The tendency to perceive others as “us versus them” isn’t exclusively human but appears to be shared by our primate cousins, a new study led by Yale researchers has found.
In a series of ingenious experiments, Yale researchers led by psychologist Laurie Santosshowed that monkeys treat individuals from outside their groups with the same suspicion and dislike as their human cousins tend to treat outsiders, suggesting that the roots of human intergroup conflict may be evolutionarily quite ancient.(more…)
Carbon nanofibers hold promise for technologies ranging from medical imaging devices to precise scientific measurement tools, but the time and expense associated with uniformly creating nanofibers of the correct size has been an obstacle – until now. A new study from North Carolina State University demonstrates an improved method for creating carbon nanofibers of specific sizes, as well as explaining the science behind the method.
“Carbon nanofibers have a host of potential applications, but their utility is affected by their diameter – and controlling the diameter of nanofibers has historically been costly and time-consuming,” says Dr. Anatoli Melechko, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the study. (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Oral disease occurs commonly and progresses rapidly among people who have HIV, but the process is poorly understood. Researchers suspect that the culprit is a change in the makeup of bacterial communities that live in the mouth.(more…)
*Venezuela and Colombia Web Populations Experience Highest Growth, Brazil Home to Most Engaged Users*
*comScore Presents Complimentary Webinar “The 2010 Digital Year in Review: Latin America”*
Santiago, Chile, March 18, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest results from a study of the growth in the Internet audience in Latin America based on data from its comScore Media Metrix service. The study found that in the past year the Internet population in Latin America has increased 15 percent to 112.7 million visitors as the region’s digital ecosystem continued to grow and develop. The results of the study will be presented along with other key online trends via a complimentary, live webinar 2010 Digital Year in Review Latin America on Tuesday, March 22. For more information and to register, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/255678857 Note: Webinar will be presented in Spanish.(more…)
Over 50 percent of the population in the United States and over 60 percent in the world live in coastal areas. Rapidly growing human populations near the ocean have massively altered coastal water ecosystems.
One of the most extensive human stressors is the discharge of chemicals and pollutants into the ocean. In the Southern California Bight, more than 60 sewage and urban runoff sources discharge over 1 billion gallons of liquid on a dry day with the two largest sources of contaminants being sewage from municipal treatment plants and urban runoff from highly modified river basins. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — A punch. A kick. A hit in the head with a can of soda. It’s not a Three Stooges film but rather the latest trend in advertising, a trend a Michigan State University professor calls “disturbing.”(more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— While exposed spent fuel rods at the failing nuclear reactors in Japan pose new threats, the worst-case scenario would still be unlikely to expose the public to catastrophic amounts of radiation, says a University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor who is an expert on this particular kind of reactor.
“For the public, I don’t believe it would be much higher than two additional chest x-rays,” said John Lee, a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, citing the results of the Three Mile Island accident. (more…)
