ScienceDaily: Society - October 29, 2024
Top society research news
In their peer-reviewed work, Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson present five new ways of proving Pythagoras' Theorem via trigonometry. They also detail a new method for finding proofs that yield at least five more.
Image: Andrii Zastrozhnov/Shutterstock.com
When is a heat wave just a heat wave, and when is it climate change?
A new study used the 2023 heat wave in Texas and Louisiana as a test case for establishing processes that tease out whether particular weather events are climate change related.
Companies and investors can now get smarter when it comes to nature
Amid growing pressure to report on nature-related risks and impacts, an open-source footprinting tool offers a scientific and transparent approach.
Keeping fewer friends protects aging monkeys from diseases
Becoming less sociable protects older monkeys from getting ill, new research shows.
Are we missing the mark on biodiversity? 90% of countries ignore key behavior changes
There is a yawning gap between national policies to enhance biodiversity and the individual and small group behavioral changes that are critical to making a real difference.
Dramatic drop in marijuana use among U.S. youth over a decade (2011 to 2021)
Using a national survey of 88,183 adolescents in grades nine to 12, findings show marijuana use declined from 23.1% in 2011 to 15.8% in 2021, with first-time use before age 13 dropping from 8.1% to 4.9%. In 2021, use was highest among 12th graders (22.4%) and 11th graders (18.7%). Notably, in 2021, girls (17.8%) surpassed boys (13.6%) in reported use, reversing previous trends. While Asian, Hispanic, and white adolescents saw significant declines, Black adolescents reported a higher usage rate of 20.5% in 2021, revealing ongoing racial disparities in marijuana use.
Psychologists develop tool to assess narcissism in job candidates
Researchers developed a tool for job interviews to assess narcissistic grandiosity among potential job candidates.
Studying Wikipedia browsing habits to learn how people learn
A collaborative team of researchers led by Dale Zhou, who did his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, and Dani Bassett in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science looked at how nearly half a million people around the world use Wikipedia's knowledge networks. They found stark differences in browsing habits between countries offering insights into cultural differences and potential drivers of curiosity and learning.
Move along, moose: Study reveals the 'most Canadian' animals
What is the 'most Canadian' animal? Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. A new study ranks species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: the amount of time animals have evolved independently from other Canadian species. The study found that, overall, amphibians and reptiles are Canada's most evolutionarily distinct species, with Apalone spinifera -- better known as the spiny softshell turtle -- being the most evolutionary distinct terrestrial animal in the land.
Political polarization poses health risks, new analysis concludes
A new analysis shows that political polarization also poses significant health risks -- by obstructing the implementation of legislation and policies aimed at keeping Americans healthy, by discouraging individual action to address health needs, such as getting a flu shot, and by boosting the spread of misinformation that can reduce trust in health professionals.
Barriers prevent everyone enjoying nature equally
A major international study involving 56,968 adults, aged 18 to 99, has found that levels of nature connectedness and nature exposure are associated with several socioeconomic and demographic factors. Higher scores were significantly associated with being female, being older, having greater financial security, living in a rural location, being in a committed relationship, having a higher level of education, and being in a racial majority in that country.
Curbing air pollution control devices would cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars
A new commentary found that power plants' use of these devices saved up to 9,100 lives and up to $100 billion in health costs in 2023. These estimates reveal the substantial health benefits that could be at stake if the next presidential administration implements policies that aim to weaken the Clean Air Act and limit the regulatory authority of the EPA.
A new study found that higher levels of stereotypical male gender expression were associated with a decrease in reported diagnoses and treatment for cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Ripples of colonialism: Decarbonization strategies perpetuate inequalities in human rights
A new study of a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo finds that the necessary process of decarbonization is repeating and recreating colonial inequalities.
Millions in the U.S. may rely on groundwater contaminated with PFAS for drinking water supplies
Approximately 71 to 95 million people in the Lower 48 states -- more than 20% of the country's population -- may rely on groundwater that contains detectable concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, for their drinking water supplies.
New AI model could make power grids more reliable amid rising renewable energy use
Researchers use AI to manage the growing complexity of modern power grids.
AI-generated news is harder to understand, study finds
Readers find automated news articles poorer than manually-written texts in relation to word choice and use of numbers.
Young people's moods directly affected by social media 'likes'
Young people today are growing up in a social media-saturated world where technology plays a central role in shaping most of their experiences. And the rapid rise of social media use has consequently created parental and societal fears about young people's social and psychological well-being. Now, a team of researchers has used real social media data to show that young people may indeed be more sensitive to social media feedback (likes) than adults, and that this directly impacts their engagement and their mood.
Experts call for clear and concise regulation of exosome-based treatments
Clinics that offer exosome therapies claim they have the ability to repair and regenerate tissues and treat inflammatory and other immune-related conditions in a noninvasive way. Now, a team of bioethicists and legal scholars is sounding the alarm on the urgent need for stronger regulations surrounding these unproven interventions.
