Scientists studying levels of the stress hormone cortisol in financial traders say that appetite for risk may be “physiologically-driven” by the body’s response to cortisol and that stress could be a trigger for market instability. Published in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new study is the first to show that personal […]
Dairy products may be high in saturated fats but high levels of dairy intake do not statistically increase the risk of heart attack, suggest the results of a new study that hypothesizes that other nutrients in dairy products are protective against heart disease. “Things like milk and cheese are very complex substances,” said Brown University’s […]
The current issue of the journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology contains an analysis of mortality data that reveals a striking correlation between living at higher altitudes and suicide risk. A multi-institute research team examined cause-of-death data from all 2,584 U.S. counties between 1979 and 1998 and found that, as a group, people living at […]
Analyzing more than 27 million hands of No-Limit Texas Hold’em, a Cornell researcher has found that the more hands players win, the less money they’re likely to collect – especially when it comes to novice players. The study was published in the Journal of Gambling Studies. Cornell’s Kyle Siler hypothesizes that the multiple wins are […]
Scientists have identified a key region of the brain which encourages us to be adventurous. The region, located in a primitive area of the brain, is activated when we choose unfamiliar options, suggesting an evolutionary advantage for sampling the unknown. The experimental evidence was gained by University College London (UCL) researchers who carried out tests […]
Humanity could squander the potential benefits of nanotechnology due to a lack of clear information about its risks, say a taskforce of international scientists writing in the journal Nature. Their report, “The Safe Handling of Nanotechnology,” identifies five challenges that must be addressed if the technology is to ever reach its full potential. “The specter […]
Scientists have for some time been puzzled about the lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer in Asian countries where the population smokes heavily. A preventative effect from green tea has been thought to be responsible and now a new study from Yale has found what could be the key chemical component. “We do not […]
Researchers working in a relatively new area of neuroscience have made progress in understanding why some people are more prone to risk taking than others. “Neuroeconomics” is a relatively new area of neuroscience that incorporates the expertise of neuroscientists, economists, psychologists and psychiatrists. Researchers in these fields are collectively trying to understand how the brain […]
There was a striking association in women between being overweight at 70 and developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) ten to 18 years later, according to a Swedish study reported in the July 15 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. In the study, sponsored in part by a grant from the Alzheimer’s Association, 392 adults were […]
