Culture

 ShutterstockIn reading tests, young girls tend to be ahead of young boys in all countries, but by young adulthood there is no longer any difference between skills.

Though there is often talk of testing bias when it comes to differences in gender or ethnicity, there is much less when the result has been positive for girls. Yet a new analysis shows that could also be in the way the tests are designed.

The Affordable Care Act may be leaving American policy shortly after its chief advocate leaves office. Democrats are keenly aware that the incoming administration may do to Obamacare what President Obama did to No Child Left Behind and NASA's Constellation program. To try and keep much of it intact, they aee touting its benefits, but many are being spun in partisan fashion.

You might not have noticed thanks to world events, but the UK parliament recently approved the government’s so-called Snooper’s Charter and it will soon become law. This nickname for the Investigatory Powers Bill is well earned. It represents a new level and nature of surveillance that goes beyond anything previously set out in law in a democratic society.

Drinks loaded with added sugars, such as juice, soda, and frappuccinos, are one of the leading sources of empty calories in the diet of both children and adults, and overconsumption of sugar is associated with obesity and an increased risk of heart disease.

In 2012, Howard County, Maryland activists went after sugary sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks and flavored water/teas. They used:

The core theme of Donald Trump’s campaign – that the establishment was broken – drove waves of his supporters to the polls.

Surprisingly, this theme didn’t make it into his victory speech. Nor did any reference to the seismic shift in American politics that took place, save for brief mentions that the night was “historic.”

Trump took the stage at 2:50 a.m., spoke for approximately 10 minutes and finished the speech by mingling with supporters as The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” blared in the background.

Europe has a rabid distrust of science and medicine and a corresponding higher level of belief in in naturopathy, homeopathy and various other alternative techniques.

Given that, it is little surprise that psychosomatic medicine has taken off in Europe. and especially in Germany. Psychosomatic issues - "it's all in your head" - have a long history but it was popularized by German psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud in the early part of the 20th century. Today, psychiatrists officially disavow treatment for people who might be making it up but others have pursued mind-body relations.

During the first centuries after having been written down, the Bible’s Ten Commandments were not nearly as set in stone (pardon the pun) as has been assumed, according to new claims.

Big Business may have failed to stop Trump from getting the nomination, but CEOs could still be insuring that Clinton wins, according to a new analysis.

Females outnumber men in biology at the undergraduate and Ph.D. levels and have this entire century. Where do they still lag? Faculty positions.

The issue is clearly not sexism, academia prides itself on being more liberal and inclusive than private sector science, it is the tenure system. Tenured scientists are living longer, continuing to do fine work, and therefore not making way for younger female scientists who have an advantage in hiring now.

Most media attention is awarded to cancer’s success stories – new treatment breakthroughs are celebrated as researchers (and journalists) search for an exciting new “cure” for cancer.

But what happens after these innovations hit the news? And who is going to buy them?

The newest drugs are frequently the most costly, and healthcare systems are already struggling. Where is the money going? And is there evidence that the money spent on innovation actually benefits cancer patients?

Proximity is an important influence in consumer decisions on everyday purchases, according to a new survey.

In the survey, 93.2 percent of respondents said they typically travel less than 20 minutes to buy groceries, clothing, gas, and other routine transactions, while 87 percent said they won’t travel beyond 15 minutes for such purchases. For purchases that consumers make at least once per week, the distance they’re willing to travel shrinks even further to ten minutes.

The war on fat is back, thanks to an aggressive campaign by food pundits related to sugar, GMOs and corporations.

For a while, it looked like all thin people were going to be placed into mandatory body image counseling, the Kardashians had made plump the new natural, but doctors have overruled activists like Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle and their beliefs about nutrition and affirmed that it's calories that matter, not the scary story of the week.

Paracetamol has been around for over 50 years. It’s safe and many guidelines recommend it as the go-to treatment. At least, that’s the conventional view of the drug. It’s a view so ingrained that it’s rarely questioned. The trouble is that the conventional view is probably wrong.

If corporate money controls our politics, as Bernie Sanders and others have claimed, then how did the Republican Party – the reputed party of business – manage to nominate a candidate whom almost no one in Big Business supports? And why have so many been so silent about it?

England has a failing national drug policy, shown in a steep rise in drug related deaths since 2012, warn public health experts in The BMJ this week. Oddly, they claim fiscal responsibility and say giving addicts more free housing would solve the problem, which will baffle economists.