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UC Davis professor awarded Mellon Foundation Fellowship to study environmental hazards

Liza Grandia, associate professor of Native American studies at the University of California, Davis, has received a $270,000 Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship.

7 Apr 2017

Climate is a driving factor for human nose shape

Using sophisticated statistical methodologies, researchers of Penn State have demonstrated that the shape of the human nose is strongly correlated with temperature and absolute humidity. However, they conclude that, although the evolution of nose shape was strongly influenced by climate, there was probably a complicated cocktail of factors that determined the development of different nose shapes.

17 Mar 2017

Can dancing improve your mental health?

Dance psychology is the study of dance and dancers from a scientific and psychological perspective. What we're trying to understand is what happens when people dance and why, we are looking at it from a healthcare perspective, which might suggest dancing is good for you.

8 Mar 2017

Brain scans reveal link between oxytocin and paternal caregiving in fathers

Fathers given boosts of the hormone oxytocin show increased activity in brain regions associated with reward and empathy when viewing photos of their toddlers, an Emory University study finds.

17 Feb 2017

Carving a career in science

I was interested in a whole range of subjects, but the one that really grasped me from a young age was biology and, in particular, human biology. I was really fascinated with how the human body worked and I still am; that's something that has stayed with me.

15 Feb 2017

Hunter-gatherers in East Africa live active lifestyle that helps lower risk for heart disease

In a remote area of north-central Tanzania, men leave their huts on foot, armed with bows and poison-tipped arrows, to hunt for their next meal.

29 Nov 2016

Today’s ‘Selfie Generation’ young people aspire for meaningful careers over fame, research finds

Today’s young would rather find a cure for cancer (34 per cent) than gain celebrity status through film (9 per cent), reality TV (3 per cent) or social media (8 per cent), according to research announced today at an annual GenerationeXt science fair, opened by Professor Alice Roberts, anatomist, anthropologist and broadcaster, in collaboration with leading medical biotech, Roche.

21 Nov 2016

Encapsulated placenta may not be good source of dietary iron for postpartum mothers, study finds

Hey new moms, don't put down that can of spinach just yet. A research team led by UNLV medical anthropologists found that eating encapsulated human placenta, a practice known as placentophagy, may not be as good a source of dietary iron for postpartum mothers as proponents suggest.

7 Nov 2016

Exclusion of farmworkers from standard labor protection contributes to heat-related deaths

With this summer slated to be the hottest on record, more and more people, especially farmworkers, are at even higher risks of heatstroke.

31 Aug 2016

Forensic study finds link between bone mineral density and minimum diameter size of entry wound

A proof-of-concept study from North Carolina State University finds that the density of bones in the skull affects the size of bullet holes in the skull. The finding is useful for law enforcement officials and medical examiners seeking to identify the caliber of firearms that have been used to commit murder.

3 Aug 2016

Anthropologists find new record of vitamin D deficiency in people who lived hundreds of years ago

Researchers at McMaster University have found a rich new record of vitamin D deficiency, one that resides in the teeth of every person and remains viable for hundreds of years or more.

19 Jul 2016

New diagnostic blood test may offer hope for transplant recipients through analysis of cfDNA

When cells die, whether through apoptosis or necrosis, the DNA and other molecules found in those cells don't just disappear. They wind up in the blood stream, where degraded bits and pieces can be extracted.

8 Jul 2016

Old database sheds new light on biological concept that affects human reproductive patterns

When predicting future global population growth, sometimes scientists look to the past. Using a database with historical records that began in 871 A.D., an anthropologist at the University of Missouri was able to show reproductive patterns and shed new light on the "quantity-quality" trade-off, a biological concept used to describe a parent's unconscious decisions to balance between the time and financial investment needed to produce offspring.

9 Jun 2016

PNNL scientists play central role in National Microbiome Initiative

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are playing a central role as the nation devotes more than $500 million to understand communities of microorganisms and their role in climate science, food production and human health.

28 May 2016

Study reveals best ways to reduce substance use among African Americans

Cocaine use has increased substantially among African Americans in some of the most underserved areas of the United States. Interventions designed to increase connection to and support from non-drug using family and friends, with access to employment, the faith community, and education, are the best ways to reduce substance use among African Americans and other minorities in low-income, resource-poor communities, concludes a study led by a medical anthropologist at the University of California, Riverside.

22 Apr 2016

Fertility goes down when cost of achieving social status goes up

Competition for social status may be an important driver of lower fertility in the modern world, suggests a new study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

29 Mar 2016

Postnatal depression dissuades women from having a third child

Mothers who have postnatal depression are unlikely to have more than two children according to research carried out by evolutionary anthropologists the University of Kent and published by Evolution, Medicine and Public Health.

15 Mar 2016

OSU researchers find no evidence that water births pose increased harm to newborns

There is no evidence that water births, where a baby is intentionally born under water in a tub or pool, poses any increased harm to the child, Oregon State University researchers have found.

22 Jan 2016

Humans get better sleep in less time than our closest animal relatives

Insomniacs take heart: Humans get by on significantly less sleep than our closest animal relatives. The secret, according to a new study, is that our sleep is more efficient.

17 Dec 2015

Commercialization of health and beauty can lead to Angelina Jolie syndrome

The politicization and commercialization of health issues in today's Western culture have led to growing healthism -- a peremptory idea of self-preserving behaviour. This approach criticizes everything that fails to fit into the glamorous standards of a beautiful, young and slim body.

13 Dec 2015