https://phys.org/science-news/ en-us Phys.org provides the latest news on science, fossils, archaeology, chemistry, mathematics, biology and science technology. Just over half of young adult Americans live with their parents, an unprecedented proportion that is doubtless linked to the coronavirus but also reflects a deeper trend, researchers said Friday. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-young-americans-parents.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:02:04 EDT news518454121 As children return to school in the UK, they will encounter a curriculum that still pays little attention to black British history or culture. This is despite an urgent Black Lives Matter movement and growing demands for a more honest reckoning with the racial legacies of Britain's imperial past. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-uk-school-textbooks-highly-version.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 10:10:08 EDT news518430593 New research provides some of the first solid evidence that people who watch a virtual job interview rate the candidate substantially lower than those who watch the same interview in person. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-job-candidates-virtual.html Economics & Business Fri, 04 Sep 2020 10:00:03 EDT news518429719 Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson at The Ohio State University have been studying ice cores from around the world for over 30 years. They collect, store and study ice cores to understand the history of the Earth's climate and preserve them for future scientists. In this interview, they explain how ice cores preserve evidence of rare but impactful changes in Earth's history often called "black swan" events, as well as smaller environmental changes and why it is necessary to preserve the ice cores and the glaciers they come from. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-video-ancient-ice-cores-black.html Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:40:01 EDT news518429375 There is a fair amount of archeological evidence that indicates complex behavior among our ancestors. For instance, there are bone tools that were used as hunting projectiles, for working leather or for processing plants. Ochre remnants were used for body and rock painting. But plants and their products have rarely been reported to embody this type of complex behavior. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-grass-ash-uncovering-year-beds.html Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:20:04 EDT news518429262 A fear for health and safety that crosses party lines has driven a record number of American gun sales during the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, raising the potential for accidental deaths and the need to address gun safety and mental health, UC Riverside economists suggest in a new paper. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-pandemic-gun-buying-binge-party-lines.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:16:44 EDT news518429801 Following her recent installation as Canada's first female finance minister, Chrystia Freeland was quick to acknowledge that a promotion such as hers was a rarity for a woman in the era of COVID-19. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-moms-alright-coronavirus-pandemic-policies.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:10:01 EDT news518429254 The strength of connections, be it human connections within cities, or collaborative networks between cities, has been a key factor in determining how effectively the world's biggest cities have been able to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, according to leading experts. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-people-power-key-covid-pandemic.html Social Sciences Political science Fri, 04 Sep 2020 07:46:05 EDT news518424360 The number of mammoth skeletons recovered at an airport construction site north of Mexico City has risen to at least 200, with a large number still to be excavated, experts said Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mammoth-central-mexico-airport-site.html Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 04 Sep 2020 04:23:24 EDT news518412064 A Dartmouth-led study using multisensor drones has revealed a large circular earthwork at what may be Etzanoa, an archaeological site near Wichita, Kansas. Archaeologists speculate that the site was visited by a Spanish expedition, led by Juan de Oñate, a controversial conquistador, in 1601. The earthwork may be the remains of a so-called "council circle," as it is similar to several other circular earthworks in the region, according to the study's findings published in American Antiquity. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-drone-survey-reveals-large-earthwork.html Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 Sep 2020 16:46:55 EDT news518370413 Discovered in Val Aurina and now in the laboratory of Eurac Research's mummy experts, the remains will be studied in order to improve the conservation techniques of mummies around the world. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-year-old-chamois-ice-mummies.html Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 Sep 2020 15:04:28 EDT news518364262 Social media has forever changed our society and how people do business. A 2013 report by J.D. Power found nearly two-thirds of customers have used a company's social media site to connect with customer service. New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research finds businesses that use Twitter as a social care channel are seeing a 19% increase in customer satisfaction. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-customer-twitter-satisfaction.html Economics & Business Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:17:24 EDT news518354221 The use of tear gas—particularly CS gas—as a riot control agent, cannot be reconciled with respect for fundamental human rights and should therefore be banned entirely in international law, the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) says in a report released today. Lawmakers at all levels of government should act to put forward legislation that bans use of the chemical weapon, eliminates existing stockpiles and prohibits import, export and manufacture. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-gas.