Feature Channels: Story Ideas: Life

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A ninety minute daytime nap helps speed up the process of long term memory consolidation, a recent study conducted by Prof. Avi Karni and Dr. Maria Korman of the Center for Brain and Behavior Research at the University of Haifa found. The research was published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience. "We still don't know the exact mechanism of the memory process that occurs during sleep, but the results of this research suggest the possibility that it is possible to speed up memory consolidation, and in the future, we may be able to do it artificially," said Prof. Karni.

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Newly homeless youth are likelier to engage in risky sexual behavior if they stay in nonfamily settings "” such as friends' homes, abandoned buildings or the streets "”because they lack supervision and social support.

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New poll reveals perspectives of Southwesterners in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and New Mexico on immigration issues, the U.S. presidential race and quality of life in the Southwest.

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Older adults who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) have "a history of caregiving" that creates networks of people who support each other during their senior years, according to a questionnaire study of 199 LGB seniors.

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Motorists who talk on cell phones drive slower on the freeway, pass sluggish vehicles less often and take longer to complete their trips, according to a University of Utah study that suggests drivers on cell phones congest traffic. "At the end of the day, the average person's commute is longer because of that person who is on the cell phone right in front of them," says psychologist Dave Strayer.

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If you're going to experience a period of helplessness, it's best to be alone. New research at the University of Haifa found that laboratory rats that were on their own when exposed to uncontrollable conditions, which create a feeling of helplessness, learned to avoid situations which create such feelings better than rats that were exposed to uncontrollable conditions in pairs.

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Today's assassination of Benazir Bhutto is not only a great loss to Pakistan, but also a great loss to the world, says a sociocultural anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis who lived in Pakistan for six months and whose research focuses on Islamic movements in that country and in Afghanistan.

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Shoppers buy more from attractive salespeople: study. A study by University of Alberta Professor Jennifer Argo found clothing was rated more desirable if it had been touched or worn by an attractive member of the opposite sex. And some people said they would pay more for the item, even if it hadn't been washed.

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Diet and weight-loss books have become a multi-million dollar a year business, with millions of Americans searching for the latest way to shed those extra pounds. As 2007 wraps up and Americans get ready for another round of weight-loss New Year's resolutions, a study by American University nutrition expert Stacey Snelling analyses the year's best-selling weight-loss books to find those that provide a healthy way to lose the weight and those that are all hype.

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For generations, social scientists have defined the black middle class in family terms, as married couples with children. But a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that a growing percentage of the black middle class are young single people living alone.

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Patti Brown, a graduate student in Iowa State University's Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, has compiled a complete history and analysis of political bumpers stickers from United States presidential campaigns. Her class project includes a political blog, and a "sculpture" featuring two Ford pickup bumpers, bolted together and covered with 65 presidential campaign stickers.

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A University of Arkansas marketing professor says people use tattoos as a way to find meaning, permanence and stability "“ and thus a coherent identity "“ in an increasingly complex and fragmented world. The research explains why people buy certain products and demonstrates that marketers and retailers increasingly rely on narrative to sell all kinds of products.

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Anyone familiar with MySpace, Facebook and YouTube knows that the Internet has literally plugged young people into and connected them with the world around them. What many people may not realize, says Kathryn C. Montgomery, a professor at American University, is that the five policy issues central to the future of the Internet as a digitally democratic environment also stand to significantly change "“ for better or worse "“ this renewed youth engagement.

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Young people whose mothers drank when pregnant may be more likely to abuse alcohol because, in the womb, their developing senses came to prefer its taste and smell. Researchers with the State University of New York Developmental Ethanol Research Center have found that because the developing nervous system adapts to whatever mothers eat and drink, young rats exposed to alcohol (ethanol) in the womb drank significantly more alcohol than non-exposed rats.

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With promising signs that the devastating two-decade conflict in northern Uganda will soon cease, "When the War Ends," a report released today by Tulane University and the University of California"“Berkeley, with the International Center for Transitional Justice, shows that the people are ready to return to their homes and willing to accept former fighters of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) back into their communities.

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Infants refine and narrow their ability to discriminate between things they see and hear in their first year, revealing an apparent decline in ability when most other skills are dramatically increasing, says Lisa S. Scott, a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Although psychiatrists are among the least religious physicians, they seem to be the most interested in the religious and spiritual dimensions of their patients, according to survey data.

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A new book co-edited by an Indiana University professor marks the 60th anniversary of India's independence and subsequent transition to democracy and will receive major recognition when released there next week. The new book, The State of India's Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), will be released in New Delhi next Tuesday (Dec. 11) in a ceremony at the official residence of Mohammed Hamid Ansari, vice president of India.

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Serial killers may be responsible for up to 10 times as many U.S. deaths as previously estimated, according to an analysis by a criminologist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

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Research into the life of a prominent black newspaperman will soon result in the dismissal of 86-year-old criminal charges against the man for inciting the 1921 "Tulsa Race Riot."

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Why do mental illness and drug addiction so often go together? New research reveals that this type of dual diagnosis may stem from a common cause: developmental changes in the amygdala, a walnut-shaped part of the brain linked to fear, anxiety and other emotions. A full report on why these "comorbid" disorders may develop appears in the December Behavioral Neuroscience.

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Sociological research has shown that when couples move, the husband's career gets a boost, while the wife's career suffers. A University of Iowa professor investigated the reason behind the phenomenon and discovered that couples tend to put more emphasis on the man's career, even if the wife works full-time and is college-educated.

