Category Archives: Culture

UFO for American Presidents

Many U.S. presidents during their terms were seriously interested in UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence issues, and some of them even had a chance to make contact with aliens. We turn to the recently declassified archives of ufology. Let’s start with 1948, when President Harry S. Truman summoned his Assistant Robert Landry to the Oval Office.

Truman gave him the order to make reports every three months on the flying saucers observed over the country. Once, Truman asked to investigate the case of the appearance of mysterious object over Washington that he observed through his window. (more…)

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How Tattoos ‘Move’ With Age

The dyes which are injected into the skin to create tattoos move with time – permanently altering the look of a given design. In this month’s Mathematics Today Dr Ian Eames, a Reader in Fluid Mechanics at UCL, publishes a mathematical model enabling us to estimate the movement of these ink particles and predict how specific tattoo designs will look several years in the future.

“Tattoos are incredibly popular worldwide with more than a third of 18-25 year olds in the USA sporting at least one design,” says Dr Eames. “A great deal of work has already been done on the short term fate of ink particles in the skin, tracking them over periods of just a few months – but much less is known about how these particles move over longer periods of time. (more…)

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Safer Sex: Study Examines Sexual Communication in Transgender Community

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that talking about safer sex is a complicated process for individuals in the transgender community. The finding may help efforts to promote safer sex practices in a community facing high HIV rates – and also sheds light on broader questions related to safer sex for everyone.

“The main reason for this study is the fact that we’re seeing evidence of devastatingly high HIV prevalence rates in the transgender community,” says Dr. Kami Kosenko, an assistant professor of communication at NC State and lead author of the study. “The HIV prevalence rate is less than 1 percent for the general U.S. population. But for the transgender population, the HIV prevalence rate is estimated to be as high as 60 percent in major metropolitan areas. Although these are only estimates, they are troubling.” (more…)

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There’s More to Shopping Than Just Buying Stuff

EAST LANSING, Mich. — For women, shopping is more than just buying stuff. For some it can be therapeutic, for others a time to socialize, or for some a challenge to find the right product at the right price.

Michigan State University’s Patricia Huddleston is co-author of a new book, “Consumer Behavior: Women and Shopping,” which looks at the reasons why women go shopping, as well as provides a history of how shopping has evolved over the years. (more…)

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Preserving the Navajo Language, One Interpreter at a Time

*A group of 33 students were competively selected to earn free certification from the UA’s Navajo Interpreter Training Institute to gain eligibility to serve as interpreters in New Mexico and Arizona state courts.*

Many of the 33 students enrolled in the University of Arizona’s Navajo Interpreter Training Institute have similar backgrounds – they began their unofficial role as English-to-Navajo language interpreters as children translating for their parents and grandparents.

Now, as adults who live and work across Arizona and New Mexico, they still find themselves providing the same service. (more…)

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Who Knows You Best? Not You, Say Psychologists

Know thyself. That was Socrates’ advice, and it squares with conventional wisdom. “It’s a natural tendency to think we know ourselves better than others do,” says Washington University in St. Louis assistant professor Simine Vazire.

But a new article by Vazire and her colleague Erika N. Carlson reviews the research and suggests an addendum to the philosopher’s edict: Ask a friend. “There are aspects of personality that others know about us that we don’t know ourselves, and vice-versa,” says Vazire. “To get a complete picture of a personality, you need both perspectives.” The paper is published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. (more…)

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Exploring The Dark Side of Happiness

As a researcher, Yale psychologist June Gruber has confirmed the many positive physical, social and psychological benefits of human happiness.

While working as a clinical scientist at the University of California-Berkeley, however, she witnessed extreme and damaging bouts of positive emotion during periods of mania in bipolar disorder. (more…)

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