News Articles

A new survey finds that 15 percent of U.S. adults (that's about 36 million people) cook in the nude. Or at least have.
Meanwhile, 20 percent of Americans say someone who is a good cook turns them on the most while 19 percent are most turned on by a nice body. Good luck finding those two together. Gender roles no longer apply, 85 percent of Americans say both the man and woman do the cooking in a relationship, according to an online survey commissioned by HelloFresh, a meal kit delivery company. The sample was 1,007 adults, 18 to 70 years old, living in the continental U.S., and conducted by CARAVAN® Survey, January 14-17, 2016.

New research shows that promotional messages that use alliteration - the phonetic overlap of the beginnings of words - hold a greater appeal for consumers than non-alliterative messages, even accounting for cost differences.
In "Alliteration Alters: Phonetic Overlap in Promotional Messages Influences Evaluations and Choice," to published in the March 2016 issue of the Journal of Retailing, Marketing Professors Derick F. Davis of the University of Miami's School of Business Administration; Rajesh Bagchi of the Pumplin College of Business at Virginia Tech; and Lauren G. Block of the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College demonstrate that even alliterative promotional messages that are read, rather than heard, prompt purchasers to prefer them.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of obesity to promote cancer progression. In their report published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the research team describes finding an association between obesity and an overabundance of a factor called PlGF (placental growth factor) and that PlGF's binding to its receptor VEGFR-1, which is expressed on immune cells within tumors, promotes tumor progression. Their findings in cellular and animal models, as well as in patient tumor samples, indicate that targeting the PlGF/ VEGFR-1 pathway may be particularly effective in obese patients.

Smoking cigarettes dramatically increases a person's risk for a host of diseases. The nicotines is addiction but it's the hundred other chemicals in cigarette smoke that are toxic. 
Because e-cigarettes are simply diluted nicotine vapor, no cigarette smoke, they should be less harmful. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies many liquid flavorings in e-cigarettes as "Generally Recognized as Safe," for oral consumption. Though it sounds like waffling, that is the default categorization. 

How is climate change being taught in American schools? Is it being taught at all? And how are teachers addressing climate change denial in their classrooms, schools, and school districts?
Until today's release of NCSE's comprehensive nationwide survey, no one knew. The survey, conducted in concert with the respected nonpartisan Penn State University Survey Research Center, grilled over 1500 middle and high school science teachers. The results may floor you.

After more than half a decade of speculation, fabrication, modeling and testing, an international team of researchers led by Drexel University's Dr. Yury Gogotsi and Dr. Patrice Simon, of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, have confirmed that their process for making carbon films and micro-supercapacitors will allow microchips and their power sources to become one and the same.

Feb. 11, 2016 - Social support has well-known benefits for physical and mental health. But giving support -- rather than receiving it -- may have unique positive effects on key brain areas involved in stress and reward responses, suggests a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- They may dream of becoming doctors, and helping people like themselves.
But for young people with disabilities, that dream may die when they check the admissions standards of most medical schools, according to a new study.
Even if the schools would actually consider their application, and offer them assistance as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, they wouldn't know that from looking at many schools' websites, the researchers find.

PHILADELPHIA -- (Feb. 11, 2016) -- When it comes to our immune system, dendritic cells serve as a sort of lighthouse for T-cells. These specialized immune cells break down cancer cells into smaller pieces known as antigens. Once this happens, they can signal white blood cells that are now able to recognize these matching antigens in cancer cells and respond appropriately.

Scientists have developed a new approach that could eventually be used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, using CRISPR/Cas9 to correct genetic mutations that cause the disease.

Social animals are strongly motived to seek out the company of others, especially after periods of isolation, because their brains are wired to find it rewarding. A study in mice published February 11 in Cell now reveals a neural circuit that mediates social seeking behavior driven instead by a loneliness-like state. By shedding light on the neuroscience of isolation, the findings could help our understanding of social anxiety and autism spectrum disorders.

Smile! It makes everyone in the room feel better because they, consciously or unconsciously, are smiling with you. Growing evidence shows that an instinct for facial mimicry allows us to empathize with and even experience other people's feelings. If we can't mirror another person's face, it limits our ability to read and properly react to their expressions. A Review of this emotional mirroring appears February 11 in Trends in Cognitive Sciences.