science wire

Camille Z. Charles , professor of sociology and Africana studies in the School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania , has been named as a 2013-14 Fellow by the Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law & Justice at New York University.

05 Sep 2013 A £ 2.2m Research Programme led by University of Manchester researchers is to investigate if Brazil's recipe for success can be replicated in sub-Saharan Africa. Running from 2013 to 2016, it is directed by Dr Ed Amann from the School of Social sciences and Professor Armando Barrientos, from The Brooks World Poverty Institute, both based at the University.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - How social media users create and monitor their online personas may hint at their feelings of self-esteem and self-determination, according to an international team of researchers. "The types of actions users take and the kinds of information they are adding to their Facebook walls and profiles are a refection of their identities," said S. Shyam Sundar , Distinguished Professor of and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory , Penn State.

Rice farming near Beijing has contaminated and tapped the city's drinking water supply. For the past four years, China has been paying farmers to grow corn instead of rice, an effort that Stanford research shows is paying off for people and the environment.

The new book "The Autobiographical Self in Time and Culture" (Oxford University Press) combines theory, research, examples and personal anecdotes to convey a message: The stories we remember and tell about ourselves are conditioned by one's time and culture. The book traces the developmental, social, cultural and historical origins of the autobiographical self - the self that is made of memories of our personal past and of our family and community.

How far should stations go to ensure your security? A European research project involving the University of Sheffield is giving public transport users the chance to inform new guidelines to help make our stations more secure.

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A five year quest is underway to solve the cosmic detective puzzle of why the expansion of the universe is speeding up. For hundreds of nights over the next five years, the researchers taking part in this Dark Energy Survey (DES) aim to find out not only why the growth of the universe is accelerating, instead of slowing down due to gravity, but also to probe the mystery of dark energy, the force believed to be causing that acceleration.

Sussex 'eyeball squad' help survey the skies in hunt for dark energy First-year Physics students at the University of Sussex gave up their summer sunshine to study the stars as part of a major international cosmology survey that began this week (03 September 2013).

Traumatic childhood experiences are linked to an increased risk of early death, according to new research using data from the 1958 National Child Development Study. The research, led by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), in collaboration with the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health at UCL, found that men and women who had suffered adversity in childhood were more likely to die before age of 50 than those who had not.

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Improving the welfare and parenting, particularly fathering, of children in homes where there is domestic violence is the focus of a new project led by the University of Melbourne.

The median household income for Americans reached an all-time high in 2000, fell during the recession of 2001, and was only approaching its 2000 level in 2007 when the Great Recession struck.

In his latest documentary film, award-winning documentarian and Stanford professor Jamie Meltzer documents the work of a detective agency run by exonerated men who work to fight wrongful convictions and the criminal justice system.

Greater effort must be put into differentiating high-quality evidence from substandard evidence when evaluating public policy in Australia, according to new research by the University of Melbourne. The report, What Is Evidence-Based Policy? by Professor Paul Jensen , analyses the methods and techniques that Australian officials use to evaluate the success of policy responses.

More than 45 community advocates, law enforcement officials and other professionals gathered on campus this summer for free training offered by the Western New York Human Trafficking Task Force.

The United States had a secret weapon in the war against Nazi Germany. Many of the best minds from Germany and occupied Europe fled fascist hatred and came to our shores.

Public now has the benefit of major research to discuss: what kind of production does the U.S. need and where must it be located to sustain an innovation economy? On Friday, Sept. 20, the MIT Production in the Innovation Economy (PIE) group will present the final conclusions of their global manufacturing study during a conference at MIT.

A new study that aims to explore public trust in A-Levels is seeking people to share their views. Results from the research, led by the University of Bristol, will be fed back to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation and English exam boards.

Children who display hyperactivity, inattention and conduct problems at the age of three are at risk of worse academic outcomes at age 16, according to new research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry . The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Nottingham and University of Bristol, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council ( ESRC ).

Diagnostic test developed at UAlberta is more accurate, easier to use for detecting polyps in colon before they become cancerous. A colon cancer screening test developed at the University of Alberta is on its way to commercialization and potential worldwide use, through a new collaboration with a leading Chinese research institute and a U of A spinoff company.

With the economy once again dominating media coverage and public anxiety in the lead-up to the federal election, a new campaign by leading academics is urging Australians to consider how decisions on expenditure will affect poverty.

