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Want to be a macho man? Study finds it’s not easy
The Globe and Mail: It's an oft-spoofed scene: young men who fail to 'score' wailing on each other outside a nightclub. A new paper suggests that manhood is a precarious status—and when it's threatened, men will often become aggressive to re-assert it. In several studies, University of South Florida psychologists had men perform "feminine" tasks, and recorded the fallout afterwards. In one experiment, they had some men braid hair (that's feminine, they said) and others braid rope -- that's more masculine, or gender neutral, they argued. Read the whole story: The Globe and Mail
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National Academy of Sciences Members and Foreign Associates Elected
The National Academy of Sciences today announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 15 countries in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,113 and the total number of foreign associates to 418. Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States. Newly elected members and their affiliations at the time of election
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Bin Laden mythology lives on as fast sea burial sows doubt among believers that he is dead
The Canadian Press: WASHINGTON — Knowing there would be disbelievers, the U.S. says it used convincing means to confirm Osama bin Laden's identity during and after the firefight that killed him. But the mystique that surrounded the terrorist chieftain in life is persisting in death. Was it really him? How do we know? Where are the pictures? Already, those questions are spreading in Pakistan and surely beyond. In the absence of photos and with his body given up to the sea, many people do not believe bin Laden — the Great Emir to some, the fabled escape artist of the Tora Bora mountains to foe and friend alike — is really dead. U.S.
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‘Fatting in’: Immigrant groups eat high-calorie American meals to fit in
Immigrants to the United States and their U.S.-born children gain more than a new life and new citizenship. They gain weight. The wide availability of cheap, convenient, fatty American foods and large meal portions have been blamed for immigrants packing on pounds, approaching U.S. levels of obesity within 15 years of their move. Psychologists show that it’s not simply the abundance of high-calorie American junk food that causes weight gain. Instead, members of U.S. immigrant groups choose typical American dishes as a way to show that they belong and to prove their American-ness.
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A Thief That Robs the Brain of Language
The New York Times: Steve Riedner of Schaumberg, Ill., was a 55-year-old tool-and-die maker, a job that involves difficult mental calculations, and a frequent speaker at community meetings when he found himself increasingly at a loss for words and unable to remember numbers. He even began to have difficulty reading his own written comments. The neurologist he consulted thought Mr. Riedner had suffered a stroke and for three years treated him with cholesterol-lowering medication. But instead of his language ability stabilizing or improving, as should happen following a stroke, it got worse. A second neurologist concluded after further testing that Mr.
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Plus les hommes ont du pouvoir, moins ils sont fidèles
Yahoo France: Le pouvoir et la libido sont-ils étroitement liés? La question mérite d'être posée. Bill Clinton. Newt Gingrich. Eliot Spitzer. Mark Sanford. Le Time s'amuse à citer les hommes politiques dont le point commun n'est pas le parti ou la philosophie, mais l'infidélité. Les probabilités [d'infidélité] augmentent avec le pouvoir de la personne», affirme Joris Lammers, auteur d'une étude qui se penche sur les liens entre sexe et pouvoir. Publiée dans Psychological Science, l'étude se fonde sur l'analyse des résultats d'un sondage mené sur 1.561 lecteurs d'une revue d'affaires néerlandaise.
