In the largest study of its kind Dr Michael Lewis of Cardiff University’s School of Psychology, collected a random sample of 1205 black, white, and mixed-race faces. Each face was then rated for their perceived attractiveness to others — with mixed-race faces, on average, being perceived as being more attractive. Dr Lewis, who will present his findings to the British Psychological Society’s annual meeting (April 14) said: ‘Previous, small scale, studies have suggested that people of mixed race are perceived as being more attractive than non-mixed-race people. This study was an attempt to put this to the wider test. ‘A random sample of black, white, and mixed-race faces was collected and rated for their perceived attractiveness. There was a small but highly significant effect, with mixed-race faces, on average, being perceived as more attractive.’ The study could also have wider implications than just attractiveness. First established by Darwin in 1876, heterosis (or hybrid vigour) is a biological phenomenon that predicts that cross-breeding leads to offspring that are genetically fitter than their parents. As heterosis is considered to be a universal biological effect, it is possible that humans are also subject to its influence and […]
Lack of health insurance and financial worries about the cost of care contributed to as much as a six-hour delay in seeking emergency care for a heart attack, according to a first-of-its kind study published April 14 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It’s the first study to link the impact of not having health insurance to patients’ decisions to delay emergency treatment during a heart attack. But perhaps most importantly, the study revealed even those with health insurance delayed emergency care, if they had financial concerns. The results could impact the continued debate about U.S. health care reform as affordability of care remains a challenge to patients, authors say. ‘Having private health care insurance did not guarantee use of health services that were essential for these patients, perhaps because they perceived them as unaffordable in the face of competing financial demands, says study senior author Paul S. Chan, M.D., MSc., cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, in Kansas, City, Mo. In the study, 49 percent of uninsured patients and 45 percent of insured patients with financial concerns delayed seeking care by more than six hours during a heart attack, compared with […]
Coal is dirty, but it’s cheap. Can new technology help turn this abundant energy supply into a clean and economically viable fuel? London, England (CNN) — It is one of the most abundant natural resources, providing around a quarter of the world’s total energy and powering over 40 percent of our electricity supplies. But it’s also one of the dirtiest with the world’s 2,300 coal-fired power stations contributing around 40 percent of all man-made emissions, according to the World Coal Institute. Their continued use enrages many environmentalists who argue that we should be phasing coal out. But the coal industry is pinning its hopes on the rather oxymoronic-sounding ‘clean coal,’ which has become the umbrella term for a range of new technologies that share the aim of cleaning up coal in the 21st century. Earth’s Frontiers takes a look at the options: Pre-combustion Video: Engineering cleaner coal Video: The greenest barrel of oil Gallery: Carbon capture and storage According to the UK’s Scottish Center for Carbon Storage(SCCS), this method — provided it is used in tandem with CO2 storage — has the potential to create almost emission-free fuel. Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) […]
World leaders arriving in Washington for President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit must have felt for a moment that they had instead been transported to Soviet-era Moscow. They entered a capital that had become a military encampment, with camo-wearing military police in Humvees and enough Army vehicles to make it look like a May Day parade on New York Avenue, where a bicyclist was killed Monday by a National Guard truck. In the middle of it all was Obama — occupant of an office once informally known as ‘leader of the free world’ — putting on a clinic for some of the world’s greatest dictators in how to circumvent a free press. The only part of the summit, other than a post-meeting news conference, that was visible to the public was Obama’s eight-minute opening statement, which ended with the words: ‘I’m going to ask that we take a few moments to allow the press to exit before our first session.’ Reporters for foreign outlets, admitted for the first time to the White House press pool, got the impression that the vaunted American freedoms are not all they’re cracked up to be. Yasmeen Alamiri from the Saudi […]
The new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already scrambling to train more doctors. Experts warn there won’t be enough doctors to treat the millions of people newly insured under the law. At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That shortfall is predicted despite a push by teaching hospitals and medical schools to boost the number of U.S. doctors, which now totals about 954,000. The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. These general practitioners, internists, family physicians and pediatricians will have a larger role under the new law, coordinating care for each patient. The U.S. has 352,908 primary-care doctors now, and the college association estimates that 45,000 more will be needed by 2020. But the number of medical-school students entering family medicine fell more than a quarter between 2002 and 2007. A shortage of primary-care and other physicians could mean more-limited access to health care and longer wait times for patients. Proponents of the new health-care law say it does attempt to address the […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
