Online threats, hatred and harassment have led people who feel discriminated against to create digital spaces where they can feel safe. According to a new thesis from the University of Gothenburg, these spaces are characterised by clear rules and constant maintenance and monitoring. Much of social life today takes place online. Unfortunately, the worst aspects of interpersonal relationships also appear in the digital world. A study of 51 countries revealed that 38% of women had personally experienced online harassment. Bullying…
Virginia Tech scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC found practicing episodic future thinking both reduced impulsivity and enhanced connectivity in key regions of the brain Learning to think more about specific events in the future appears to reduce impulsivity, improve decision-making, and shows potential as a therapy for alcohol use disorder, a new Virginia Tech study found. The study, which involved 24 participants whose brains were scanned during both resting-state and task-based fMRI, showed brain connections were altered…
Researchers at the University of Jena develop data sets for the description and recording of odours People all over the world largely agree on what the colour blue looks like or what the shape of a ball feels like. But when it comes to describing odours, opinions often differ. This is because, unlike the processing of wavelengths of light in the brain, which makes it possible to determine colours relatively clearly, it is still not easy to deduce the smell…
Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? If you rewind to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, chances are you experienced some level of pessimism. And who could blame you? With social isolation, health concerns and economic uncertainty, fear and anxiety became a daily reality for many. A team of researchers from Syracuse University and Michigan State University recently explored the personal characteristics that help people handle prolonged stressors, such as the pandemic. Led by Jeewon Oh,…
With New Year resolutions in full swing and health tracking apps at our fingertips, new research reveals concerning links between health and fitness apps and disordered eating, body image concerns and excessive exercise. “Diet and fitness apps are marketed as tools to improve health, however they may also have unintended negative consequences, such as creating pressure to meet goals, concerns about body image as well as provoking feelings of guilt if goals aren’t achieved,” says Ms Isabella Anderberg in the…
Conservation researchers working on grassland restoration in Kenya found that larger areas of restored habitat reduced both social conflicts and human-wildlife conflicts Across Kenya, grasslands underpin people’s lives — as well as those of animals like elephants, giraffes, and hyenas. But the climate crisis is drying out these habitats, forcing people and animals to compete for resources, and increasing both community tensions and conflict between humans and wildlife. Researchers monitoring both grassland restoration and conflicts have now found that restoration…
Adults with high levels of playfulness showed strong resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to less playful individuals, new research shows. The study led by Xiangyou “Sharon” Shen of Oregon State University is important because playfulness is a vital but underappreciated resource for building resilience and maintaining well-being during difficult periods such as the pandemic, Shen said. And it’s a resource that individuals can cultivate. “Understanding how playful people navigate adversity can inform interventions and strategies to help people cope…
A hedonic price model incorporating street view images processed by machine learning and existing property data achieves nearly 75% accuracy for rent prediction in Osaka City Housing rents usually correlate with factors such as the building’s age, facilities, and location. Yet not all rentals with similar physical factors charge the same rent. Psychological factors such as the subjective perceptions of the neighborhood matter as well. Considering these perception variables, an Osaka Metropolitan University team has developed a method with almost…
A new international study highlights the severity of climate change impacts across African mountains, how farmers are adapting, and the barriers they face – findings relevant to people living in mountain regions around the world. “Mountains are the sentinels of climate change,” said Julia Klein, a Colorado State University professor of ecosystem science and sustainability and co-author of the study. “Like the Arctic, some of the first extreme changes we’re seeing are happening in mountains, from glaciers melting to extreme…
A dynamic left-hand squeeze helps to optimize performance. The images are legendary: Tennis stars who hit the deciding match ball just outside the line, golfers who putt the ball past the cup from only inches away, and speakers who suddenly can’t say a word. These individuals all have one thing in common: They are unable to access their performance abilities in a crucial situation. A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) investigated the phenomenon and has come…
Use of tablets in mathematics… Low-achieving pupils benefit more in mathematics lessons from learning materials on tablet PCs than high-achieving children. They are obviously helped by individualized learning paths, immediate feedback and the hands-on processing of interactive content. This conclusion was reached in a study conducted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with sixth-grade students. The team of researchers has developed an eBook for learning fractions, which is available free of charge in English, Spanish and German. Fractions are…
The third report released by the TWI2050 initiative titled, Innovations for Sustainability: Pathways to an efficient and sufficient post-pandemic future,…
By 2050, the world’s population aged 60 years and older is expected to reach 2 billion, of which 80% will live in low- and middle-income countries.
At almost every age within this population group, more people in Brazil and Nigeria suffer from pre-existing chronic conditions than in European countries,…
In the three years before going to hospital for a stroke, heart attack or gastrointestinal cancers, only 75 percent of male patients in Denmark had seen a…
In recent years and decades, substantial progress has been made in the area of gender equality: women have caught up to or even overtaken men in terms of…
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