Women are more likely than men to believe the Bible is literally true, but a recent Baylor University study finds this may have more to do with how people relate to God than it does gender. Both men and women who report high levels of closeness to God take the Bible more literally – and...
Software- and computer-based works of art are fragile–not unlike their canvas counterparts–as their underlying technologies such as operating systems and programming languages change rapidly, placing these works at risk. These include Shu Lea Cheang’s Brandon (1998-99), Mark Napier’s net.flag (2002), and John F. Simon Jr.’s Unfolding Object (2002), three online works recently conserved at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, through a...
Interventions which educate and support new mothers in West Africa to exclusively breastfeed (where infants are only fed breast milk) can significantly increase the practice, according to new research published in The Lancet Global Health. In a randomised trial of new mothers in Burkina Faso, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM),...
irst-ever comprehensive comparison of all treatment options for miscarriage demonstrates little to no difference in medical effectiveness in resolving an unsuccessful pregnancy between medical and surgical options. Various side effects among treatments were highlighted, including increased bleeding, anxiety, long waiting times and long recovery periods, evidence was not consistent UK national guidelines recommend natural delivery...
On February 16, the Art Institute of Chicago announced the results of significant new research on five terracotta sculptures–so named Bankoni after a village in present-day Mali where they were found. The objects date from between the 12th and 15th centuries. This places them “among the oldest surviving sculptures from sub-Saharan Africa and among the...
Even Georgia O’Keeffe noticed the pin-sized blisters bubbling on the surface of her paintings. For decades, conservationists and scholars assumed these tiny protrusions were grains of sand, kicked up from the New Mexico desert where O’Keeffe lived and worked. But as the protrusions began to grow, spread and eventually flake off, people shifted from curious...
Smartphones have become a constant companion for many of us. In a recent study by the Pew Research Center, nearly 50 percent of adults reported they “couldn’t live without” their phones. Whether at the supermarket, in the doctor’s office, or in bed at night, it can be tempting to pick up the device and start...
The pill could be blurring your social judgement – but perhaps not enough so you’d notice. By challenging women to identify complex emotional expressions like pride or contempt, rather than basic ones like happiness or fear, scientists have revealed subtle changes in emotion recognition associated with oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience,...
In 2005, the New York Times reported that high end retailer Bergdorf Goodman kept its stores chilled to 68.3 degrees, whereas Old Navy’s was kept at a balmy 80.3. Meanwhile, the swanky IFC mall in Hong Kong is kept at a frigid 59 degrees Fahrenheit. There may be a reason why luxury retailers keep their...
A Rutgers researcher has found that thymoquinone, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound of black seed oil, can effectively be delivered to the skin, which may offer a new option for skin care. Natural skin care products with botanical ingredients are a popular part of people’s daily skin regimen, providing relief for skin redness or irritation...
