Latest researcher Stories
A new study shows that juvenile delinquents sentenced to either a juvenile retreat, probation or unsupervised community service were seven times more likely to commit criminal acts as adults than youngsters from the control group who managed to avoid the juvenile justice system.The findings come from Frank Vitaro, a psycho-education professor at the Université de Montréal and researcher at the Research Unit on Children's Psycho-Social Maladjustment, who collaborated with UdeM colleague...
A rapid, climate change-induced northern migration of invasive marine is one of many research results announced Tues. Nov. 11 during opening day presentations at the First World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, in Valencia.Investigators report that invasive species of marine macroalgae spread at 50 km per decade, a distance far greater than that covered by invasive terrestrial plants. The difference may be due to the rapid dispersion of macroalgae...
By Tom Corwin More than a fourth of teen girls in the United States received a shot to protect them against a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. A Medical College of Georgia researcher who conducts clinical trials on the shot said he is disappointed it isn't more. It is the first time the CDC has been able to report on coverage rates for the shot that protects against human papillomavirus, or...
Getting help for depression and anxiety has significant long-term benefits, a University of Alberta researcher said. Study leader Ian Colman said most people are not getting the type of treatment they need. The team studied a group of 200 people who were diagnosed with either depression or anxiety, and of this group, 45 were on medication. The group of 200 had their mental health assessed in 1989 through a series of questions on a survey asking about their illness and what, if any,...
Some of the winners of this years alternative "Ig Nobel" prizes include a researcher who figured out that Coke explodes sperm and a psychology professor who discovered that people will happily eat stale chips if they crunch loudly enough.The Ig Nobels are considered the funny alternative to next week's deadly serious Nobel prizes for medicine, chemistry, physics, economics, literature and peace. Although these recognitions are considered a goof, the prizes are, indeed, based on real...
Editor's Note: ScienceLives is an occasional series that puts scientists under the microscope to find out what makes them tick. The series is a cooperation between the National Science Foundation and LiveScience. Name: David Lentz Age: 56 Institution: University of Cincinnati Field of Study: Paleoethnobotany What inspired you to choose this field of study? During my undergrad years, I studied biology, but I really didn't have a firm career focus. After I...
Researcher Dan Kaminsky of Seattle-based security consultant IOActive Inc., exposed a major security flaw in the Internet's infrastructure that allows hackers to take Web browsers to unintended sites and permits them to intercept e-mail messages.While there's no evidence yet that this method of targeting e-mail has been used in a successful attack, Kaminsky said the potential of damage from this flaw is high. Kaminsky was the researcher who exposed hackers who were rerouting some computers in...
By Michelle Kessler Gas prices and gloomy financial forecasts are on the rise, but the tech industry is nowhere near a downturn as severe as the dot-com bust of 2001. Tech sales to corporations are up about 3% this year compared with 2007, says Forrester Research. Consumer sales are about flat, says researcher NPD. That's disappointing, because annual growth often tops 10%. But given general economic weakness, many in the industry -- especially those who worked through the 2001 collapse of...
World Register of Marine Species inaugurated with first 122,500 validated names; over 56,000 aliases for ocean species identifiedCensus of Marine Life-affiliated scientists consolidating world databases of ocean organisms have demoted to alias status almost one-third of all names culled from 34 regional and highly specialized inventories.The new World Register of Marine Species contains about 122,500 validated marine species names (experts having recognized and tidied up some 56,400 aliases...
A Michigan State University researcher has created an automatic image retrieval system, whereby law enforcement agencies will be able to match scars, marks and tattoos to identify suspects and victims.In a world filled with homeland security concerns, identity fraud and natural disasters, the need to establish the identity of an individual based on something other than a driver's license or demographic and personal data is vital, according to Anil Jain, MSU University Distinguished Professor...
