Friday, April 26

SOCIETY

Attachment To Both Parents, Not Just Mothers, Can Help Children Thrive
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SOCIETY

Attachment To Both Parents, Not Just Mothers, Can Help Children Thrive

Secure attachment to both parents − not just mothers − boosts children’s healthy development. Imagine a sudden rustle in the tall grass. A ripple of alarm passes through the group of early humans who live together amid ancient, rugged terrain. In the center of the encampment, a 3-year-old child – let’s call her Raina – stumbles and falls, her eyes wide with fear. Without hesitation, her mother sweeps her up into her protective arms, while her grandmother quickly gathers herbs and leaves to create a pungent smokescreen to deter lurking predators. Simultaneously, Raina’s father and uncles move swiftly to the outskirts of the camp, their vigilant eyes scanning for signs of danger. In this heart-pounding moment, Raina was enveloped in a web of care. Multiple caregivers worked seamlessly togeth...
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Are American Institutions Failing Teenage Girls
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SOCIETY

Are American Institutions Failing Teenage Girls

And in spite of that, girls are increasingly outcompeting boys and turning into future leaders. Amid the avalanche of reports deploring troubled teens and blaming their youthful peers and social media, two new trends are emerging that are both disturbing and encouraging. And teenage girls are the focus of these trends. On one hand, girls of the 2020s are depicted as miserably depressed, imperiled, and suicidal. But they are also seen as dynamic achievers, increasingly outcompeting men and boys in education, jobs, and activist leadership, all to the consternation of traditionalists. Which is it? Bad news first—and it is bad. American girls are being abused and murdered at appalling rates. From 2010 through the most recent 2023 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tabulations, 6,600 America...
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Vice President Kamala Harris Discusses Toll Of Gun Violence — ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way’
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SOCIETY

Vice President Kamala Harris Discusses Toll Of Gun Violence — ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way’

ATLANTA — Vice President Kamala Harris asked a crowd of students from historically Black colleges and universities to raise their hands if they had ever participated in an active shooter drill. Every hand went up. Last week, Harris stood outside the White House as the creation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention was announced. On Tuesday, she was on the latest stop on her college tour to talk about issues including guns with young Americans. She told them that policymakers don’t have to choose between Second Amendment rights and taking all guns away. “We're talking being in favor of the Second Amendment, which I am. I'm also talking reasonable gun safety laws,” she said. “We need an assault weapons ban. It's a weapon that was designed to kill a lot of people quickly and it has no ...
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Botanizing Is A Great Way To Engage With Life Around You, So Take A Break From Your Screen And Look At Plants
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SOCIETY, TOP FOUR

Botanizing Is A Great Way To Engage With Life Around You, So Take A Break From Your Screen And Look At Plants

Take a break from your screen and look at plants − botanizing is a great way to engage with life around you. When you hear about the abundance of life on Earth, what do you picture? For many people, it’s animals – but awareness of plant diversity is growing rapidly. Our planet has nearly 300,000 species of flowering plants. Among animals, only beetles can compete with that number. There are more species of ferns than birds, more mints than mammals, and more beans than butterflies. Measured in total mass, plants make up 82% of all life on land across the globe. We are plant scientists and co-founders of Let’s Botanize, an educational nonprofit that uses plant life to teach about ecology, evolution and biodiversity. In the past several years we have witnessed a botanical boom, with partici...
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Bourbon’s Distinctive Taste And Color — The Complex Chemistry Behind America’s Spirit
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Journalism, LIFESTYLE, SOCIETY

Bourbon’s Distinctive Taste And Color — The Complex Chemistry Behind America’s Spirit

The complex chemistry behind America’s spirit – how bourbon gets its distinctive taste and color. Few beverages have as rich a heritage and as complicated a chemistry as bourbon whiskey, often called “America’s spirit.” Known for its deep amber hue and robust flavors, bourbon has captured the hearts of enthusiasts across the country. But for a whiskey to be called a bourbon, it has to adhere to very specific rules. For one, it needs to be made in the U.S. or a U.S. territory – although almost all is made in Kentucky. The other rules have more to do with the steps to make it – how much corn is in the grain mixture, the aging process and the alcohol proof. I’m a bourbon researcher and chemistry professor who teaches classes on fermentation, and I’m a bourbon connoisseur myself. The complex...
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A Neuropharmacology Expert Explains How Cannabis Holds Promise For Pain Management, Reducing The Need For Opioid Painkillers
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, SOCIETY, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

