Culture

Nervous disposition? chocolates. Özgür Mülazımoğlu

Those who mark Valentine’s Day may well have been making careful plans to impress that significant other these past few days. Classy restaurant – check. Romantic atmosphere – check. Best suit or little black dress – check.

Image:Brad Perkins,CC BY-SA

Every year massive amounts of valuable resources are deemed “waste” and consigned to landfill. Take the UK – around 540 million tonnes of products and materials enter the country annually, but only 117 million tonnes are recycled.

Is a new diet or exercise program working for a friend? If so, there's a good chance that you will try it, too.

A person who finds success in a wellness program is more influential in getting friends to sign up than a charismatic, but less successful pal, according to a study by University at Buffalo occupational health researcher Lora Cavuoto.

The study, "Modeling the Spread of an Obesity Intervention through a Social Network," was published in the Journal of Healthcare Engineering.

Electronic cigarettes could be one of the biggest public health opportunities of our time, but that depends on who you talk to. They have been shown to be effective in helping smokers quit and many believe them to be much safer than cigarettes. But the debate rages on. Today at AAAS, a panel of global advocacy, ethical, policy, health, toxicology and industry experts from Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and USA debated: are electronic cigarettes killing me softly or our greatest public health opportunity?

Short-term cognitive behavioral therapy dramatically reduces suicide attempts among at-risk military personnel, according to findings from a research study that included investigators from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Scholars have long debated what successful aging is, how to measure it, and how to promote it. But the latest issue of The Gerontologist lays the groundwork for building consensus on the topic -- while pointing out that the answer may differ among academics and the general public, as well as across populations and demographic groups.

An online profile name beginning with letters A-M is as important as an attractive photo and fluent headline when it comes to being successful in the world of online dating, according to scientists.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have taken an evidence-based approach to the ancient pursuit of dating, by carrying out a systematic review on converting online contact into a first date.

If you think our romantic relationships are based on the passions of the heart and the melding of minds – both beyond explanation or reason – then think again.

People in love might seem preoccupied, emotional and at times downright irrational, but there might just be some surprisingly logical foundations underpinning our romantic relationships. In fact, there are some things about our intimate relationships that can be predicted by our behaviours and how we react and relate to our loved ones.

A new study finds that small differences in institutional prestige have an enormous impact on the likelihood that a person who graduates with a doctoral degree will land a coveted faculty job.

The advantage of alma mater prestige in finding a job is so great that it cannot be explained solely by a difference in educational quality between the universities, according to the study, led by the University of Colorado Boulder and published today in the journal Science Advances.

A nationally representative survey shows that natural product use in the United States has shifted since 2007, with some products becoming more popular and some falling out of favor. Overall, natural products (dietary supplements other than vitamins and minerals) remain the most common alternative medicine.

If you think these products rise and fall based on television and diet fads that get mainstream media attention, you would be correct.

By Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education and Public Policy at Durham University and Beng Huat See, Research Associate in the School of Education at Durham University

By Benjamin Iaquinto, PhD student, School of Geography at University of Melbourne and Kathryn Williams, Associate Professor in environmental psychology and Director, Office for Environmental Programs at University of Melbourne

Just graduating from university is no longer enough to get a job

By Evan Ortlieb, Course Leader & Senior Lecturer at Monash University

Earn a university degree and get a job. This formula has worked with relative success for over 50 years. But increasingly in many fields today the formula is no longer working.

Women with dense breast tissue are at increased risk of breast cancer. Dense breast tissue, generally defined as having more fibroglandular than fatty tissue, can make it more difficult for radiologists to detect cancer on screening mammography.