For the first time, scientists have made direct comparisons of illicit drug use in 19 European cities by a cooperative analysis of raw sewage samples. According to the researchers, the results could be used to inform the development of effective drug policies and also to measure the effectiveness of existing policies. The study, led by […]
A new series of experiments have shown that when presented with images of men, both male and female subjects perceive the person as a whole, whereas images of women are perceived as an assemblage of various body parts. The research, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, suggests that two distinct cognitive processes are […]
There are no significant gender-related differences in the eye’s ability to focus at near distances, so scientists have been looking for other reasons why women need higher power reading glasses than men of an equivalent age. Their paper, in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, suggests that factors such as arm length and reading distance may […]
An intriguing new study – “Coolness: An Empirical Investigation” – suggests that the characteristics associated with coolness today are markedly different than those that originally generated the concept of cool. University of Rochester Medical Center psychologist Ilan Dar-Nimrod, who led the study, said that rebelliousness, emotional control, toughness and thrill-seeking no longer make up the […]
In the space of less than 200 years, the average U.S. Caucasian skull size has increased nearly 7 percent, becoming taller and narrower. To assess the change in head size, University of Tennessee forensic anthropologists Lee Jantz, Richard Jantz and Joanne Devlin examined 1,500 skulls dating back to the mid-1800s through the mid-1980s. They found […]
Nice guys finish last when women are wearing ovulation goggles, say University of Texas researchers who have been investigating exactlywhy females in the most fertile phase of their menstrual cycle choose sexy, rebellious cads to pair-up with. “Previous research has shown in the week near ovulation women become attracted to sexy, rebellious and handsome men […]
Spanish researchers say that healers who claim to be able to see the auras surrounding people are actually suffering synesthesia, the neuropsychological phenomenon where senses become intermingled in the brain. In synesthetes, the brain regions responsible for the processing of each type of sensory stimuli are cross-wired; they may see or taste a sound, feel […]
Pictures of the left side of the face are perceived and rated as more pleasant than pictures of the right side of the face, leading scientists from Wake Forest University to hypothesize that we prefer the left side’s more intense expressions of emotionality. Past research indicated that the left side of the face is more […]
The always fascinating annual statistics report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) shows that chin augmentation is the fastest growing plastic surgery procedure – a phenomenon, speculate surgeons, sparked by a desire for success in the workplace and the increased usage of video chat technology. According to the report, chin procedures increased across […]
In the first study of its kind, researchers from the University of Rochester, the University of Essex and the University of California in Santa Barbara have found homophobia is more pronounced in individuals with an unacknowledged attraction to the same sex. The work, published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, is the first to […]
