Uncategorized How likely is it that someone will believe conspiracy theories?

How likely is it that someone will believe conspiracy theories?

Vitriol and Jessecae K. Marsh, an associate professor of psychology at Lehigh University, have found new research that inflated confidence in one’s understanding of politics and public policy is associated with the tendency to believe in political conspiracies. That is, people who overestimate how well they understand politics are more likely to believe that hidden …

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Uncategorized Cognitive training can reduce depression and rebuild injured brain structure

Cognitive training can reduce depression and rebuild injured brain structure

New research from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas shows that certain cognitive training exercises can help reduce depression and improve brain health in individuals years after they have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The recent study, published in Human Brain Mapping, revealed significant reductions in the severity of …

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Uncategorized Why it pays to be humble

Why it pays to be humble

Why do people make anonymous donations, and why does the public perceive this as admirable? Why do we downplay our interest in a potential partner, if we risk missing out on a relationship? A team of scientists, consisting of Christian Hilbe, a postdoc at the Institute Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Moshe Hoffman, and …

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Uncategorized Has Infantilism Become a Norm?

Has Infantilism Become a Norm?

Views on human age need to be revisited. The value of adulthood as a period of certainty has declined for many, which means that this period is being delayed. The processes of personality development vary, and adults are preserving signs of infantilism. HSE University experts, Elena Sabelnikova and Natalia Khmeleva, suggest a new way of …

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Uncategorized Elastic fiber with electrodes to revolutionize smart clothes

Elastic fiber with electrodes to revolutionize smart clothes

EPFL scientists have found a fast and simple way to make super-elastic, multi-material, high-performance fibers. Their fibers have already been used as sensors on robotic fingers and in clothing. This breakthrough method opens the door to new kinds of smart textiles and medical implants. It’s a whole new way of thinking about sensors. The tiny …

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Uncategorized An ingestible bacterial-electronic monitor 

An ingestible bacterial-electronic monitor 

Bacteria are environmentally resilient and can be engineered to sense various biomolecules. Mimee et al. combined biosensor bacteria with a miniaturized wireless readout capsule to produce a minimally invasive device capable of in vivo biosensing in harsh, difficult-to-access environments (see the Perspective by Gibson and Burgell). The device successfully measured gastrointestinal bleeding in pigs. Biomolecular …

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Uncategorized Depression speeds up brain aging

Depression speeds up brain aging

Psychologists at the University of Sussex have found a link between depression and an acceleration of the rate at which the brain ages. Although scientists have previously reported that people with depression or anxiety have an increased risk of dementia in later life, this is the first study that provides comprehensive evidence for the effect …

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Uncategorized Community-Building and Cross-Cultural Exchange

Community-Building and Cross-Cultural Exchange

  Caitlin Cassidy discusses ten principles and practices she’s learned as an artist working at the interesction of arts and cross-cultural exchange, and as one of Georgetown Univeristy’s Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics Fellows. In this polarized time of boundary-drawing, mass migration, and environmental crisis, traditional policy approaches fail us. The artist’s task of bridge building feels …

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Uncategorized Leg exercise and brain / nervous system health

Leg exercise and brain / nervous system health

New research shows that using the legs, particularly in weight-bearing exercise, sends signals to the brain that are vital for the production of healthy neural cells. The groundbreaking study fundamentally alters brain and nervous system medicine — giving doctors new clues as to why patients with motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy and …

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Uncategorized Preventing frailty in old age

Preventing frailty in old age

The largest study of its kind, led by the University of Exeter, found that even small reductions in risk factors helped to reduce frailty, as well as dementia, chronic pain, and other disabling conditions of old age. New research has shown that older people with very low heart disease risks also have very little frailty, …

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