiction cravings, according to a study that has implications for understanding why the feelings related to rejection can lead to stalking, homicide and suicide...
25 June 2010
Tactile sensations have profound effect on decision making
A comfortable chair makes a person more amenable to negotiation and a heavy clipboard makes a resume more substantive. Fascinating new research shows that we are heavily influenced by our sense of touch...
16 June 2010
Study suggests the war on drugs might really be a war on sex
Why is there so much heated argument about whether the use of recreational drugs is morally wrong? A new study suggests that the debate about drugs might really be about sex...
8 June 2010
Sexsomnia linked to illicit drug use
Nearly 1-in-10 sleep center patients report sexsomnia incidents and researchers say there is an association between sexsomnia and recreational drug use...
14 May 2010
Risky business and a woman's touch
Participants in a financial simulation were inclined to throw caution to the wind if a female experimenter patted them on the back, whereas similar patting from a male researcher had no effect...
23 April 2010
Sex appeal as important as education?
"Erotic capital" is the implicit but powerful commodity that can count just as much as educational qualifications in the labor market, politics, media or the arts, argues a new study...
13 January 2010
Poker paradox: the more hands you win, the more money you lose
Analyzing more than 27 million hands, a researcher has found that the more hands players win, the less money they're likely to collect – especially when it comes to novice players...
3 December 2009
Music and speech biologically linked
The musical scales that are most commonly used by composers are those that come closest to mimicking the physics of the human voice, say neurologists who claim that we understand emotions expressed through music because they mimic the way emotions are expressed in speech...
2 December 2009
Why women live longer than men
The difference in male and female longevity may be originating at the genome level, say Japanese researchers who suggest that the sperm genome has a detrimental effect on longevity in mammals...
26 November 2009
Meal times drive critical circadian rhythms
When you eat may affect your health as much as what you eat, say researchers who discovered that the body's critical metabolic functions are mostly controlled by food intake, and not by the body's circadian clock as was previously believed...
18 November 2009
Oscar Pistorius' artificial limbs provide "major advantage for sprinting"
Human performance experts say that the artificial lower limbs of double-amputee Oscar Pistorius give him a major advantage over his competition - lopping at least 10 seconds off the 400-meter sprint...
9 November 2009
Social behaviors revealed by finger length
Finger length ratio is a reliable predictor of how an animal will behave socially, say scientists who have been running the tape-measure over groups of primates...
6 November 2009
Gay or straight, the rules of attraction don't change
New experiments suggest that regardless of sexual orientation, men's brains are wired for attraction to sexually dimorphic faces - those with facial features that are most synonymous with their gender...
26 October 2009
Cleanliness next to goodliness
Experiments involving fairness and generosity showed that people in rooms which had been freshly scented with a cleaning product exhibited a dramatic improvement in ethical behavior. Such ethic-promoting scents, say the researchers, could have significant application in workplaces and retail environments...
6 October 2009
Pygmy puberty put under the microscope
A new hypothesis regarding evolutionary adaption in pygmies contends that their small body size is a side effect of early sexual maturity, where the body's resources are allocated to reproduction rather than growth...
26 June 2009
Beauty in the eye of the beholder? Only for women
Hot or not? Men agree on the answer but women don’t. So says a new study that found there is much more consensus among men about whom they find attractive than there is among women...
21 April 2009
Beer-goggles put to the test
British researchers have been surveying people in bars and cafes by asking them to rate the attractiveness of underage and mature females with and without makeup...
20 March 2009
Mothers' exposure to insecticide linked to offsprings' obesity
Exposure in the womb to the chemical DDE (a breakdown product of DDT, the insecticide commonly used up until the 1970s) may play a role in the obesity epidemic in women...
9 February 2009
Goodbye Mr Nice Guy
Just in time for Valentine's Day, researchers have turned up some new answers to the age-old question of what we want in our partners. It turns out that "chastity" is unimportant and men are more interested in an educated woman who is a good financial prospect; and women are more interested in a man who wants a family and less picky about whether he's a "nice guy"...
