Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2008

Fore! Here Comes the Ultimate Golf Ball

When it comes to improving your golf game, you can spend thousands of dollars buying the latest titanium-induced, Tiger-promoted golf clubs; taking private lessons from the local I used to be on the Tour pro; or trying every slice-correcting, swing-speed-estimating, GPS-distance-guessing gadget. But, in the end, it's about getting that...

Oct 31, 2008

Breakthrough: Eye Cells Regenerated in Live Mice

Scientists have for the first time regrown retina cells in live mammals. The mouse study offers hope for similar success in human eye cells. Located in the back of the eye, the retina's role in vision is to convert light into nerve impulses to the brain. Previous work had shown...

Oct 31, 2008

5 Surprising Turkey Facts

Some 271 million turkeys will be raised in the United States this year, according to the National Turkey Federation, and a good number of them will be consumed on Thanksgiving, after which many Americans will loll about, overstuffed, sleepy and in many cases intoxicated. This is not what the Pilgrims...

Sep 30, 2008

Animal Instincts: Main Street Seeks Revenge on Wall Street

The outrage expressed by many so-called Main Street folks over the proposed Wall Street bailout is based on more than a sense of injustice. It's about revenge, a basic animal instinct shared by humans, chimpanzees and even blue-footed boobies. And Washington politicians would be wise to listen up and stick...

Sep 30, 2008

Narcissists Tend to Become Leaders

Narcissists like to be in charge, so it stands to reason that a new study shows individuals who are overconfident about their abilities are most likely to step in as leaders, be they politicians or power brokers. However, their initiative doesn't mean they are the best leaders. The study also...

Sep 30, 2008

Death Rituals Reveal Much About Ancient Life

Cultures around the world and through time have had wildly varying ways of dealing with the dead. And since death weighs so heavy on a culture and is ultimately so mysterious, records of these practices, or deathways, are often more abundant than other ancient cultural accounts and provide illuminating windows...

Sep 30, 2008

Premature Ejaculation: It's Not in Your Head

Guys, if you're trying to lay blame for your pitiful mid-life crisis, some good news: Scientists have found that premature ejaculation is not all in your head. In fact, the propensity is genetically determined. Neuropsychiatrist Marcel Waldinger and pharmacological researcher Paddy Janssen at Utrecht University studied 89 Dutch men who...

Aug 31, 2008

Study: Zen Meditation Really Does Clear the Mind

The seemingly nonsensical Zen practice of thinking about not thinking could help free the mind of distractions, new brain scans reveal. This suggests Zen meditation could help treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (so-called ADD or ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, major depression and other disorders marked by distracting thoughts....

Aug 31, 2008

Urban Surprise: More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents

In a study that at first glance seems counterintuitive, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, reviewed safety studies from 17 countries and 68 cities in California and found that the more people bike in a community, the less they collide with motorists. It appears that...

Aug 31, 2008

Boss' Gender Can Affect Workers' Stress

Bosses in general can be a pain in the … well, you know, but a new study finds that your boss’ gender can affect just how much pain he or she seems to inflict. Researchers at the University of Toronto used data from a 2005 national telephone survey of working...

Aug 31, 2008

At Home, Women Rule

Men might strut their stuff on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill, but across America women wield the power on the home front. A survey by the Pew Research Center, announced today, finds that among 43 percent of couples the woman makes more of the decisions in the domestic realm...

Aug 31, 2008

Even Viruses Catch Viruses

Among pathogens, viruses are unique in their collective ability to infect all types of organisms. There are plant viruses, insect viruses, fungal viruses, and even viruses that infect only amoeba and bacteria. Now a group of researchers at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France has made the...

Jul 31, 2008

Why Shocking Images Stick in Short-Term Memory

You’d probably remember seeing a man with pink hair more than you could recall the guy walking next to him with brown hair. That’s because our brains best remember attention-grabbing images, according to a new study. Previous research has implied an upper limit to the number of visual images a...

Jul 31, 2008

Girls' Most Dangerous Sport: Cheerleading

For high school girls and college women, cheerleading is far more dangerous than any other sport, according to a new report that adds several previously unreported cases of serious injuries to a growing list. High school cheerleading accounted for 65.1 percent of all catastrophic sports injuries among high school females...

Jul 31, 2008

The Pill Makes Women Pick Bad Mates

Birth-control pills could screw up a woman's ability to sniff out a compatible mate, a new study finds. While several factors can send a woman swooning, including big brains and brawn, body odor can be critical in the final decision, the researchers say. That's because beneath a woman's flowery fragrance...