ScienceDaily: Society - May 07, 2024
Top society research news
DDT pollutants found in deep sea fish off Los Angeles coast
As the region reckons with its toxic history of offshore dumping off the California coast, new findings raise troubling questions about whether the banned pesticide remains a threat to wildlife and human health.
Past and guides future efforts to reduce cancer disparities
The toll cancer takes on lives in the U.S. has declined during the last 28 years, but not equitably. Disparities persist in many historically marginalized communities -- including communities disadvantaged by race, socioeconomic status, orientation or gender identity, and geographic location -- despite community outreach and engagement programs designed to address them.
Self-critical perfectionism gnaws on students' well-being already in lower secondary school
A new study among ninth-graders attending lower secondary school in Swedish-speaking areas of Finland identified four perfectionistic profiles with varying associations with students' psychological well-being.
Contract treatment reduces recidivism and substance-related adverse health events
Substance use disorder treatment in the community is a superior alternative to incarceration for offenders with a substance misuse background, according to a recent study evaluating the effectiveness of the contract treatment sanction in Sweden.
Sister cities can help communities better navigate the climate crisis
Anthropologists suggest in a new study that establishing networks of 'sister cities' dedicated to addressing the impact of natural disasters can mitigate the devastation wrought by climate change.
New study reveals how teens thrive online: factors that shape digital success revealed
A new study sheds light on the role that new and traditional media play in promoting and affecting character development, emotions, prosocial behavior and well-being (aka happiness) in youth.
Birdwatching can help students improve mental health, reduce distress
A new study finds people who have nature-based experiences report better well-being and lower psychological distress than those who do not. Birdwatching in particular yielded promising results, with higher gains in subjective well-being and more reduction in distress than more generic nature exposure, such as walks. Because birdwatching is an easily accessible activity, the results are encouraging for college students -- who are among those most likely to suffer from mental health problems.
Image: alexei_tm/Shutterstock.com
'Gap' in carbon removal: Countries' plans to remove CO2 not enough
New research suggests that countries' current plans to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will not be enough to comply with the 1.5 C warming limit set out under the Paris Agreement.
Scent sells -- but the right picture titillates both eyes and nose, research finds
Scented products with relevant images on their packaging and branding, such as flowers or fruit, are more attractive to potential customers and score better in produce evaluations, new research confirms. And such images, the researchers conclude, are particularly effective if manufacturers and marketers choose pictures that are more likely to stimulate a stronger sense of the imagined smell -- for example, cut rather than whole lemons. This, they say, suggests that as well as seducing our eyes, the images are stimulating our sense of smell.
To bend the curve of biodiversity loss, nature recovery must be integrated across all sectors
The alarming rates of biodiversity loss worldwide have made clear that the classical way of governing biodiversity recovery based on protected areas and programs for the protection of endangered species is not enough. To tackle this, almost 200 countries committed to the active 'mainstreaming' or integration of biodiversity targets into policies and plans across relevant sectors. However, research suggests that this has until now been largely ineffective due to non-binding commitments, vaguely formulated targets, 'add-on' biodiversity initiatives, and too few resources. 'Top down regulation is also needed,' say the authors.
Companies may buy consumer genetic information despite its modest predictive power
Genetics can be associated with one's behavior and health -- from the willingness to take risks, and how long one stays in school, to chances of developing Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer. Although our fate is surely not written in our genes, corporations may still find genetic data valuable for risk assessment and business profits, according to a perspective article. The researchers stress the need for policy safeguards to address ethics and policy concerns regarding collecting genetic data.
EPA underestimates methane emissions from landfills, urban areas
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is underestimating methane emissions from landfills, urban areas and U.S. states, according to a new study. The researchers combined 2019 satellite observations with an atmospheric transport model to generate a high-resolution map of methane emissions, which was then compared to EPA estimates from the same year. The researchers found: Methane emissions from landfills are 51% higher compared to EPA estimates Methane emissions from 95 urban areas are 39% higher than EPA estimates Methane emissions from the 10 states with the highest methane emissions are 27% higher than EPA estimates.