19 January 2009
Game theory shows why you can't hurry love
English boffins have developed a mathematical model of the mating game to help explain why courtship is often protracted. The study shows that extended courtship enables a female to gather information about the male and screen him out if he is unsuitable as a mate...
5 January 2009
Does religion provide an evolutionary advantage?
Religious people have more self-control than their less religious counterparts, leading to lower rates of substance abuse, better school achievement, better health behaviors, less depression and longer lives, claims a new meta-study...
19 December 2008
Holiday safety tips for head-bangers
Heavy metal fans rejoice! The British Medical Journal has thoughtfully compiled some holiday season guidelines to help you avoid head and neck injury while head banging...
20 November 2008
Confirmed: chicks dig scars
According to new research, facial scars indicate high levels of testosterone and that means that men with facial scars are more attractive to women seeking short-term relationships...
31 October 2008
Color red makes men behave "like animals"
From red-light districts to red hearts on Valentine's Day, red has been tied to carnal passions and romantic love across cultures and millennia. Now, new research has provided the first empirical support that the enduring aphrodisiacal effect that red has on men may have deep biological roots...
21 October 2008
Suicide rate leaps for white, middle-aged women
Teen suicide gets plenty of airtime, but a new American study finds that middle-aged whites, particularly women, are an emerging high-risk group...
16 October 2008
Social skills predict future earnings better than test scores
Ten years after graduation, high-school students who had been rated as conscientious and cooperative by their teachers were earning more than classmates who had similar test scores but fewer social skills, a new study has found...
15 October 2008
Plentiful poo traces confirm Brits' aversion to handwashing
In northern England, half the men tested in a new study had fecal matter on their hands while in London women were the worst offenders and were three times more likely than men to have fecal matter on their hands...
30 September 2008
High testosterone drives risky investments
Higher levels of testosterone correlate strongly with financial risk-taking behavior, according to a new study that sheds light on the evolutionary function and biological origins of risk taking...
22 September 2008
Academics question surge's success in Baghdad
By tracking the amount of light emitted by Baghdad neighborhoods at night, a team of geographers has uncovered evidence that the U.S. troop surge in Iraq may not have been as effective at improving security as the administration has suggested and that ethnic cleansing by rival Shiites may have been largely responsible for the decrease in violence for which the U.S. military has claimed credit...
16 September 2008
The cold shoulder can be downright chilly
Metaphors which make a connection between cold temperatures and emotions such as loneliness, despair and sadness may be more literal than we think, with a recent study suggesting that there is a psychological basis for linking cold with feelings of social isolation...
21 July 2008
Loud Music Boosts Booze Consumption
Canny bar owners can crank up their drink sales by turning up the music, a French study into alcohol consumption and environmental factors has found...
10 June 2008
ADHD A Benefit In The Wild?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been placed neatly into a natural selection context thanks to a fascinating new study that suggests that ADHD may be beneficial to nomadic African tribesmen, although it may also trigger malnourishment in their cousins who live in settlements...
28 May 2008
Viking DNA Retrieved
Researchers excavating a thousand-year old site containing Viking skeletons went to extraordinarily lengths to ensure that any remnant DNA would not be contaminated, thus avoiding the controversy that has dogged supposed DNA extractions from other ancient humans...
11 February 2008
Subliminal Experiments Uncover Deep-Seated Racism
Research from three US universities reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes...
2 February 2008
The Rhythm (And Melody?) Of Life
Listening to music of any kind is an integral aspect of our lives, but is it a necessary aspect? There may be lots of folks who live without music, but scientific research shows there is much more to music than there is to other so-called leisure activities that we consider enjoyable...
25 January 2008
Demographers Mull Effects Of Aging Populations
A new study into the aging populous contends that humanity might be headed for an age of peace, political stability and economic development...