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:15:02 EDT news518354099 A Rochester Institute of Technology researcher developed a mathematical method that shows climate change likely caused the rise and fall of an ancient civilization. In an article recently featured in the journal Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, Nishant Malik, assistant professor in RIT's School of Mathematical Sciences, outlined the new technique he developed and showed how shifting monsoon patterns led to the demise of the Indus Valley Civilization, a Bronze Age civilization contemporary to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mathematical-method-climate-fall-ancient.html Mathematics Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:13:30 EDT news518354007 Until now the Nebra sky disk was deemed to be from the Early Bronze Age and therefore the world's oldest depiction of the cosmos. Archaeologists from Goethe University Frankfurt and Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich have now reanalysed diverse data on the reconstruction of the discovery site and surrounding circumstances of the find. Their findings are that the disk must be dated in the Iron Age, making it about 1,000 years younger than previously assumed. This makes all previous astronomical interpretations obsolete. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-dating-nebra-sky-disk.html Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 Sep 2020 10:25:17 EDT news518347516 A team of musicians, composers, technologists and performers at the University of Sussex have developed an app called Syncphonia, which helps students to play music in socially distanced ensembles. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-music-app-school-children-socially.html Education Thu, 03 Sep 2020 09:54:53 EDT news518345689 Otago researchers examining the impacts of post-earthquake cordons on residents and businesses say policy makers should pre-plan for cordon use to minimize negative outcomes. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-policymakers-pre-plan-earthquake-cordon.html Political science Thu, 03 Sep 2020 09:50:02 EDT news518345303 One of the most striking responses to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the sudden, shift of around half the workforce to working at home. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-stumbled-biggest-productivity-century.html Economics & Business Thu, 03 Sep 2020 09:00:02 EDT news518341924 The population on Rapa Nui didn't crash because the Europeans came. Nor did they live in idyllic equilibrium with nature for centuries. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-growth-decline-rapa-nui-population.html Archaeology & Fossils Thu, 03 Sep 2020 08:04:58 EDT news518339094 One in three marriages in the United States now starts with a virtual connection, and algorithms have supplanted traditional dating and matchmaking agencies. The choices are seemingly endless: If you're looking for a lasting relationship, eHarmony promises bliss. If it's just a quick fling you're after, there's Tinder or Bumble. If your preferences are more specific, GlutenFreeSingles or ClownDating might appeal. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-economics-dating-sites.html Social Sciences Thu, 03 Sep 2020 08:04:01 EDT news518338990 As movements calling for racial justice have grown throughout the country in recent weeks, many businesses have increased visibility of their diversity initiatives. But few companies ever report on the results of these initiatives, leaving some to doubt their efficacy. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-diverse-chains-societyand-business.html Economics & Business Thu, 03 Sep 2020 07:56:24 EDT news518338581 More than half of all African American women in the United States report having at least one family member who is incarcerated, causing higher levels of depressive symptoms and psychological distress than previously understood. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-familial-incarceration-negatively-impacts-mental.html Social Sciences Thu, 03 Sep 2020 03:37:39 EDT news518323056 Every four years, U.S. presidential campaigns collectively spend billions of dollars flooding TV screens across the country with political ads. But a new study co-authored by Yale political scientist Alexander Coppock shows that, regardless of content, context, or audience, those pricey commercials do little to persuade voters. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-political-ads-persuasive-power.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:00:10 EDT news518248355 Grade 3 students who watch more than two hours of TV daily or spend more than one hour a day on a computer experience a decline in academic results two years later, a new study has found. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-heavy-tv-impacts-children-academic.html Education Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:00:06 EDT news518247496 University of Alberta graduate student Scott Melnyk made an intriguing fossil find during a graduate level course—and ended up identifying the fossilized tracks of a newly discovered wood-boring organism in a new study. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-student-fossil-coursework.html Archaeology & Fossils Wed, 02 Sep 2020 12:18:50 EDT news518267927 With just over two months before the 2020 election, three professors at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business offer a comprehensive review of how other nations are seeking to protect their democratic institutions and presents how a multifaceted, targeted approach is needed to achieve that goal in the U.S., where intelligence officials have warned that Russia and other rivals are again attempting to undermine our democracy. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-paper-ballots-risk-limiting-defend-elections.html Political science Wed, 02 Sep 2020 12:12:41 EDT news518267473 Every teacher knows and dreads it: the look of a bored student. This school year, with a sea of new faces he's never seen before, sixth-grade teacher Zac Hansel is more worried than usual. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-coronavirus-technology-teachers-rethink-distanced.html Education Wed, 02 Sep 2020 12:07:29 EDT news518267245 Newspaper coverage of COVID-19 is at least as politicized and polarized as climate change coverage, say University of Michigan researchers. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-early-covid-news-coverage-amplified.html Political science Wed, 02 Sep 2020 10:09:21 EDT news518260158 Sitting for the SAT college admissions test a second time leads to higher scores, a boon to high school students applying to four-year college programs according to research this year out of Georgia State University, Brandeis University and the University of Missouri. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-positive-impact-retaking-sat-college.html Education Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:56:09 EDT news518259365 When it comes to creating successful business interactions, exchanges between buyers and sellers with similar emotional abilities may lead to more lucrative outcomes than an animated or ambitious employee alone. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-emotional-business-relationships.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:29:43 EDT news518257779