Ever-widening divisions between Democrats and Republicans are believed to reflect deeply rooted ideological differences, but a new study points to a radically different interpretation: it may be mostly a matter of luck. It’s a phenomenon that Michael Macy, Cornell University professor and director of the Social Dynamics Laboratory, calls an “opinion cascade” – in which...
As issues like climate change, global warming, and renewable energy dominate the national conversation, it’s easy to assume these topics are exclusive to the modern world. But a huge collaborative study in Science reveals that early humans across the entire globe were changing and impacting their environments as far back as 10,000 years ago. “Through this crowdsourced...
Thousands of marine species could be at risk if a new United Nations high-seas biodiversity treaty, now being negotiated in New York, does not include measures to address the management of all fish species in international waters, not just the commercial species, warns an analysis by American, Dutch, Swiss and French researchers. “Of the 4,018...
Researchers from Sweden, Germany, Brazil and the USA have developed a financial mechanism to support the protection of the world’s natural heritage. In a recent study, they developed three different design options for an intergovernmental biodiversity financing mechanism. Asking what would happen if money was given to countries for providing protected areas, they simulated where...
Climate change could negatively impact banana cultivation in some of the world’s most important producing and exporting countries, a study has revealed. Bananas are recognised as the most important fruit crop – providing food, nutrition and income for millions in both rural and urban areas across the globe. While many reports have looked at the...
Top fashion companies that are pledging to end worker exploitation in their global supply chains are hampering progress through their own irresponsible sourcing practices, concludes a new report on working conditions in the Southern Indian garment industry powerhouse. Short production windows, cost pressures and constant fluctuations in orders by brands and retail chains like Nike,...
As growing numbers of people are using cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new University College London (UCL) study reports that prescriptions are not backed up by adequate evidence. The systematic review, published in the Journal of Dual Diagnosis, finds that the active components of cannabis, called cannabinoids, may hold promise as a treatment...
Women gave more than half of TED talks in the first half of 2017, up from less than one-third in 2006, according to a new study published in Political Research Exchange. But the German research team also found that ethnic minorities remain under-represented as TED speakers, giving just one in five talks over the same time...
If you want to achieve a goal, make sure you share your objective with the right person. In a new set of studies, researchers found that people showed greater goal commitment and performance when they told their goal to someone they believed had higher status than themselves. It didn’t help people at all to tell...
People who suffered a financial, housing-related, or job-related hardship as a result of the Great Recession were more likely to show increases in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and problematic drug use, research shows. The research findings, published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveal declines in mental health that were still evident...
