Culture

We all have different criteria for what we consider risky. However, numerous studies have suggested that we tend to perceive familiar products and activities as being less risky and hazardous than unfamiliar ones. If something is familiar, the thinking goes, it is comfortable and safe. But how do we know if something is familiar? We often rely on a simple shortcut: If it is easy to perceive, remember or pronounce, we have probably seen it before. If so, will a product's name and how easy it is to pronounce, affect how we view the product?

Berkeley, CA — A new study on the installed costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the U.S. shows that the average cost of these systems declined significantly from 1998 to 2007, but remained relatively flat during the last two years of this period.

For all of the conveniences of online shopping -- no crowds, easy parking, seemingly endless choices -- it can't always compete with the real thing. At least not yet. A Kansas State University marketing professor said consumers can expect that some of the disadvantages of online shopping will disappear as retailers adapt models from Second Life.

ATLANTA, Feb. 19, 2009 – A new study released today found blacks remain less likely than whites to undergo total knee replacement, an important intervention for reducing pain and improving physical function among those with disabling knee osteoarthritis. The study also found total knee replacements are increasing substantially in both populations. According to the Arthritis Foundation, the research underscores the need for healthcare providers and people of all races to take proactive measures in preventing and managing the disease.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The recession may be responsible for a slump of a different sort: an unexpected dive in shark attacks, says a University of Florida researcher.

Shark attacks worldwide in 2008 dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach, said George Burgess, ichthyologist and director of the International Shark Attack File, which is housed at UF.

Mating can be exhausting. When fruit flies mate, the females' genes are activated to roughly the same extent as when an immune reaction starts. This is shown in a study at Uppsala University that is now appearing in the scientific publication, Journal of Evolutionary Biology.*

Using a combination of behavioral studies and genomic technology, so-called microarrays, researchers at Uppsala University can show how fruit fly females are affected by mating.

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 19, 2009 — The scientific field that focuses on the ultra-small — nanotechnology — will play the biggest single role in the 237th National Meeting & Exhibition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), which takes place here from March 22-26. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, has scheduled more than 135 major symposia on aspects of nanotechnology.

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (19 February, 2009) – Financial pressures due to the credit crunch are leading business information departments to strive ever harder to add value for their business, according to the results of the 19th annual Business Information Review survey of corporate business information services published today by SAGE.

New York, NY, February 19, 2009—A comprehensive set of insurance, payment, and system reforms could guarantee affordable health insurance coverage, improve health outcomes, and slow the growth of health spending by $3 trillion by the end of the next decade, according to another report released today by national health care advocacy group the Commonwealth Fund.

In a new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologists Jeremy Ginges and Ian Hansen from the New School for Social Research along with psychologist Ara Norenzayan from the University of British Columbia conducted a series of experiments investigating the relationship between religion and support for acts of parochial altruism, including suicide attacks.

Self-control is one of our most cherished values. We applaud those with the discipline to regulate their appetites and actions, and we try hard to instill this virtue in our children. We celebrate the power of the mind to make hard choices and keep us on course. But is it possible that willpower can sometimes be an obstacle rather than a means to happiness and harmony?

DURHAM, N.C. -- What do Saturn and flowers have in common?

As shapes, both possess certain symmetries that are easily recognizable in the natural world. Now, at an extremely small level, researchers from Duke University and the University of Massachusetts have created a unique set of conditions in which tiny particles within a solution will consistently assemble themselves into these and other complex shapes.

What do poor forest farmers want from China's ongoing forest land reform?Well, it is not private ownership of the land that makes them invest. What Chinese farmers value most and what attracts them to investments that can raise their standard of living and contribute to sustainable forestry is secure rights of usage, as shown by Ping Qin's doctoral thesis in economics at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Athens, Ga. – During a research trip to Puerto Rico, ecologist James Porter took samples from underwater nuclear bomb target USS Killen, expecting to find evidence of radioactive matter – instead he found a link to cancer. Data revealed that the closer corals and marine life were to unexploded bombs from the World War II vessel and the surrounding target range, the higher the rates of carcinogenic materials.

Declining numbers of a shorebird called the red knot have been linked to bait use of horseshoe crabs.

Long-term surveys of red knots showed that the average weight of red knots when they leave Delaware Bay has declined significantly since their primary food source, eggs of horseshoe crabs, has been reduced. The study also revealed that red knot survivorship is related to departure weight, and that the population size of red knots has declined by more than 75 percent.