There is a certain four-letter word that evokes much emotion, is often uttered by mothers giving birth, and whose usage by humans is thought to be evolutionarily adaptive: f___! According to a new study by British researchers, saying the F word or any other commonly used expletive can work to reduce physical pain — and it seems that people may use curse words by instinct. Indeed, as any owner of a banged shin, whacked funny bone or stubbed toe knows, dancing the agony jig — and shouting its profane theme tune — are about as automatic as the response to a doctor’s reflex hammer.
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Mozart may have died of strep throat complications
So ill he could not move, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart supposedly sang parts of his final masterpiece, "Requiem," from his deathbed.
Fat-Bellied Monkeys Suggest Why Stress Sucks
It’s no secret that stress isn’t good for you. But what’s less clear is how social stressors like a high-pressure job or a failing marriage affect your physical well-being. Researchers at Wake Forest University who study stress in monkeys think they may have discovered a clue: fat.
Why Counting Money Can Make You Happier
We all know money buys luxuries like sports cars and Manolo Blahniks, necessities like groceries, and intangibles like preferential treatment. Now there is evidence that just counting money can produce valuable psychological benefits
Report: China extends deadline on filtering software
China on Tuesday announced it would indefinitely postpone a mandate requiring all personal computers sold in the country to be accompanied by a controversial content-filtering application, state media reported. The announcement came one day before a government-set deadline that would have required the software, called Green Dam-Youth Escort, to come with all PCs, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The Chinese government has said the software is chiefly a way for parents to protect children from pornography.
The Skimmer: How Sex Works
How Sex Works: Why We Look, Smell, Taste, Feel and Act the Way We Do By Dr. Sharon Moalem 274 pages; Harper The Gist: At this point, is there anything we don’t know about the biology of sex Never before has a populace had as much access to information about how their bodies operate.
Flatulent cows could be curtailed by fish oils
The benefits to humans of omega 3 fatty acids in fish oils are well documented, but a new study has found that fish oils can have a wider benefit to the environment — by reducing the amount of methane produced by cows. The report produced by University College Dublin found that by including two percent fish oil in the diet of cattle they achieved a reduction in the amount of methane released by the animals. Lowering methane emissions is important for the environment, as the gas given off by farm animals is a major contributor to greenhouse gas levels
Want to Save Money? Carry Around $100 Bills
For shoppers in today’s economy, there’s just too much temptation out there. Sure, your pockets are tight
Smallest known North American dinosaur found
Canadian researchers say they have discovered the smallest known North American dinosaur, a carnivore that roamed areas of the continent 75 million years ago and weighed less than most modern-day house cats. Hesperonychus elizabethae, a 4.4-pound (2-kilogram) creature with razor-like claws, ran through the swamps and forests of southeastern Alberta, Canada, during the late Cretaceous period, the researchers said. The diminutive dinosaur likely hunted insects, small mammals and other prey, perhaps even baby dinosaurs, said Nick Longrich, a paleontology research associate in the University of Calgary’s Department of Biological Sciences.
A New Approach to Designing the AIDS Vaccine
The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services boldly announced in 1984 that there would be an AIDS vaccine within two years. The discovery of an AIDS-causing virus , she said, was already demonstrating “the triumph of science over a dreaded disease.” Today, 25 years and many failed attempts later, an AIDS vaccine seems as elusive as ever