We think of leaders and influencers as imbued with special skills and qualities – either innate or hard-won merit – that propels them to success, high status and financial rewards. Self-help books on how to build leadership skills abound. However, new research that models the evolution of social networks suggests it is less about individual skills and...
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New York City’s Hidden Old-Growth Forests
In the popular imagination, New York City is a mass of soaring steel-frame skyscrapers. But many of the city’s 1 million buildings are not that modern. Behind their brick-and-mortar facades, its numerous 19th- and early 20th-century warehouses, commercial buildings and row homes are framed with massive wooden joists and beams. These structures probably harbor at...
‘Digging’ into Early Medieval Europe with Big Data
During the middle of the sixth century CE a dramatic transformation began in how the people of western Europe buried their dead. The transition from ‘furnished’ inhumation (those with grave goods to include jewellery, dress accessories, tools and personal items etc) to ‘unfurnished’ (those without grave goods) was widespread and by the early eighth century...
Historic Lynchings in the U.S. South Are Linked to Lower Levels of Voter Registration Among Black People
Black Americans who reside in counties in the South where there was a higher number of lynchings from 1882 to 1930 have lower voter registration today, a likely sign of the lasting effects of historical racial animus, according to a new study. Even after considering other factors that could logically influence voting registration such as education,...
Study Finds Poor Households in India Bear Brunt of Pollution Effects
Poorer households in India are bearing a disproportional impact from pollution caused by others, a new study by Yale School of the Environment Associate Professor of Energy Systems Narasimha Rao has found. The study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, is the first to analyze and review how different households contribute to air pollution, as...
Grow Tall, My Son: How Inheritance Laws Affect Child Height in India
Can an inheritance law lead to taller children? The answer is a qualified yes, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. Md Shahadath Hossain, a fifth-year doctoral candidate, and Assistant Professor of Economics Plamen Nikolov recently published “Entitled to Property: Inheritance Laws, Female Bargaining, and Child Health in India,” with the IZA...
Eating for Hunger or Pleasure? Regulating These Feeding Behaviors Involves Different Brain Circuits
Many times we eat, not because we are hungry, but because of social pressures or because the food is so appetizing, that, even though we are full, we just want another bite. Overeating, whether it is guided by hunger or pleasure, typically leads to obesity, which affects about 42% of the adults in the U.S.,...
Another By Product of the Pandemic: Paranoia
The COVID-19 pandemic increased our feelings of paranoia, particularly in states where wearing masks was mandated, a new Yale study has shown. That heightened paranoia was particularly acute in states where adherence to mask mandates was low, the researchers report July 27 in the journal Nature Behavior. Increased feelings of paranoia were also associated with...
‘Talking Drum’ Shown to Accurately Mimic Speech Patterns of West African Language
Musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton are considered virtuosos, guitarists who could make their instruments sing. Drummers in west Africa who play hourglass-shaped percussion instruments called dùndúns can make their instrument not only sing, but talk. New research published in the journal Frontiers in Communication is one of the first to show the high degree...
Scientists Come Up with New Method for Simultaneous Processing of Different Types of Waste
An international research team has come up with an innovative method for metal recovery from industrial waste. The new method allows the simultaneous recovery of multiple metals from waste oxides in a single process. This novel route will lower the burden on waste storage facilities with significant contributions to the economic and environmental sustainability of...