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The baby boomers are starting to retire - and as of January 1 (2008), can start collecting Social Security at age 62. Are they ready for retirement? Are they really prepared? University of Maryland Emerita Professor of Education Nancy Schlossberg is an expert on retirement and offers her tips for boomers as they prepare to start a new life - retired.

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Almost 1 in 10 women are physically abused by an intimate partner in any given year, and on average, 72 women are killed by their partner, or ex-partner, every year in Canada. In light of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women on December 6, Canadian Institutes of Health Research experts are speaking out and sharing what they have learned on the health implications of violence.

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A record of 19 years inside a Cuban women's prison is more than simply a personal autobiography or account of triumph over brutality, according to University of Arkansas researcher Lisa M. Corrigan.

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The joke, "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good," may not be totally off the mark in the workplace. In a recent study, no matter how they sliced the data and controlled certain variables, sociologists Elizabeth Gorman of the University of Virginia and Julie Kmec of Washington State University, came to the same conclusion: women say they have to work harder than men.

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Society's attitudes toward different drugs and its ways of regulating them are often "inconsistent," "incoherent" and ultimately unjust, says "Drugs and Justice," a new book by a team of University of Utah scholars.

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Students enrolled in the Virginia Tech sponsored course, Project Management in the Global Village, participated in a six week study abroad experience to Vietnam, working alongside indigenous community professionals to perform on-site needs assessments of technological and sociological factors of relief and development in several villages in the Mekong Delta.

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Watching media violence significantly increases the risk that a viewer or video game player will behave aggressively in both the short and long term, according to a University of Michigan study published today in a special issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

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Silence may be more golden for women, suggests a new study at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, which found that couples were judged to be less likeable when the woman was more verbally assertive.

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A study of men in Ontario, Canada provides a new twist on the connection between sexual/relational orientation and right or left-handedness.

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A new study by psychologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) finds that toddlers who persistently wake up one or more times a night, at least once a week are at a greater risk for accidental injuries severe enough to require medical attention. The results of the study are published in the current advanced access edition of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

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New research out of the University of Toronto says that how people view their abilities in the workplace impacts how they respond to success.

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University of Toronto professor Robert Brym's research examines 138 suicide bombings that took place between 2000 - 2005.

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The Third Annual Disability Status Report, published by the ILR School at Cornell University, reveals that almost 38 percent of people with disabilities are employed, compared with almost 80 percent of people without disabilities.

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Almost 90 percent of normal-weight women in a Cornell study of 310 college students yearn to be thinner. But most overweight women -- and men -- don't want to be thin enough to achieve a healthy weight.

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Telecommuting is a win-win for employees and employers, resulting in higher morale and job satisfaction and lower employee stress and turnover. These were among the conclusions of psychologists who examined 20 years of research on flexible work arrangements.

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A recreation researcher at the University of Arkansas has found that park staff and volunteers remain true to their roots as nature guides, even as the field of heritage interpretation matures into a certified discipline with formal training.

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Spending Black Friday in the mall might be a tradition in many families, but malls are different today than they were even a decade ago, according to Rowan University communication studies professor Ed Streb.

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In married working couples, the more money a woman earns, the less housework she will do, regardless of how much money her spouse makes, says sociologist Sanjiv Gupta. That finding is based on a study of women who work full-time recently published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

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Two new studies recommend national and local sport governing bodies can do much more to encourage new Canadians to play sports and serve as coaches.

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Climate change will have a profound effect on clothes and fashion, changing styles, fabrics and laundering, says a University of Maryland expert. "Remember Jimmy Carter's sweaters from the 1970s energy crisis? With Seventh Avenue proclaiming that "˜green is the new black,' we can expect a surge in fashion innovations in response to climate change."

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Children entering kindergarten with elementary math and reading skills are the most likely to do well in school later, even if they have various social and emotional problems, say researchers who examined data from six studies of close to 36,000 preschoolers. Children's attention-related skills also mattered, the researchers found.

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A new study by University of Virginia clinical psychologists has found that teens who have sex at an early age may be less inclined to exhibit delinquent behavior in early adulthood than their peers who waited until they were older to have sex. The study also suggests that early sex may play a role in helping these teens develop better social relationships in early adulthood.

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A University of Alberta researcher wanted to find out what teens remember on Remembrance Day. What George Richardson discovered was most teens relate the day to the sacrifices made during the First and Second World Wars, but very few mentioned the current missions in Afghanistan.

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For more than a century, voting machines have helped shape American political history. The chaos of the 2000 presidential election in Florida demonstrated the crucial role that voting machines played in shaping the outcome of that election. But Bryan Pfaffenberger believes there is value in understanding that the interaction between technology and culture has been going on for more than a century.

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While the commonly assumed reason professional women leave or "opt out" of their successful careers is the burden of children and family, new sociological analysis appearing in the fall issue of Contexts magazine shows otherwise.

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K-State professor's interactive CD program uses research and anecdotes to get teachers talking openly about gender issues in the classroom.

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The interaction between nicotine and alcohol, two of the most abused and co-abused drugs, can impact a person's ability to learn and could have implications for treating addiction.

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Assistant Professor of Art and Director of the Hewitt Gallery of Art at Marymount Manhattan College, Millie Burns brings her enthusiasm for subway art into her classroom. She assigns students to visit subway stations, look for commissioned work, observe subway rider reaction to the work, find the station plaque that identifies the work and the artist etc.