Engineers unveil AI model for predicting, controlling pandemic spread
A team of engineers has published a study on how international air travel has influenced the spread of COVID-19, finding Western Europe, the Middle East and North America as leading regions in fueling the pandemic.
A new paper explains why there needs to be a shift in cannabis policies to a public health approach as opposed to the prevailing, more punitive approach that pushes abstinence instead of public education. With cannabis now legal to some extent in most U.S. states, the authors say the case for such a shift is all the more urgent.
Dolphins sense military sonar at much lower levels than regulators predict
Scientists have directly measured the behavioral responses of some of the most common marine mammals to military sonar. And the finding that surprised them most was that these animals were sensitive to the sounds at much lower levels than previously predicted.
A team of linguistics and psychology researchers has discovered that when a brief sentence is flashed, our brains detect its basic linguistic structure extremely quickly -- in roughly 150 milliseconds, or about the speed of a blink of an eye.
Bystanders in a combat zone are treated as guilty until proven innocent
People's bias toward sacrificing unknown bystanders appears to stem from assuming the unidentified person is an enemy, according to a new study.
Adapting GenAI for the next generation of learning
A new study by learning analytics researchers presents key considerations for generative AI (GenAI) educational tools so they are carefully developed to support, rather than replace, human learning.
Ethical framework aims to counter risks of geoengineering research
A new report says any research into large-scale interventions in Earth's climate system must be grounded in sound ethical principles so society can make informed choices about whether to deploy them.
How limiting new fast-food outlets may reduce childhood obesity
Planning policies to restrict the number of new fast-food outlets leads to fewer overweight and obese children according to research. Researchers examined the impact of policy in the North East of England where Gateshead Council prevented any existing non-fast-food commercial property from being converted into a hot fast-food takeaway. In sub-group analysis by area level deprivation, they found that those quintiles of deprivation within Gateshead with the highest proportion of fast-food outlets had a statistically significant reduction of 4.80% in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in comparison to comparable neighborhoods in the North East.
Sleep experts call for UK to abolish twice-yearly clock changes
A team of sleep researchers called for the government to abolish the twice-yearly clock changes in the UK due to the adverse effects on sleep and circadian health.
Safety and security: Study shines light on factors behind refugees' resilience
A systematic review has identified several strong protective and promotive factors that are associated with better mental health outcomes among refugee adults.
Data security: Breakthrough in research with personalized health data
The European research project 'Federated Secure Computing' presents a new approach that allows patient data from different institutions to be analysed securely and anonymously.
Geography: Improving our understanding of complex crises
Researcher presents a new model for risk research which takes interactions into account and brings together various disciplines.
A 'worrying confluence' of flood risk, social vulnerability and climate change denial
In certain parts of the United States, especially Appalachia, New England and the Northwest, the ability of residents to prepare for and respond to flooding is being undercut on three different levels.
'With a grain of salt': How humans learn from others
When we make decisions, we are often guided by the opinions and experiences of those around us. Yet we actually have quite different preferences, tastes and goals. A research team investigated how we learn from others despite individual differences. The scientists found that humans tend to treat social information as a recommendation -- with some skepticism. They also use it to save themselves costly exploration. The results open up new paths to incorporate similar learning principles into artificial intelligence (AI).
Bilingualism may maintain protection against Alzheimer's
In a study, researchers use neuroimaging methods to examine brain resilience in regions of the brain linked to language and aging. They found that the hippocampus in bilinguals with Alzheimer's disease was noticeably larger than those who were monolingual when matched for age, education, cognitive function and memory, which suggests that there may be some form of brain maintenance related to bilingualism.
Expanding access to weight-loss drugs could save thousands of lives a year
Expanding access to new, highly effective weight-loss medications could prevent more than 40,000 deaths a year in the United States, according to a study. The findings highlight the critical need to remove existing barriers that are hindering people's access to effective weight loss treatments and impeding public health efforts to address the national obesity crisis, the researchers said. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 74% of Americans are considered overweight, with about 43% of those individuals considered obese.
Research findings provide further evidence that early childhood education can improve educational outcomes for low-income Black children, but that subsequent experiences may erode those impacts especially for low-income Black males.
Workplace culture and social relationships are associated with workplace bullying
Workplace bullying poses a serious threat to employees' health and well-being. A study sheds new light on the impact of social relationships on workplace bullying. Focusing on the dynamics of social relationships, the study shows how workplace culture, interaction and social relationships play a role in bullying.
Screen-free bedtimes boost toddler sleep, new research shows
A world-first randomised controlled trial (RCT) of toddler screen time shows that removing screen time in the hour before bed improves the quality of toddler sleep.