Society & Culture - Jan 4, 2011 15:36 - 1 Comment

Gritty look at sex in ancient Greece

IOWA STATE (US) — A new collection of essays offers a rare peek inside the early days of the world’s oldest profession and challenges glamorized views of the ancient sex trade. (more…)

Society & Culture - Jan 3, 2011 12:31 - 7 Comments

Many adults are chronically lonely

IOWA STATE (US) — A national survey suggests that for many older Americans being lonely is more than a passing feeling. It’s a way of life. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 28, 2010 11:18 - 1 Comment

Brands help hotels leave the lights on

PENN STATE (US) — During economic downturns, hotels with brand names fare better than independently operated properties, new research shows. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 26, 2010 18:32 - 6 Comments

Courts send kids back to abusive dads

U. MINNESOTA (US) — When battered women living abroad left their abusive partners and returned to the United States with their children, in half the cases U.S. courts sent the children back to live with their fathers. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 23, 2010 13:28 - 0 Comments

‘You’ and Bieber top Tweet wishlists

MCGILL U. (CAN) — “You” is, hands down, the No. 1 thing people want for Christmas according to Xmas Tweets, a website that extracts and prioritizes the most up-to-date holiday wishes posted on the social-networking site Twitter. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 20, 2010 12:42 - 0 Comments

Older and emotionally smarter

UC BERKELEY (US) — Older people have a hard time keeping a lid on their feelings, but are more empathetic and better able to see the positive side of stressful situations. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 19, 2010 19:27 - 0 Comments

A tax break for leather pants?

WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US) — A new website (thediscography.org) takes a look at the music industry from the courts’ point of view—everything from copyright disputes to tax write-offs for black leather pants. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 15, 2010 17:43 - 1 Comment

Stigma-free way to talk about sex

BROWN U. (US) — In Ethiopia researchers are using a simple, low-cost device to get honest answers from teens about risky sexual behavior and their knowledge of HIV/AIDS. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 14, 2010 16:59 - 3 Comments

Choosing the news that’s fit to print

CARDIFF U. (UK) — News outlets in Europe choose daily content based on national biases, and cultural, economic, and geographic links between countries, a new analysis finds. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 13, 2010 13:48 - 3 Comments

Kids of divorce get less for college

RICE (US) — Divorced parents contribute about a third of what married parents contribute to their children’s college education even though their incomes are about half as much as their married peers’. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 10, 2010 12:27 - 0 Comments

Elmo effect boosts literacy in Indonesia

JOHNS HOPKINS (US) — Children who watch Jalan Sesama, an Indonesian version of the children’s show Sesame Street, learn faster than their peers and make better progress on other developmental skills, a study shows. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 9, 2010 17:43 - 3 Comments

Alcohol, romance: Not always a bad mix

U. BUFFALO (US) — Drinking plays an important and sometimes unexpected role in young people’s relationships, having negative—and perhaps surprisingly—positive effects as well. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 9, 2010 16:26 - 1 Comment

Circle of friends is fluid, not solid

U. SOUTHAMPTON (UK) — We like to form cliques with others of common interests—but those relationships aren’t necessarily as tightly knit as we may like to believe. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 7, 2010 15:40 - 1 Comment

Early warnings ease market toxicity

CORNELL (US) — Stock market “flash crashes”—like the one on May 6 that briefly erased almost $1 trillion in value and left the financial world reeling—are now predictable and possibly preventable. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 7, 2010 13:11 - 2 Comments

Why married men behave better

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — It’s a chicken-or-egg question: Does marriage curb antisocial behavior in men, or are less antisocial men more likely to get married? New research suggests the answer is both. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 6, 2010 13:07 - 4 Comments

Medieval England better off than Haiti

U. WARWICK (UK) — New research paints a rosier economic picture of medieval England suggesting the country was twice as well-off as today’s poorest nations, including Haiti and Afghanistan. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 6, 2010 11:33 - 2 Comments

Urban community farms a growing trend

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Transforming vacant urban lots into farms and community gardens could provide city residents with a majority of their fruits and vegetables. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 3, 2010 16:11 - 8 Comments

It’s the energy supply, stupid

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — A decade-long decline in the quality of the nation’s energy supply—not the housing bubble—caused the U.S. recession. (more…)

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