News by Subject Social & Behavior

A new EPFL and MIT study into the interplay between mobility and the 2013 and 2014 dengue outbreaks in Singapore has uncovered a legal void around access to mobile phone data -- information that can prove vital in preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

Why do some people learn music more quickly than others? Intelligence could play a role, according to a Michigan State University study that investigated the early stages of learning to play piano.

Patients with advanced breast cancer that has spread to the skin are likely to cause more harm than good if they use complementary therapies to treat their skin lesions. Professor Maria João Cardoso told the Advanced Breast Cancer Fifth International Consensus Conference (ABC5) in Lisbon that there was a long list of herbal products and creams that patients often try, but many of them could delay wound healing and interfere with systemic anti-cancer treatments such as hormone therapy or chemotherapy.

Modified natural materials will be an essential component of a sustainable future, but first a detailed understanding of their properties is needed. The way heat flows across bamboo cell walls has been mapped using advanced scanning thermal microscopy, providing a new understanding of how variations in thermal conductivity are linked to the bamboo's elegant structure. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, will guide the development of more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, made from natural materials, in the future.

In ancient Egypt, sacred ibises were collected from their natural habitats to be ritually sacrificed, according to a study released Nov. 13, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sally Wasef of Griffith University, Australia, and colleagues.

This process causes structures to deteriorate internally and can even cause buildings to collapse.

Heather Stephens, assistant professor of resource economics and management at West Virginia University, found that shale development negatively impacts house prices, particularly for houses with private water and close proximity to the mountains.

A spouse requiring caregiving for chronic illness or a disability can create a stressful environment for married couples.