Health Benefits of Olive Oil

Significant differences in cancer rates between northern and southern Europeans may be explained by the anti-cancer effects of olive oil in the diet. Now a Spanish study confirms that anti-oxidants in extra virgin olive oil can combat breast cancer.


Health Benefits of Olive Oil

Vikings Dressed Flamboyantly

Pre-Christian Vikings dressed more flamboyantly than previously thought with the use of vivid colours, silk ribbons, and bits of mirrors. The study identifies men as especially vain, and women as provocative dressers.

Vikings Dressed Flamboyantly

Positive And Negative Messages In Advertising

As purchasing deadlines get nearer, a consumer's focus on products promising positive outcomes shifts to a willingness to pay more to help avoid an argument or other negative outcome.

Positive And Negative Messages In Advertising

Suppressing Anger Shortens Life

Couples in which both partners suppressed their anger when unfairly attacked by the other died earlier than those in relationships where one or both expressed their anger
and resolved underlying conflict.

Suppressing Anger Shortens Life

Americans At Higher Risk Of Stroke

American adults have a higher prevalence of stroke than Europeans, due in part to a higher rate of risk factors and barriers to health care in the United States. The study found that American men had a 61 per cent greater chance of having a stroke and American women had almost twice the chance compared to their European equivalents.


Americans At Higher Risk Of Stroke

The Brain And Differences In Boy/Girl Language Learning

Areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks. Researchers explain that although girls' superior language abilities have long been acknowledged, this study is the first to provide a possible biological explanation for the differences.

The Brain And Differences In Boy/Girl Language Learning

Madeira

A visit to Madeira is like a nice weekend or a day in the country. It is both familiar and a delightful change from routine life for northern Europeans.

Semi-tropical and located in the Atlantic Ocean, 600km off Morocco, Madeira is an autonomous part of Portugal and is therefore within the Euro-zone. The island has been transformed by European Union funding over the past decade. A new airport with a remarkable runway carried on stilts over sea and cliffs allows easier access from mainland Portugal and other parts of Europe. Access to many coastal and inland villages is being improved with extensive tunnelling through the mountainous terrain.

Madeira - An Introduction

Madeira - History

Funchal, Madeira

Funchal Hotels, Madeira

Reid's Hotel, Madeira

Are International University Rankings Misleading?

A new 2008 Edition of the Times Higher-QS World University Rankings has been released showing a dominance of US and UK universities in the top ten. But research published in the open access journal BMC Medicine concluded that international university rankings are "misleading and should be abandoned".


Are International University Rankings Misleading?

Music And The Effects Of Alcohol

Research led by the Université de Bretagne-Sud found that playing loud music in licensed premises led customers to drink more alcohol over a shorter time period.

Music And The Effects Of Alcohol

Children and Parents' Antisocial Behavior

Recent research from the University of Chicago found that a mother's parenting style and a baby's temperament in the first year of life can reliably predict subsequent behavioral problems.

Children and Parents' Antisocial Behavior

Aging Worms

Specific genetic pathways have been identified that drive the aging process in worms.

Aging Worms

Choosing A Mate

Beauty is still of paramount consideration for men while women are more discriminating, placing greater emphasis on the need for security and commitment.

Also, recent research from psychologists at McGill University has identified gender differences in responses to flirtation. Researchers found that men tend to consider their current partners less favorably after meeting an attractive unattached woman whereas female partners are more likely to work on strengthening existing relationships.

Choosing A Mate

Introduction to Psychology

Gillian Butler observes that one of the major problems of Psychology is that science demands that 'facts' should be objective and verifiable, but the workings of the mind cannot be observed in the way that we can observe the functioning of (for example) an engine. Instead, they are perceived only indirectly, requiring that we infer them from what can be observed: behaviour.

Introduction to Psychology

William James and the Principles of Psychology

William James (1842-1910) was one of the founders of modern Psychology. He exercised a positive and pragmatic influence on the development of the young science. William James was the brother of novelist Henry James, with whom he shared a powerful command of the English language. William James' Principles of Psychology (1890) took him over a decade to write and amounted to 1500 pages. James was a considerable reader and had absorbed much of the writings of the Scottish, English, French and German schools of Psychology but he produced his own interpretations of the subject. In his 'Principles', James defined Psychology as the 'science of mental life'.

William James and the
Principles of Psychology

Youth Problems

Research from Ohio State University has challenged the common perception that girls tend to internalize their problems, becoming depressed or anxious, while boys externalize, committing violence against people or property.

In another study, young people with pre-existing relationship difficulties were found to be more likely to develop anxiety and depression than the other way round, this being particularly the case when entering adulthood.


Youth Problems

Daytime Napping And Disturbed Sleep

Poor sleeping at night has been linked to daytime napping for older adults and practising tai chi chih, the western version of an ancient Chinese martial art, helped improve sleep quality in another study of older adults.

Daytime Napping And Disturbed Sleep

Bullying

Two recent studies on bullying:

Research from Yale School of Medicine has identified an apparent link between bullying or being bullied and suicide in young people.

Research from Ontario's York University and Queens University found that young people who bully tend to have problems in other relationships, such as with parents and friends. The study concludes that effective prevention and intervention strategies should include those relationships, as well as aggression and morality issues arising from bullying itself.

Bullying

Controversy Over Breast Self-Examination

A review into the effectiveness of regular breast self-examination concludes that despite its promotion in health advice to women there is no evidence that it has contributed to a reduction in breast cancer deaths.


Controversy Over Breast Self-Examination

Be Happy - But Not Too Happy

Although women start life happier than men, they experience more difficulty in achieving their goals and end up less happy as a result. Researchers also conclude that happiness is a worthy goal for the unhappy, but the endless pursuit of ever more happiness may be counterproductive.

Be Happy - But Not Too Happy

Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and Rhizomes

What are bulbs and how do you distinguish them from corms, tubers and rhizomes?

Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and Rhizomes