Roadmap to close the carbon cycle
Reaching net-zero carbon emissions goals requires finding transformative paths to manage carbon in difficult-to-electrify economic sectors.
Social-media break has huge impact on young women's body image, study finds
There's a large and growing body of evidence pointing to potentially negative impacts of social media on mental health, from its addictive nature to disruptions in sleep patterns to effects on body image. Now, a new study has found that young women who took a social media break for as little as one week had a significant boost in self-esteem and body image -- particularly those most vulnerable to thin-ideal internalization.
Understanding youth nicotine use to prevent initiation and escalation
Using multiple nicotine products can be associated with higher levels of nicotine dependence among youth and increased mortality in adults, compared with the use of one product alone. Researchers have now uncovered factors that contribute to adolescents using multiple nicotine products. These findings, they say, will help inform efforts to prevent escalation from single to multiple product use.
Life expectancy in two disadvantaged areas higher than expected
Better than expected life expectancy in two disadvantaged areas in England is probably due to population change according to local residents and professionals. In the UK, people from the most disadvantaged areas can expect to die nine years earlier compared with people from the least disadvantaged areas while people in the north of England have lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and worse health and wellbeing compared with national averages.
Time zones and tiredness strongly influence NBA results, study of 25,000 matches shows
The body clock has a significant impact on the performance of NBA players. Data shows vastly better win ratio for home teams from the Western Time Zone Area (PDT) when playing an EDT team, compared to vice versa.
Astronomers share climate-friendly meeting solutions
Carbon emissions associated with air travel to professional conferences make up a sizable fraction of the emissions produced by researchers in academia.
Is it time to retire the best-before date?
The inventors of a suite of tests that enable food packages to signal if their contents are contaminated are working to bring producers and regulators together to get their inventions into commercial products, with the goal of preventing illness and reducing food waste.
As the world faces the loss of a staggering number of species of animals and plants to endangerment and extinction, one scientist has an urgent message: Chemists and pharmacists should be key players in species conservation efforts.
Big data reveals true climate impact of worldwide air travel
A new study that looked at nearly 40 million flights in 2019 calculated the greenhouse gas emissions from air travel for essentially every country on the planet. At 911 million tons, the total emissions from aviation are 50 per cent higher than the 604 million tons reported to the United Nations for that year.
Machine listening: Making speech recognition systems more inclusive
One group commonly misunderstood by voice technology are individuals who speak African American English, or AAE. Researchers designed an experiment to test how AAE speakers adapt their speech when imagining talking to a voice assistant, compared to talking to a friend, family member, or stranger. The study tested familiar human, unfamiliar human, and voice assistant-directed speech conditions by comparing speech rate and pitch variation. Analysis of the recordings showed that the speakers exhibited two consistent adjustments when they were talking to voice technology compared to talking to another person: a slower rate of speech with less pitch variation.
Innovation promises to prevent power pole-top fires
Engineers in Australia have found a new way to make power-pole insulators resistant to fire and electrical sparking, promising to prevent dangerous pole-top fires and reduce blackouts. Pole-top fires pose significant challenges to power providers and communities worldwide. In March, pole-top fires cut power from 40,000 homes and businesses in Perth, Australia. The 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements found that power outages experienced by 280,000 customers from various energy providers during Black Summer fires in Australia were mainly triggered by events involving insulators and poles.
Data scarcity challenges identification of endocrine disruptors
Lack of data from the chemical industry in the EU often prevents the assessment of whether substances, for example, used in consumer products, are endocrine disrupting.
E-bike incentives prove to be worth the investment
Electric bicycle rebates have exploded in popularity in North America as transportation planners try to get people out of their cars and into healthier, more climate-friendly alternatives. However, questions remain: Are new cycling habits sustainable? Who benefits most from these incentives? And are they worth the cost? Researchers now have some answers.
Study finds school entry requirements linked to increased HPV vaccination rates
A new study shows that school entry requirements are linked to an increase in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations.