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Religions - Politics - 07.12.2020

2021 Northern Ireland census unlikely to clarify prospects of Irish unity
Expectations are rising that the 2021 Northern Ireland census may act as a trigger for a referendum on Irish unification, but 'new' census questions on religious background and national identity are likely to shape the debate about Northern Ireland's constitutional future, a new study reveals. While 'sectarian head-counting' has featured in Northern Irish politics since partition in 1921, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA) introduced a mechanism for a 'border poll' on Irish unification.

Religions - History / Archeology - 23.11.2020

Early Christian fish: excavations provide insights into church construction
Archaeologists of the University of Münster have uncovered an early Christian basilica in south-eastern Turkey. The team of researchers led by Prof. Engelbert Winter spent eight weeks exposing richly ornamented mosaics with images of fish as well as painted marble reliefs. "These finds cast a new light on the development of church building in the Near East between the 4th and 7th centuries AD," explains Engelbert Winter, professor at the Minor Research Centre in the Department of Ancient History at the University of Münster.

Religions - Health - 13.11.2020

Deep faith beneficial to health
Creating a relationship with a supernatural other takes effort that can lead to meaningful change, says Stanford anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. People who believe their God or gods are real, even if the existence of those supernatural beings can't be empirically proven, have long fascinated and confounded scientists.

Social Sciences - Religions - 01.09.2020

Scriptures rarely a significant motivating factor behind violence, say researchers
Many people misunderstand the relationship between religion, scripture and violence, a new book argues. Some people worry that scriptures such as the Qur'an and the Bible fan the flames of violence in the world today, while others insist that they are inherently peaceful. According to an international team of researchers, the reality may be more complicated than either set of people think.

Religions - 23.07.2020

Mother Teresa and Albanian Christianity are intertwined - study
Mother Teresa's life and the history of Albania - especially its people's relationship with Roman Catholicism - are intertwined, with the humanitarian icon epitomising her nation's cultural and spiritual DNA, the new study Mother Teresa: The Saint and Her Nation reveals. Its author, Dr Gëzim Alpion , from the University of Birmingham, claims that personal tragedies and Albanian origins helped shape Mother Teresa into the most influential religious personality of our times.

Religions - Economics / Business - 07.01.2020

Not tonight boys; how Papal visits could leave Italian men out of luck for more than a year
A visit by the Pope can renew sufficient religious observance among Italian women to withhold sex from their partners for more than a year afterwards, a new University of Sussex study shows. Papal visits to Italian provinces lead to a subsequent decrease in abortions of up to 20% with its impact felt for up to 14 months after, new research by economists Dr Vikram Pathania and Dr Egidio Farina has revealed.

Religions - Social Sciences - 19.12.2019

Can religion be explained by brain wiring? The faithful say no
HOUSTON - (Dec. 19, 2019) - Is there a "God spot” in the brain that determines whether you're hardwired to be religious' New research from Rice University finds that nonbelievers are more likely than the faithful to think that's true. "Can Religiosity Be Explained by 'Brain Wiring'- An Analysis of U.S. Adults' Opinions” builds on significant literature about neurotheology , or the connection between religion and the mind.

History / Archeology - Religions - 09.09.2019

Skeletons yield clues about 19th-century immigrant life in New Haven
On July 12, 2011, a human bone was discovered jutting from a drainage trench at a construction site at Yale New Haven Hospital. The New Haven police and state coroner were called, but it was no crime scene. Michael Massella, a security officer on duty at the hospital, contacted his co-worker Anthony Griego, a retired New Haven police officer and local historian.

History / Archeology - Religions - 28.08.2019

German Research Foundation awards funding to a University of Münster excavation project
For more than 20 years, the staff of the Asia Minor Research Centre at the Department of Ancient History of Münster University has been investigating the cultural legacy of the ancient city of Doliche in south-eastern Turkey. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is now funding the project with around 800,000 euros for a further three years.

Religions - 08.04.2019

More than 900 reports of potential modern slavery in hand car washes recorded through app
Drivers using a pioneering app to gather information on modern slavery in hand car washes made more than 900 reports of potential cases over a five-month period, according to research published today. The Safe Car Wash app, which allows drivers to respond to a check list of key factors that may suggest modern slavery or labour exploitation in hand car washes, has been downloaded 8,225 times since its launch by the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales last year.

Religions - Law - 01.04.2019

Vast majority of NSW hate crimes race and religion related: study
A new University of Sydney study provides the most comprehensive picture of the patterns of hate crime in Australia to date. It has revealed the prevalence of race and religion-based hate crimes, and that people of Asian, Indian/Pakistani and Muslim backgrounds are the most frequent victims. Hate crime - also referred to as 'bias crime' - is crime that is motivated by prejudice, bias or hatred towards a presumed characteristic of the victim, such as race, religion, sexual orientation, disability status or gender identity.

Religions - History / Archeology - 27.03.2019

Voices from Beyond
The voice is a fleeting medium. As the primary means of human communication, it also plays an important role in religion. And yet it is difficult to grasp and seems to elude discussion. But a research project at the Cluster of Excellence has nonetheless approached the voice in a religious context: scholars from various disciplines have studied the voice as a medium of religious communication, and have discovered in historical testimonies, as well as in literature and artwork from various religions and cultures from antiquity to the present day, what can be called "voices from beyond".

Social Sciences - Religions - 30.10.2018

AI systems shed light on root cause of religious conflict
Artificial intelligence can help us to better understand the causes of religious violence and to potentially control it, according to a new Oxford University collaboration. The study is one of the first to be published that uses psychologically realistic AI - as opposed to machine learning. The research published in The Journal for Artificial Societies and Social Stimulation , combines computer modelling and cognitive psychology to create an AI system able to mimic human religiosity.

Religions - 12.09.2018

Religious background more important than faith education for academic success
The academic advantages associated with a faith school education are short lived, and are mainly explained by home background, new research from UCL shows. UCL Institute of Education (IOE) researchers analysed data on more than 10,000 people born in England and Wales in a single week in 1970, who are taking part in the 1970 British Cohort Study.  The research looked at whether faith schools, across both the state and private sectors, gave an academic advantage to their pupils at O level, A level, and at university.

Life Sciences - Religions - 07.08.2018

Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests
New DNA analysis reveals that, before their mysterious disappearance, the Norse colonies of Greenland had a "near monopoly" on Europe's walrus ivory supply. An overreliance on this trade may have contributed to Norse Greenland's collapse when the medieval market declined. The very thing which gave the society its initial resilience, may have also contained the seeds of its vulnerability James Barrett The Icelandic Sagas tell of Erik the Red: exiled for murder in the late 10th century he fled to southwest Greenland, establishing its first Norse settlement.

Religions - 18.07.2018

Secular countries can expect future economic growth, confirms new study
New research measuring the importance of religion in 109 countries spanning the entire 20th century has reignited an age-old debate around the link between secularisation and economic growth. The study, published in Science Advances, has shown that a decline in religion influences a country's future economic prosperity.

Religions - 15.06.2018

Hindu and Muslim children show unexpected religious tolerance
In a region of India with a long history of tension between Hindus and Muslims, children of different faiths are showing unexpected tolerance for one another's religious beliefs and customs, according to a new study led by UC Berkeley psychologist Mahesh Srinivasan. Researchers surveyed approximately 100 Hindu and Muslim children aged between 9 and 15 at two different schools in Gujarat, India, the site of violent Hindu-Muslim conflict in 2002 .

Religions - 22.05.2018

Health experts in Birmingham and Guangzhou set up research institute
The King James Bible, first published in 1611, has been found to have been translated by a Frenchman - according to three sources newly discovered by a University of Birmingham researcher. Although the King James Bible went on to become the most popular translation throughout the English-speaking world, the circumstances surrounding its production have always been mysterious.

Religions - Pedagogy - 17.04.2018

Religiously engaged adolescents demonstrate habits that help them get better grades
Study suggests that being religious helps adolescents get better grades because they are rewarded for being conscientious and cooperative. Adolescents who practice religion on a regular basis do better in school than those who are religiously disengaged, according to new research from Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE).

Religions - Politics - 07.02.2018

Better Knowledge of Evolution Leads to Greater Acceptance of the Concept
Prevailing theories about evolution state that belief in the concept is tied only to a person's politics, religion or both. But according to new research out of the University of Pennsylvania published in BioScience , the journal of the American Institute of Biology, whether Americans accept or reject the subject also depends on how well they understand it.