Culture

Each hour spent watching TV daily increases the risk of developing diabetes by 3.4%, concludes a study published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes). The study, on the effects of sedentary or 'sitting' time on diabetes risk, is by Dr Bonny Rockette-Wagner (lead author) and Dr Andrea Kriska (senior author) from the University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA, and colleagues.

A new analysis offers insights into possible effects of the Affordable Care Act on access to outpatient care - little improvement for the people that the public was convinced needed it most and a much higher cost.

America's welfare state is quietly evolving from needs-based to an employment-based safety net that rewards working families and fuels dreams of a better life, indicates a new study led by a Michigan State University scholar.

The major reason: the little-known Earned Income Tax Credit, a $65 billion federal tax-relief program for poor, working families. The program has been expanded dramatically during the past 25 years, while cash welfare has been sharply curtailed.

Deployment to Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom was not associated with suicide in a study of more than 3.9 million U.S. military personnel in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy, according to a new study. The suicide rate among active duty U.S. military members has increased in the last decade and research on the potential effect of deployment to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) is limited, according to the study background.

Researchers offer a few tips for those who are worried that their nerves might stand between them and acing their next job interview. Stop worrying about how much you might blush or your nervous tics, and focus more on being warm, friendly and assertive. The advice comes from Amanda Feiler and Deborah Powell of the University of Guelph in Canada, who carefully watched what anxious people do during an interview, and how others respond to them. Their findings are published in Springer's Journal of Business and Psychology.

Poses of power, such as hands pressed to the hips or leaning back with arms crossed behind the head, are considered powerful, high status gestures in psychological jargon, but they may have been putting the cart before the horse in claims that they stimulate psychological and physiological processes.

More midriff, cleavage and muscle is seen in MTV's popular television reality television docu-soaps such as The Real World, Jersey Shore or Laguna Beach than in the average American household. Semi-naked brawny Adonis'es and even more scantily clad thin women strut around on screen simply to grab the audience's attention. In the process, they present a warped view to young viewers about how they should look. Such docu-soaps are definitely more ideal than real, say Mark Flynn of the Coastal Carolina University and Sung-Yeon Park of Bowling Green State University.

A new study out of Wellesley College sheds light on the role of beliefs about the value of diversity in fostering attitudinally diverse friendships. Led by Angela Bahns, a social psychologist studying similarity and diversity in friendship networks, the study demonstrates that people who place a higher value on diversity are more likely to have friends of different races, religions, and/or classes, as well as friends with different sociopolitical views.

How do consumers react to products with diverse online reviews? According to a new study, a mix of positive and negative reviews can benefit products that are evaluated based on personal taste.

Childhood cancer survival has increased but the majority of those who have survived five or more years beyond diagnosis may have at least one chronic health condition, according to cancer incidence and survival data recorded between 1975 and 2011 from nine U.S.

While there has been substantial progress in some cancer control efforts in the past several decades, like reductions in smoking and increased utilization of cancer screening, progress in some areas is lagging, according to a new report. Among the areas of most concern: smoking rates among certain populations, obesity, indoor tanning, and low utilization of a new vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical and other cancers.

In a recent survey 76% of respondents listened to music from YouTube every day. YouTube and Spotify were by far the most popular music sources in the study. YouTube was the most frequently used service for music listening and new music discovery. Even active Spotify users visited YouTube often to complement Spotify’s incomplete music selection.

YouTube was also perceived as the most shareable music source by the students in their early 20s who participated in the internet-based study.

Government subsidies for renewable energy rebounded strongly last year, registering a solid 17% increase after two years of declines. Major expansion of solar installations in China and Japan and government=backed investments in offshore wind projects in Europe helped propel green energy spending to $270 billion.

When it comes to issues as divisive as vaccines, abortion and welfare, it is commonplace to use surveys to contradict reality. It's usually wiser to accept reality.

Take this statement analyzed by sociologists Dr Kjetil van der Wel and Dr Knut Halvorsen: 'I would enjoy having a paid job even if I did not need the money' put to the interviewees for the European Social Survey in 2010.

Last night, the final episode of the fifth season of The Walking Dead screened on Australian television. The hit US series has for the last five years constantly reached larger and larger audiences around the world. In the US, each new season continues to break cable ratings records.