It is conventional wisdom that Americans cherish democracy—but a new study by Yale political scientists reports that only a small fraction of U.S. voters are willing to sacrifice their partisan and policy interests to defend democratic principles. The study, published...
The contributing factors of traction alopecia are shown. Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine. In a review of 19 studies, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they can confirm a "strong association" between certain scalp-pulling hairstyles -- many common among African-Americans -- and the...
Bats (stock image). Credit: © ArtThailand / Fotolia Like many predators, the fringe-lipped bat primarily uses its hearing to find its prey, but with human-generated noise on the rise, scientists are examining how bats and other animals might adapt to find...
Refugee children had similar academic success as other children if adequately supported, despite having more behavioural and emotional problems overall, a comprehensive review has found. Emotional and behavioural issues were most prevalent in refugee children under the age of 10,...
Penn researchers leading the DARPA-funded Restoring Active Memory project constructed the first whole-brain map of electrical connectivity in the brain based on data from nearly 300 neurosurgical patients. Above, the image on the left represents the ~30,000 electrodes used...
Humans are believed to have evolved in east Africa, as the landscape changed from forest to grassland. Here, children cross the Turkwel River in northern Kenya, where many key fossils have been found. Credit: Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Buried deep in...
Crowd panics, market bubbles, and other unpredictable collective behaviors would not happen if people were smart about these things and just thought through their behavior before they acted. Right? That's the perspective in economics, and even psychology and sociology. But...
Taking the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony is an emotional moment for many immigrants, and for good reason: it is the culmination of an often arduous process and many years of striving. Citizenship also opens a new...
Thanksgiving gatherings could get bigger -- a lot bigger -- as science uncovers the familial bonds that bind us. From millions of interconnected online genealogy profiles, researchers have amassed the largest, scientifically-vetted family tree to date, which at 13...
Marijuana plants. The number of adolescents who had problems related to marijuana -- such as becoming dependent on the drug or having trouble in school and in relationships -- declined by 24 percent from 2002 to 2013. Credit: © Katheirne...
Chew on this: rice farming is a far older practice than we knew. In fact, the oldest evidence of domesticated rice has just been found in China, and it's about 9,000 years old. The discovery, made by a team of...