For thousands of years, nomadic herdsmen have roamed the harsh, semi-arid lowlands that stretch across 80% of Kenya and 60% of Ethiopia. Descendants of the oldest tribal societies in the world, they survive thanks to the animals they raise and the crops they grow, their travels determined by the search for water and grazing lands. (more…)
*UCLA scientists use new scientific method to verify vintage 4100 B.C. wine*
Analysis by a UCLA-led team of scientists has confirmed the discovery of the oldest complete wine production facility ever found, including grape seeds, withered grape vines, remains of pressed grapes, a rudimentary wine press, a clay vat apparently used for fermentation, wine-soaked potsherds, and even a cup and drinking bowl. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Biological fathers are more likely to spank their children when they are unable to cope with stress from parenting or they use abuse alcohol and drugs, a new study indicates.
The study also finds that fathers used corporal punishment—which involves physical force to a child to correct a behavior—more often on boys than girls. (more…)
The world that Garentina Kraja ’11 has come to know as a Yale student is vastly different from the one in which she grew up in Kosovo. But memories of the days when she was literally running for her life or watching families identify loved ones killed during the civil war in her homeland are so vivid that they easily bring tears to her eyes. (more…)
When their romantic partners are not quintessentially masculine, women in their fertile phase are more likely to fantasize about masculine-looking men than are women paired with George Clooney types.
But women with masculine-looking partners do not necessarily become more attracted to their partners, a recent study co-authored by a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher concludes. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Frigid weather may seem like a good excuse to avoid workouts, stay inside and overindulge in comfort foods. However, health experts from the University of Missouri have found that these tendencies leave most people feeling less content during the winter months. MU researchers say people should establish new traditions to increase happiness and avoid wintertime woes. (more…)
*Blizzard in Northeast Provides Additional Boost to Post-Christmas Spending*
RESTON, VA, December 29, 2010 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-
commerce spending for the first 56 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $30.81 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 26) witnessed $2.45 billion in spending, an increase of 17 percent versus the corresponding week last year. (more…)
*An encounter with 35 young girls in Kenya prompted Margo Day to start a secondary school there. The school will also be a refuge for girls who fled their homes to avoid the traditional practice of female genital mutilation.*
REDMOND, Wash. — When Margo Day went on a safari last year in Africa, she more or less knew what to expect. She had traveled in Kenya and Tanzania 16 years earlier, where she had what she calls a life-changing experience watching lions, elephants and wildebeests roam the plains. She returned to Kenya last fall to share that experience with her 19-year-old niece, Gail.
What Day didn’t expect was meeting 35 young girls who would change her life. But Day, who serves as West regional vice president of U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners at Microsoft, had also wanted to do some philanthropic work on her trip. So she and her niece spent the last four days of their tripin remote northern Kenya with a team from World Vision, an international nonprofit that helps children, families and communities overcome poverty and injustice. The day before Day and her niece flew back to the U.S., they visited a primary school that also housed a rescue center run by World Vision. (more…)
