science wire

Robots are being used as classroom buddies for children with autism in a groundbreaking initiative that aims to improve social interaction and communication.

Scott Straus is working with federal officials to help them understand the causes of genocide and identify ways to prevent atrocities.

Late last month, the directors of the 20 campus Organized Research Units-as part of Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla's "Making Connections" plan to learn the campus' strengths and centers of excel

Come and hear broadcaster Angela Catterns when she joins Helen Pitt, the opinion page editor of The Sydney Morning Herald , and Simon Chapman, Associate Danielle Celermajer and Richard Miles next Monday (12 November) to talk about how academics can get their message across in the mainstream media.

The Centre for Culture, Community and Society, within Plymouth University's Institute of Health and Community, is set to host a special event as part of the prestigious national ESRC Festival of Social Science.

From research on traditional healing practices in China's cities to undocumented dairy workers in New York, graduate student scholarship is being supported by Cornell's Institute for the Social Sciences (ISS).

On one hand, the border is where cultural differences and divergent international strategies become evident; on the other hand, it is where new partnerships are developing.

Even if demographic changes require people to retire later there's actually a lot of evidence to suggest that people are better off staying in employment rather than leaving the labour market.

The rise of the Pacific region has been a focus of U.S. foreign policy.

Some predict that Latino voters could flex some considerable political muscle in the 2012 presidential election and decide the contest, especially through their balloting in the swing states of Nevada, Colorado and Florida.

Stanford Report, October 30, 2012 A new interactive atlas from Stanford's Spatial Social Science Lab looks at the 2008 presidential election on the level of individual precincts.

A book by University of Sussex alumnus Robert Malcolmson based on the Mass Observation diaries of housewife Nella Last has been shortlisted for the prestigious Portico Prize.

ANN ARBOR-The oldest old are doing better and those approaching late life are doing worse, but Americans between the ages of 65 and 84 are experiencing about the same level of disabilities as they did at the start of the 21st century. Those are the key findings a new study of trends in late-life activity limitations that harmonizes the findings of five independent national surveys of more than 40,000 Americans.

Polling for the University of Sydney's What Matters campaign, a public engagement campaign to find out what matters to Australians and people around the world, has wrapped up for 2012, having attracted more than 29,000 votes from 157 countries.

Stanford Report, October 26, 2012 Drawing from national polls, Segura suggests that Latino voters are largely in the Democrats' camp for the foreseeable future.

AUSTIN, Texas — Routine testing for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among state prison populations will help reduce the spread of AIDS among the general public, according to a policy bri

With the release of its annual fall survey on China, the University of Alberta's China Institute again shows itself as a valuable national resource for federal and provincial governments engaging with the growing Asian country.

AUSTIN, Texas - A new interactive, online database provides the public full access to records on 6,913 deaths that have occurred in Texas state custody since 2005.

The wide swings in debate performances by this year's presidential candidates reflect the fact that in modern campaigns, a candidate's image is the message, according to linguistic anthropologists who have studied presidential campaigns.

Law School issues report on sexual violence in Zambia Adolescent girls in Zambia face frequent sexual violence and harassment at school, researchers from Cornell Law School's Avon Global Center for W

When award-winning filmmaker Eileen Thalenberg decided to make the documentary Babies: Born To Be Good? she headed to the laboratories of U of T's Kang Lee in Canada and China.

The timing of Janice Williamson's new collection of writing on Omar Khadr couldn't be better.

We are so used to seeing the world through essentially Western eyes for the last 200 years, but it will not be essentially Western any more.

From studies on the vocal organs to how foreclosures have affected racial integration, social science research at Cornell just got a boost from the university's Institute for the Social Sciences (ISS).

A University of Alberta researcher says that when it comes to understanding globalization, we need a grasp on our past to get a grip on the present.

Mitt Romney and President Obama speak during the second presidential debate on Oct. Their third and final debate will focus on foreign policy.

Professor Elizabeth Dowler, Professor of Food and Social Policy at the University of Warwick claims UK families struggling to afford to feed themselves are being forgotten in the debate about rising costs of food commodities across the world.

As India sets about constructing a metal curtain along the full length of its border with Bangladesh, Cambridge anthropology graduate Delwar Hussain travelled to the remote village of Boropani, which

Sussex Salon debate: Do we need Black History Month? Celebrated in the UK since 1987, Black History month (October) was founded to celebrate and highlight the Afro-Caribbean and Asian contribution to our history and culture.

ANN ARBOR-American presidential campaigns provide a unique window into our society, according to a University of Michigan anthropologist.

The University of Edinburgh has once again secured its place as one of the world's best places to study the arts and humanities.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Despite a number of measures undertaken by the government in Albania to curb sex trafficking, rigorous comprehensive legal and social reforms are needed to address the practices that perpetuate it, a new study led by a University of Illinois researcher indicates. Patriarchal societal customs that disenfranchise women, along with high rates of poverty, domestic violence and governmental corruption have made Albania a pivotal location for the trafficking industry.

Jens Ludwig, one of the nation's leading researchers applying scientific tools to the study of social issues such as crime, poverty, and health, has been elected to the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine.

This term eminent thinkers from a broad range of fields will be contributing to a series of lectures with the theme Understanding Society.

The biggest challenges affecting UK society - from the crisis in the Eurozone to poverty and social exclusion,  will be explored by some of the country's leading social scientists as part of 'Thinking

Campus hosts U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea's Ambassador to the U.S. for a public forum U.S. Ambassador to the Republic o

Relaxing immigration rules by just 3% in developed countries would generate more than $150bn for the world's economy.

In a lecture this Thursday (11 October), Professor Akbar Ahmed will draw attention to the plight of women in countries caught up in the war on terror.

8 Oct 2012 Australia can't afford to ignore international 'human security' issues - like hunger, disease and violence - if it secures a spot on the UN Security Council, according to a leading University of Melbourne analyst.

Modern conflict archaeology is the subject of a new book written by postgraduates from the University of Bristol's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology and edited by Nicholas Saunders.

What makes a good society and why do the arts, humanities and social sciences matter? Writer, broadcaster and sociologist Professor Laurie Taylor will be addressing these questions when he officially launches the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) at The University of Nottingham next week.