Culture

For parents who have found themselves repeating the same warnings or directions to their toddler over and over to no avail, new research from the University of Colorado at Boulder offers them an answer as to why their toddlers don't listen to their advice: they're just storing it away for later. Scientists -- and many parents -- have long believed that children's brains operate like those of little adults. The thinking was that over time kids learn things like proactively planning for and understanding how actions in the present affect them in the future. But the new study suggests that this…

RICHMOND, Va. (March 24, 2009) – A team of scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and the Savannah River National Laboratory have identified that carbon nanostructures can be used as catalysts to store and release hydrogen, a finding that may point researchers toward developing the right material for hydrogen storage for use in cars. Scientific findings indicate that hydrogen has all the makings of an ideal alternative fuel because it is clean, renewable and abundant, but there are challenges to safely and efficiently store it. "Currently…

WASHINGTON—The World Health Organization released staggering new data about the threat of tuberculosis and the toll it takes on people with HIV/AIDS today, in recognition of World TB Day. The TB-HIV co-infection crisis is twice as big as previously thought, the new WHO figures show. In 2007, there were at least 1.37 million cases of HIV-positive TB—or nearly 15 percent of the total incident cases. That's double the previous WHO estimates. "A global health catastrophe is unfolding," said Gerald Friedland, a professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University School of…

Leading members of the Texas scientific community, in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), have urged the Texas State Board of Education to reject amendments to the state's draft science standards that would undermine sound science teaching. The board is to take a final vote on the standards on Friday, 27 March. In a 23 March letter to Chairman Don McLeroy and the other members of the Texas board, the scientists said certain amendments, introduced and approved during the January 2009 board meeting, "would mislead students should they make it into…

The risk of being involved in a traffic accident with personal injury is significantly higher among codeine users than non-users. However, sporadic or moderate use of codeine alone does not carry an increased risk, according to a newly published study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Codeine and tramadol are painkillers in the opiate group, used for mild to moderate pain. In Norway, codeine is included in Paralgin forte and Pinex forte, and tramadol, amongst others, in Nobligan. Norway has a higher consumption of codeine preparations than other European countries. Earlier…

MELBOURNE, FLA. —Florida Institute of Technology researchers have determined that where a person is standing in a room or other location during a suicide terrorist attack can have a great bearing on survival and injuries. Florida Tech Fulbright Scholar Zeeshan-ul-hassan Usmani and Daniel Kirk, assistant professor in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, will present "Virtual Iraq-Simulation of Insurgent Attacks" at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Symposium on Computational Intelligence. The conference is in Nashville, Tenn., from March 30 to April 2.…

Increased schooling across sub-Saharan Africa may be lowering new HIV infections among younger adults, according to sociologists, suggesting a shift in a decades-long trend where formal education is considered an AIDS risk factor. While education in general has a positive impact on global public health, when it comes to HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, education has had a completely opposite effect. During the early stages of the HIV pandemic in the region, the disease passed unnoticed amidst the onslaught of other infections. When scientists took a closer look at the deadly new…

Leading statistician Professor David Spiegelhalter claims today that the number of murders in London last year was not out of the ordinary and followed a predictable pattern. Spiegelhalter's report, published today in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, argues that shocking headline numbers are not as surprising as one might think. Violence in London attracts headlines. After four people were murdered in separate incidents in London on July 10th, 2008, BBC correspondent Andy Tighe said "To have four fatal stabbings in one day could be a statistical freak." But could…

Of the six billion people sharing our planet, almost half live under the poverty line of $US2 per day. Though growth predictions vary it is likely that, by 2020, the population will increase by approximately another 1.2 billion, of which some 95% will live in developing countries. Such figures highlight the need to address the issues surrounding global poverty as a priority. As part of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Global Financial Crisis lecture series, the second of three seminars looking at various aspects of the recession will focus on 'Recession and Global Poverty…

Burnaby, B.C. – March 18, 2009 – In Canada, campaign spending limits for candidates during a federal election are stipulated by the Canada Elections Act. A study recently published in the Canadian Journal of Economics uses these spending limits to evaluate the impact of candidate spending on voting outcomes. Results show that higher spending by candidates is found to lead to better chance of the candidate winning the election, and that spending limits are good for democracy. Kevin Milligan and Marie Rekkas draw on data from the Canadian elections of 1997 and 2000, using Canadian campaign…