Wednesday, August 06, 2014
Some of the latest, widely-covered stories on Newswise
Hepatitis C could go the way of small pox in 22 years
Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a computer simulation conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The results of the simulation are reported in the August 5 edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Human brain judges ‘trustworthiness’ of faces at first glance
Our brains are able to judge the trustworthiness of a face even when we cannot consciously see it, a team of scientists has found. Their findings, which appear in the Journal of Neuroscience, shed new light on how we form snap judgments of others.
“Our findings suggest that the brain automatically responds to a face’s trustworthiness before it is even consciously perceived,” explains Jonathan Freeman, an assistant professor in New York University’s Department of Psychology and the study’s senior author.
Hubble spots possible “zombie star” after a weak supernova explosion
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has spotted a star system that could have left behind a “zombie star” after an unusually weak supernova explosion.
A supernova typically obliterates the exploding white dwarf, or dying star. On this occasion, scientists believe this faint supernova may have left behind a surviving portion of the dwarf star—a sort of zombie star.
More black youth support LGBT rights
A new national survey finds that while young people express strong support for marriage equality, they also believe the push for same-sex marriage has diverted too much attention from other important issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals. The study shows that young people differ along racial and ethnic lines in setting priorities for advancing LGBT rights.
“Moving Beyond Marriage: What Young People of Color Think about the LGBT Agenda,” is the newest report from the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago, reporting on their findings from a nationally representative survey of 1,500 young people between the ages of 18 and 30, and conducted in June 2014. The sample includes young people from all sexual identities. The report is co-authored by Cathy J. Cohen, the David and Mary Winton Green Professor and chair, Political Science; and Jon C. Rogowski, assistant professor, Political Science at Washington University, St. Louis.
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