People are more likely to donate to charity if they benefit in some way, study shows

No selfless act! People are more likely to donate money to charity if they think they’re benefitting THEMSELVES, study finds Researchers implemented a ‘statewide natural field experiment’ in Alaska, US They worded postcard adverts for charitable donations in two different ways  The one that emphasised selfish benefits was best at getting people to donate   By Jonathan Chadwick For … Read more

Exercise: Almost HALF of recreational runners injure themselves in a year, study finds 

Running injuries can affect anyone, from experienced runners who push themselves hard, to beginners whose muscles are not used to running. Below are 5 of the most common running injuries. Find out how to spot the symptoms, what causes the injuries, and what to do if you get one, including when to get medical help. … Read more

Food: People expect chocolate to taste more BITTER if it is in black packaging, study finds

Black chocolate wrappers make consumers think that confectionary will taste more bitter, while yellow and pink create expectations of sweetness, a study found. Researchers from Brazil asked 420 individuals to predict the taste qualities of slabs of milk and dark chocolate that came presented in different coloured packaging. They also found that black wrapping made people expect … Read more

‘Manly’ men make better DADS, study claims 

‘Manly’ men make better DADS: Masculine traits including competitiveness and adventurousness are linked to stronger parenting skills, study claims Men completed questionnaires when their partners were in their 3rd trimester Their parenting skills were then assessed when the baby was nine months old Typically masculine skills were linked to better parenting skills However, those who … Read more

Dogs get jealous when they imagine their owner is fussing another pooch, study finds

Even DOGS get jealous! Pups display envious behaviours when they merely imagine that their owner is interacting with another pooch, study finds Scientists studied 18 dogs and their owners to see how jealous the dog gets   They saw their human near to a fake dog and were then divided by a screen   Even when the … Read more

Modern human brain evolved as far back as 1.7 million years ago, study finds

Modern human brains are ‘relatively young’ and only evolved as far back as 1.7 million years ago after the earliest humans first dispersed from Africa, a new study claims.   Researchers used computed tomography to examine the skulls of Homo fossils that lived in Africa and Asia between 1 million and 2 million years ago.  They … Read more

Prehistoric cave painters may have been hallucinating through lack of oxygen, study claims

Prehistoric cave painters who daubed colourful murals on the walls of deep caverns some 30,000 years ago may have been hallucinating due to a lack of oxygen.  A new study speculates that the artists who produced numerous underground works across Europe may have deliberately starved themselves of oxygen.  Among the paintings mentioned by Israeli researchers are … Read more

Joint China-WHO study into origins of Covid-19 ‘has provided no credible answers’

Joint China-WHO study into origins of Covid-19 has provided no credible answers and a new probe is needed with or without Beijing, group of international scientists say Twenty-four top researchers from around the world said the report was tainted  The probe last week concluded that the virus did not leak from a Wuhan lab It … Read more

Prozac and a drug used to treat THRUSH ‘potently impaired’ Covid in lab tests, study finds 

Prozac and a drug used to treat THRUSH ‘potently impaired’ Covid in lab tests, study finds Lab tests showed impaired replication of the coronavirus in lab tests  This was seen when remdesevir was combined with  itraconazole and Prozac  Antifungal drug itraconazole is used to treat thrush and infected toenails Prozac is a very common drug prescribed as an … Read more

A third of pooches favour their left paw when reaching for food, study shows 

How dogs are more likely to be southpaws than we are: A third of pooches favour their left paw when reaching for food, study shows A study of 17,901 dogs across the UK found 31 per cent favoured their left paw  43 per cent favoured their right – much like cartoon superstar Scooby Doo  In … Read more