The number of active users of Facebook (those people who have logged onto the site in the previous month) has reached an historic high of 2.45 billion. To put this in some context, approximately 32% of the global population now use the social media platform, and the trend line of participation is still going up....
Did you get engaged over Christmas or New Year? If so, congratulations. Perhaps you have already been to the register office to give official notice of your intentions, or you might have already chosen your government-approved venue. Or you might be one of the many mixed-sex couples planning a civil partnership following the recent change...
For many people, the start of a year is a time for new health resolutions – be it eat more vegetables, consume less sugar or drink more water. Keeping hydrated is essential for body functions such as temperature regulation, transporting nutrients and removing waste. Water even acts as a lubricant and shock absorber for joints....
Holidaying in a disaster zone might seem crazy, but “volunteer tourism” can actually help communities recover from natural disasters, a new study finds. And it can offer a unique and rewarding experience for volunteers, if done carefully. “When disaster hits a tourist destination – whether fire, flood, cyclone or earthquake – tourists naturally stay away,...
A new study has shown that whilst people think advertising and political campaigns exploit psychological research to control their unconscious behaviours, ultimately they feel the choices they make are still their own. The research, led by Dr. Magda Osman from Queen Mary University of London, asked people to volunteer everyday examples of when they feel...
Direct-to-consumer hormone-based “fertility testing” for women is viewed by consumers as both an alternative, empowering tool for family planning, and a confusing and misleading one, according to the results of a new study from Penn Medicine. Findings from the small, first-of-its-kind ethnographic study reinforce the need for consumer education around the purpose and accuracy of...
Nations across the world are following a United Nations blueprint to build a more sustainable future – but a new study shows that blueprint leads less to a castle in the sky, and more to a house that needs constant remodeling. Sustainability scientists have developed systematic and comprehensive assessment methods and performed the first assessment...
More than half of Earth’s rivers freeze over every year. These frozen rivers support important transportation networks for communities and industries located at high latitudes. Ice cover also regulates the amount of greenhouse gasses released from rivers into Earth’s atmosphere. A new study from researchers in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department...
A small wildfire in San Diego County in 2017 resulted in a big uptick in children visiting the emergency room for breathing problems, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. In “Increase in Pediatric Respiratory Visits Associated with Santa Ana Wind-driven Wildfire Smoke and PM2.5 levels in San Diego County,” Sydney...
Communication and marketing experts place great weight on an organization’s relationship with its public stakeholders, and a new tool allows organizations to better measure and describe the nature of these relationships. “Traditionally, these relationships are measured using questionnaires, which provide only a static snapshot of how one party viewed an organization,” says Yang Cheng, co-author...
