News by Subject Social & Behavior

UK researchers reported that men in Uganda and Nicaragua were generally less hung up about their body image and cared less about pursuing a muscular physique than British men. The study employed new body-imaging technology and machine learning to understand different cultural attitudes around the drive toward ideals of muscularity. Understanding variation between groups is important to ensure any strategies or interventions addressing negative behaviors are tailored to a specific cultural context.

In a paper published this week in Science, an international team of scientists share details of the most ancient fossil of Homo erectus known and discuss how these new findings are forcing us to rewrite a part of our species' evolutionary history.

New research has found that allotment gardening promotes positive body image, which measures someone's appreciation of their own body and its functions, and an acceptance of bodily imperfections.

Nearly 2 million years ago, three hominin genera -- Australopithecus, Paranthropus and the earliest Homo erectus lineage -- lived as contemporaries in the karst landscape of what is now South Africa, according to a new geochronological evaluation of the hominin fossil-rich Drimolen Paleocave complex.

Why was there always a shortage of fashionable clothing in the USSR? What was the typical career path for a Soviet fashion designer? Who had power and influence in the socialist fashion industry? HSE Associate Professor Yulia Papushina examined these questions by reconstructing the everyday life of the Perm Fashion House during the late socialism era. Her study is the first to look into the recent history of clothing design and manufacturing in Russian provinces.

Genetic studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show that it takes many common genetic variations combining together in one individual to increase risk substantially. At the same time, neuroimaging experts have found differences in how the brains of people diagnosed with ADHD are functionally connected. However it's unclear how genetic risk might be directly related to altered brain circuitry in individuals diagnosed with ADHD.

A palette of colours on a silver plate: that is what the world's first colour photograph looks like. It was taken by French physicist Edmond Becquerel in 1848. His process was empirical, never explained, and quickly abandoned. A team including CNRS researchers has now shone a light on this: the colours obtained by Edmond Becquerel were due to the presence of metallic silver nanoparticles.

Research led by the University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research has anchored a long sequence of tree rings, providing context for the civilizations that existed throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages, including the eruption of Thera.