News by Subject Social & Behavior

According to a new peer-reviewed study published in Studies in Asian Social Science, group practice of the Transcendental Meditation® and TM-Sidhi® programs in Cambodia between 1993 and 2008 was associated with a 96.2% decline in sociopolitical violence in that war-torn country compared to violence in the preceding three years. The authors conclude the likelihood this reversal in the rising 1990-1992 trend of violence occurred randomly was one chance in 10 million.

Physics Professor Jesse Berezovsky contends that until now, much of the thinking about math and music has been a top-down approach, applying mathematical ideas to existing musical compositions as a way of understanding already existing music. He contends he's uncovering the 'emergent structures of musical harmony' inherent in the art, just as order comes from disorder in the physical world. He believes that could mean a whole new way of looking at music of the past, present and future.

Leonardo da Vinci produced some of the world's most iconic art, but historical accounts show that he struggled to complete his works. 500 years after his death, King's College London researcher Professor Marco Catani suggests the best explanation for Leonardo's inability to finish projects is that the great artist may have had attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Research carried out into the impact of changes to chimpanzee habitats found they have adapted to human developments in a number of ways -- including learning how to cross roads safely and the best times to visit human habitats -- but their survival is still threatened.

A new study based on a mostly forgotten guide to medicinal plants, 'Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests,' focuses on three of the plants and shows they inhibit bacteria associated with wound infections.