18 December 2007
 Homo Superior
Genetic engineering is getting serious. Recently researchers have shown that "hardwired" responses - such as fear - can be manipulated and even reversed, that extreme muscle growth is possible, and that sexual preference can be changed. But if we create a race of superhumans, would this lead to a golden age of peace, love, and understanding; or would it be business as usual?
15 November 2007
Men: Simple Creatures
Sexual selection drives males to evolve flashier features in order to win mates, and now scientists are a step closer to understanding this peculiar male imperative...
13 April 2007
Eye Of The Beholder Redux
New research is not only raising some poignant questions about the nature of art appreciation, but also highlighting how both science and art have the capacity to expose the natural world beyond everyday perception...
5 April 2007
 Eeew!
The emotion of disgust may once have been important in preventing food poisoning and breeding snafus, but expert opinion ranges widely in regard to how useful it is in today's society, with some scientists claiming that disgust is just an irrational evolutionary throwback...
10 April 2007
The Disappearing Male
A new study has found that significantly fewer boys are being born in the U.S. and Japan, and that an increasing proportion of fetuses that die are male...
15 March 2007
Angry Looks Trigger Reward Circuits
Angry facial expressions are a turn-off for most people, but they can also be perceived as a desirable by some...
14 February 2007
St Valentine's Day Sperm Massacre
Valentine's Day isn't about flowers and chocolates for some researchers; instead, they've been mulling over the business-end of the courtship process - evolution and its effect on human sexual reproduction...
6 February 2007
Skin Samples Rife With Unknown Bacteria
Scientists from the NYU School of Medicine say that the skin - the largest organ in our body - is a zoo of bacteria, with nearly ten percent being previously unknown species...
10 January 2007
Use The Force, Luke
British researchers have found that you are more likely to perform some tasks well if you do not think too hard and instead trust your instincts...
30 November 2006
Big Gender Differences In Language Learning
Males and females use different parts of their brains to process basic aspects of grammar, suggesting that gender is an important factor in the acquisition and use of language...
17 November 2006
RealityCity
Putting an entire metropolis together so it runs like clockwork is a complex job. How do you prevent ghettos from developing? Do you put your public transport system at street level or below? Now, a new supercomputer application lets urban planners play god and steal a sneak peek into the success or failure of future cities before they are built. SimCity, make way for RealityCity...
13 October 2006
 Too Cool For The 21st Century
Cryonics is what you might better know as a sci-fi plot device; think suspended animation or stasis. But rather than journeying to a distant planet, cryonic aficionados will stay on Earth in the hope that they can be revived in the future and cured of whatever ails them in this life. Or even better, that future medical science might have found a way to give them immortality...
12 October 2006
Cat Parasite Aiming For Global Male Domination
Women harboring the feline parasite Toxoplasma gondii are much more likely to give birth to boys if they become pregnant...
27 September 2006
Beauty Is NOT In The Brain Of The Beholder
The phrase "easy on the eye" may also mean that an image is easy on the mind, as it seems that judgments of attractiveness depend on ease of mental processing...
12 September 2006
Dad's Smell Puts The Kibosh On Inbreeding
Scent plays an important role in determining sexual maturity in the animal world and now researchers say that the smell of human fathers delays the sexual maturation of their daughters...
8 September 2006
 MySpace And The Dumbing Down Of Friendship
Americans have fewer close, personal friends than they used to. This fact, coupled with the rise in popularity of social networking websites has many academics worried about how technology has distanced us from those closest to us. It seems that the authenticity of real-world relationships simply isn't important anymore, as we've elevated convenience, which technology provides, over substance...
31 August 2006
Humans: Designed For Fatness
The human body is intricately designed to strongly resist attempts to lose weight...
29 August 2006
Testosterone Apocalypse!
Researchers studying sex selection say that the world could be heading for a testosterone fueled meltdown thanks to the skewed sex ratio in nations like China and India...
