Researchers examined gender stereotypes baked into 25 languages to explore why fewer women enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Molly Lewis, special faculty at CMU and her research partner, Gary Lupyan, associate professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, set out to examine the effect of language on career stereotypes by gender. They found that implicit…

Researchers have developed a mathematical model that can predict the optimum exercise regime for building muscle. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used methods of theoretical biophysics to construct the model, which can tell how much a specific amount of exertion will cause a muscle to grow and how long it will take. The…

By the time children are 3 years old they already have an adult-like preference for visual fractal patterns commonly seen in nature, according to researchers. That discovery emerged among children who’ve been raised in a world of Euclidean geometry, such as houses with rooms constructed with straight lines in a simple non-repeating manner, said the…

An automated computer analysis method designed by Carnegie Mellon University computer scientists makes it possible to track social biases across decades of Bollywood and Hollywood movies. Fans and critics of Bollywood — the popular name for a $2.1 billion film industry centered in Mumbai, India — might have some inkling of all this, particularly as…

People adopt different social behavior depending on the context they’re in. A deeply generous friend may be a cutthroat colleague, for example. Using a game theory framework, researchers find that context-dependent behavior doesn’t stop cooperation from flourishing, especially when behavioral strategies can ‘spillover’ between social settings. It’s a widespread feature of human society: People can…

A novel artificial intelligence (AI) approach based on wireless signals could help to reveal our inner emotions, according to new research. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, demonstrates the use of radio waves to measure heartrate and breathing signals and predict how someone is feeling even in the absence of any other visual…

A number of studies have sought to connect given emotions, such as fear or pleasure, to specific areas of the brain, but without success. A research team has now analyzed volunteers while they were playing a video game that had been specially developed to arouse different emotions. The results, show that different emotional components recruit…

General smartphone usage is a poor predictor of anxiety, depression or stress say researchers, who advise caution when it comes to digital detoxes. Researchers measured the time spent on smartphones by 199 iPhone users and 46 Android users for one week. Surprisingly, the amount of time spent on the smartphone was not related to poor…

A new study suggests ecotourism’s altruistic attractions may be overshadowed by another benefit: photos for social media. But a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia suggests ecotourism’s altruistic attractions may be overshadowed by another benefit: photos for social media. Recently published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, the research could help guide…

You enter a room and quickly scan the crowd to gain a sense of who’s there — how many men versus women. How reliable is your estimate? Not very, according to new research. In an experimental study, researchers found that participants consistently erred in estimating the proportion of men and women in a group. And…