Culture

Abstinence can mean different things to adolescents than to adults. That's one reason why abstinence-only programs do not have strong effects in preventing teenage sexual activity, according to new University of Washington research.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Antivirus software on your personal computer could become a thing of the past thanks to a new "cloud computing" approach to malicious software detection developed at the University of Michigan.

Cloud computing refers to applications and services provided seamlessly on the Internet.

Chili peppers can do more than just make you feel hot, reports a study in the August 1 Journal of Biological Chemistry; the active chemical in peppers can directly induce thermogenesis, the process by which cells convert energy into heat.

Capsaicin is the chemical in chili peppers that contributes to their spiciness; CPS stimulates a receptor found in sensory neurons, creating the heat sensation and subsequent reactions like redness and sweating.

In 2006, Andrew Jordan, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, together with Alexander Korotkov at the University of California, Riverside, spelled out how to exploit a quantum quirk to accomplish a feat long thought impossible, and this week a research team at the University of California at Santa Barbara has tested the theory, proving it correct.

The traffic light ahead of you is turning yellow. Do you gun the engine and speed through the intersection, trusting that others will wait for their green, or do you slow down and wait your turn?

Black girls who abuse alcohol are more likely to have unprotected sex despite having participated in interventions that stressed the importance of consistent condom use.

No one likes to be excluded from a group: exclusion can decrease mood, reduce self-esteem and feelings of belonging, and even ultimately lead to negative behavior (e.g., the shootings at Virginia Tech). As a result, we often try to fit in with others in both conscious and automatic ways.

Psychologists Jessica L. Lakin of Drew University, Tanya L. Chartrand of Duke University, and Robert M. Arkin of The Ohio State University studied people's tendency to copy automatically the behaviors of others in order to find out how this mimicry can be used as an affiliation strategy.

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have shown how bacteria could be used as a future fuel. The research, published in the journal Bioinformatics, could have significant implications for the environment and the way we produce sustainable fuels in the future.

Like all living creatures, bacteria sustain themselves through their metabolism, a huge sequence of chemical reactions that transform nutrients into energy and waste.

The ability to work together and capture larger prey has allowed social spiders to stretch the laws of nature and reach enormous colony sizes, UBC zoologists have found.

The findings, published in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, may also explain why social spiders thrive in tropical areas but dwindle with increasing latitude and elevation.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — College students with food allergies aren't avoiding the foods they know they shouldn't eat. Students of all ages are not treated with potentially life-saving epinephrine as often as they should be. And instructors, roommates and friends often are not aware of what to do if a food-allergic student has a reaction.

Black girls who use marijuana are more likely to engage in risky sexual acts and contract a sexually transmitted disease, a new study finds.

The study, by Emory University public health researchers, is being presented at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. It analyzed the marijuana use and self-reported sexual behavior of 439 sexually active black females between the ages of 15 and 21.

The world's population of critically endangered western lowland gorillas received a huge boost today when the Wildlife Conservation Society released a census showing massive numbers of these secretive great apes alive and well in the Republic of Congo.

A new study in SCI's Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows that konjac gum and sesame seed extract may offer protection against different strains of E. coli and Salmonella bacteria.

The study by Dr Petra Becker et al from Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands, shows that these foodstuffs act as binders for E. coli and Salmonella bacteria. The bacteria attach themselves to the fibrous foods instead of the gut cells of the host.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Tiny fossilized teeth excavated from an Indian open-pit coal mine could be the oldest Asian remains ever found of anthropoids, the primate lineage of today's monkeys, apes and humans, say researchers from Duke University and the Indian Institute of Technology.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A new study suggests that it may be easier for people living in small metropolitan areas to get out of poverty than it is for those living in large metro areas.

The study by researchers at Ohio State University and Oklahoma State University found that despite an increase in the number of jobs created during the 1990s, many people living in large metro areas across the United States failed to find jobs.