UAlberta's business incubator helps entrepreneurs get an edge in their industry, new survey shows. The University of Alberta's business accelerator is helping entrepreneurs get an edge in their industry, according to a new survey.

As the public's faith in government and traditional political institutions crumbles, younger generations are taking cues from fictional wizards and TV vampires to take action on behalf of issues or causes they believe in.

Thousands of prospective students have been helped on the path to higher education thanks to Confirmation and Clearing advisers at Plymouth University.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Penn State will be home to one of 16 U.S. Census Research Data Centers beginning in January 2014.

Lillian Lee '93, professor of computer science, has been named a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) - a lifetime honor - for significant contributions to

14 August 2013 Smart and quick land surveys by unmanned microplanes are now offered by the German company MAVinci, an alumnus of ESA Business Incubation Centre Darmstadt.

A student photography competition showcases some of the stunning visuals that result from modern Social Anthropology research The photographs captured a few of my most memorable moments in the field t

ANN ARBOR-One of the most extensive collections of videos showing teachers at work in the classroom will be available this fall at the University of Michigan to help researchers learn more about how to evaluate good teaching and how to develop excellent teachers.

14 Aug 2013 More needs to be done in prisons to look after a growing population of older male prisoners, according to research by The University of Manchester. The findings, published by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Journals Library in Health Services and Delivery Research this week (8 August) showed 44% of prisons do not have a policy on the care and management of older prisoners and there was a lack of integration between health and social care services.

White people are more likely to be represented, and in a positive light, than blacks or Asians in Canadian television advertisements, says a new study from the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). "Previous studies have looked at depictions of race in Canadian media, but this is the first to focus on advertising," says Professor Shyon Baumann , chair of UTM's Department of Sociology.

Women with a history of childhood physical abuse are more likely to become obese adults, says a new study by University of Toronto researchers.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Women are less likely to take part in corporate crime and fraud even though more women now work in corporations and serve at higher levels of those organizations, according to a team of sociologists.

A new study presents data showing that human rights abuses ultimately decline in countries that establish oversight commissions.

A new research project examining how search engines contribute to voter knowledge in elections has been launched by the Adam Smith Research Foundation. Social scientists have long noted that informed citizens are critical to sustaining democracy, while authoritarian regimes are marked by their control of information flow.

An ongoing collaboration between Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the University of Manchester, University College London and the University of Exeter, has received funding in the region of £2 million from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) to carry out a five-year programme investigating the issues faced by prisoners with mental health problems near to and after release, and to develop and evaluate a system of care to address those issues.

ANN ARBOR-Smart people are just as racist as their less intelligent peers-they're just better at concealing their prejudice, according to a University of Michigan study.

Last week's Zimbabwean elections saw Robert Mugabe return for a seventh presidential term. Anthropology student Rowan Jones reports on the views of some ordinary Zimbabweans in the country's second largest city, Bulawayo.

Public concern about the economy and job security has doubled since 2010, while concern about global warming has halved. More than half of the people surveyed in the latest ANUpoll listed the economy and jobs among the most important issues Australia is facing right now. The second most important issue was immigration and asylum seekers, which was nominated by 28 per cent of the 1,200 randomly surveyed people.

08 Aug 2013 A study of hundreds of teachers and parents of children on the autistic spectrum has revealed factors why they are more or less likely to be bullied.

At-risk youth who participated in the 2012 One Summer Plus program experienced a 51 percent drop in arrests for violent crime, according to a new study released from the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

Roadkill is a sad but familiar sight in Britain, and it's quite common to see a variety of unfortunate wildlife who have perished on roads across the country.

7 August 2013 Heart attack survivors who live alone and people exposed to extreme stress from events such as natural disasters or sporting events are at greater risk of heart attack, according to a new Brain and Mind Research Institute-led (BMRI) study supported by the Heart Foundation.

Garrett Fagan is a professor of ancient history at Penn State. His primary research interests pertain to Roman history and archaeology, a topic he has been studying and writing about since his childhood in Ireland.

Leading child welfare policymaker Bryan Samuels has been appointed executive director of Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago , the Chapin Hall board of directors announced Aug.

John H. Thompson, president and CEO of NORC at the University of Chicago , has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new director of the U.S. Census Bureau.