A Neuropharmacology Expert Explains How Cannabis Holds Promise For Pain Management, Reducing The Need For Opioid Painkillers

Cannabis holds promise for pain management, reducing the need for opioid painkillers – a neuropharmacology expert explains how. Drug overdose deaths from opioids continue to rise in the U.S. as a result of both the misuse of prescription opioids and the illicit drug market. But an interesting trend has developed: Opioid emergency room visits drop by nearly 8% and opioid prescriptions are modestly lower in states where marijuana is legalized. Marijuana is produced by the cannabis plant, which is native to Asia but is now grown throughout the world. Individuals use marijuana for both its psychoactive, euphoria-inducing properties and its ability to relieve pain. Chemicals produced by the cannabis plant are commonly known as cannabinoids. The two primary cannabinoids that occur naturally i...
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Psychology — The Darker Side
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SOCIETY, TOP FOUR

Psychology — The Darker Side

The Darker Side Of Psychology When you think about psychology what first comes to mind may be that 101 class you took in college to satisfy a requirement, or perhaps an article you have recently read or a snip-it you saw on Youtube. Which usually characterizes a group of psychologists, somewhere, who have done a statistical analysis of humans doing whatever. Predictably, you would have found that most of their subjects fell within the fat lump of the bell curve. While a few individuals, are probably out there right now, doing anything and everything you can imagine. It has most likely always been that way. Primates are curious, if nothing else. It’s been a hallmark of our species, and may stem from our perennial desire to transcend the limits of our experience. Moreover, a shrinking num...
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A Nutritionist Explains The Science Behind An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, SOCIETY, TOP FOUR

A Nutritionist Explains The Science Behind An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? A nutritionist explains the science behind ‘functional’ foods. We’ve all heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but how true is that? Apples are not high in vitamin A, nor are they beneficial for vision like carrots. They are not a great source of vitamin C and therefore don’t fight off colds as oranges do. However, apples contain various bio-active substances – natural chemicals that occur in small amounts in foods and that have biological effects in the body. These chemicals are not classified as nutrients like vitamins. Because apples contain many health-promoting bio-active substances, the fruit is considered a “functional” food. For years, I have taught university classes on nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, carbs, prot...
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The Porn Studies Course That Doesn’t Involve Watching Adult Films
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LIFESTYLE, SOCIETY, TOP FOUR

The Porn Studies Course That Doesn’t Involve Watching Adult Films

Jennifer Pollitt’s porn studies course doesn’t involve watching adult films. In Social Perspectives in Digital Pornography: The Other Sex Education — taught for the first time at Temple University in the spring — students learn about the history of porn, how the internet changed the industry, and the messages pornography sends about “trans bodies, or Black and Brown bodies, or disabled bodies,” Pollitt told The 19th. The undergraduate course is part of Temple’s gender, sexuality and women’s studies program of which Politt serves as assistant director. The class stands out, the professor said, because it uses current research to evaluate porn’s representation of sex and sexuality and impact on society. That the course takes a scholarly approach to a taboo topic hasn’t made it any less p...
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You’re Not Alone If You’re Hearing Voices
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SOCIETY, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

You’re Not Alone If You’re Hearing Voices

Hearing voices? You’re not alone. From the little voice telling us we’re no good to the one offering advice, the experience of hearing voices is more common than you might think. It is estimated that 13.2% of the adult general population are subject to it, yet this experience still carries much stigma. Whom can you turn to when you’re no longer alone in your head? For several decades now, the international Hearing Voices Movement (HVM) has been campaigning to improve the way this condition is perceived. Two recent studies conducted at the University of Lorraine in eastern France have assessed how its support groups have impacted the French health care system. Changing textbooks You’re hearing voices and in one fell swoop, the gavel falls: you’re mad. How could it be otherwise? You don’t...
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