4 August 2006
Boffin Ponders Cultural Manipulation By Cat Parasite
Much like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, one scientist is wondering whether the parasite Toxoplasma gondii might be affecting human behavior and culture on a massive scale...
21 June 2006
Addicted To Knowledge
Grasping a new concept triggers a biochemical cascade of natural opium-like substances in the brain, turning our thirst for knowledge into an addiction...
28 April 2006
 Sexual Success And The Schizoid Factor
Ever wondered why scruffy rock chicks are pursued by legions of doting male fans? Or why women threw themselves at Pablo Picasso? Well, a new study suggests that creativity may confer an evolutionary advantage in finding a mate. But creativity often comes with traits predictive of schizophrenia - a condition not normally associated with evolutionary fitness. Is there enough evidence to support the idea that artistic creativity is an evolutionarily beneficial effect of schizoid tendencies?
17 February 2006
The Rain In Spain Falls Only In The Human Brain
New research suggests that humans have an innate and universal faculty to form sentences, supporting the idea that we are born with a ready-made language “module” in our brain. If grammar usage and symbol-to-object association are universal in humans, then some long standing controversies in cognitive research may finally be put to rest...
8 February 2006
Adolescence Lasts Into Twenties
Just when does an adolescent transform into a mature, responsible adult? A study has found that it isn’t at 18 years of age...
23 December 2005
Girth And Length Muddle Bartenders’ Brains
If you’re looking to get merry this silly season, tell the bartender you want your drink in a wide, short glass. Chances are you’ll get 25 percent more booze...
5 December 2005
Menstrual Cycle Rewires Brain
Researchers have found that the female brain undergoes dramatic changes to its structure during the menstrual cycle, and they believe it’s all designed to enhance reproductive success...
7 November 2005
Making Sense Of Our Senses
Researchers are finding that our perceptions of the world may depend more on memory, attention and expectation than on the actual stimulus itself...
12 August 2005
Food, Notorious Food
Our ancestors had it pretty tough when it came to feeding the family. Leaving the cave to spear something for dinner was fraught with danger and disappointment. We may have it easier nowadays, but have we swapped nutritional content for convenience? Evidence is mounting that the foods we eat are becoming less and less nutritious thanks to factors that seem beyond our control...
12 August 2005
Certain Images Cause Temporary Blindness
Psychologists have found that when people are shown erotic or gory images, they frequently fail to register images they see immediately afterwards...
21 June 2005
Eggs And Sperm Made From Stem Cells
Scientists in the UK now claim it is entirely possible that eggs and sperm can be created from human embryonic stem cells...
14 March 2005
Pointing The Finger At Aggressive Men
You don’t need to be a palm reader to understand what makes a man tick, just check his finger length to find out whether he's passive or aggressive…
14 February 2005
3 Seconds To Choose A Mate
Researchers studying speed dating found that the participants usually made up their minds about a potential mate in 3 seconds rather than 3 minutes...
28 January 2005
Male Sexual Orientation Genes Identified
A study looking at the human genome for genetic determinants of male sexual orientation has found found several fragments of DNA that appear to influence whether a man is heterosexual or gay...
24 November 2004
U.S. Throws Away Half Its Food
Americans might be astonished at how much food is wasted, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day, from the beginning of the harvest to the scraps tossed into the garbage...
8 October 2004
Chemosignal Unlocks Sexual Desire In Women
Breastfeeding women and their infants produce a chemosignal, or pheromone, that increases sexual desire among other women...
4 October 2004
Stress And Aggression Reinforce Each Other
The "cycle of violence" that seems to pervade human affairs may be due to a positive feedback loop where stress hormones lower the threshold for aggression, and aggression raises levels of stress hormones...
7 July 2004
Old Age Appears To Be A Recent Invention
Scientists are pondering what caused a dramatic increase in human longevity that took place around 30,000 years ago...
Related:
Animal Kingdom
Biology
Environment
Evolution
Genetics
Mind/Brain
Prehistory
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