ScienceDaily: Society - April 16, 2024
Top society research news
GeoAI technologies for sustainable urban development
From heatwaves to pandemic diseases, the urban environments of the world face numerous challenges. Researchers are harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and informatics to address emerging concerns related to environmental changes and urban growth.
Image: urban planning, metamorworks/shutterstock.com
The joy of sports: How watching sports can boost well-being
Sports, beyond entertainment, foster community and belonging, benefiting both individuals and society. Despite its recognized positive effects, limited evidence exists on the link between watching sports and well-being. To address this gap, a team of researchers conducted a multi-method research and found that sports viewing activates brain reward circuits, leading to improved well-being. Popular sports like baseball notably impact well-being. Their research offers insights for public health policies and individual well-being enhancement.
School suspensions and exclusions put vulnerable children at risk
Managing problematic student behavior is one of the most persistent, challenging, and controversial issues facing schools today. Yet despite best intentions to build a more inclusive and punitive-free education system, school suspensions and expulsions remain.
Where have all the right whales gone?
Marine researchers have mapped the density of one of the most endangered large whale species worldwide, the North Atlantic right whale, using new data to help avoid right whales' harmful exposure to commercial fisheries and vessel strikes. The resulting maps, spanning 20 years of whale observations, are publicly available to inform risk assessments, estimations of whale harm/disturbance, marine spatial planning, and industry regulations to mitigate risk to right whales.
Economic burden of childhood verbal abuse by adults estimated at $300 billion globally
Childhood verbal abuse by adults costs society an estimated $300 billion a year globally, show recent findings.
Economist: Tens of billions of dollars in forest products are being overlooked
Are we missing the forest for the trees? More than timber grows in forests -- including products worth many tens of billions of dollars. Because these goods go unrecorded in official trade statistics, their economic value escapes our attention. As a result, clear opportunities to combat poverty are being missed, according to an economist.
Hybrid intelligence can reconcile biodiversity and agriculture
So far, biodiversity and agricultural productivity could not be reconciled because the socio-ecological system of agriculture is highly complex, and the interactions between humans and the environment are difficult to capture using conventional methods. A research team now shows a promising way to achieve both goals at the same time. They focus on further developing artificial intelligence in combination with collective human judgement: hybrid intelligence.
Food security in developed countries shows resilience to climate change
A study has found that market forces have provided good food price stability over the past half century, despite extreme weather conditions.
Mixed diets balance nutrition and carbon footprint
What we eat can impact our health as well as the environment. Many studies have looked at the impacts of diets in very general terms focused at the level of food groups. A new study explores this issue following a more nuanced dish-level approach. One of the benefits of this kind of study is that people's connections with their diets vary around the world and have strong cultural associations. Knowledge of the impacts of diets using dishes rather than broad food groups can help individuals make informed choices and those in the food industry improve their practices.
The evolving attitudes of Gen X toward evolution
As the centennial of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 approaches, a new study illustrates that the attitudes of Americans in Generation X toward evolution shifted as they aged.
More synchrony between parents and children not always better
More synchrony between parents and children may not always be better, new research has revealed. For the first time a new study looked at behavioral and brain-to-brain synchrony in 140 families with a special focus on attachment. It looked at how they feel and think about emotional bonds whilst measuring brain activity as mums and dads solved puzzles with their kids.
Research examines tweets during Hurricane MarÃa to analyze social media use during disasters
Understanding how social media is used during a disaster can help with disaster preparedness and recovery for future events.