With Personality Traits, You Are Who You Like

 Posted on November 22, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  777 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Some personality traits are just likable. Agreeableness, for example, is marked by kindness and warmth — who could object? But although psychologists know a fair amount about how personality traits are generally perceived, they know a lot less about how a person's own personality influences how they handle the personality traits of others. Now, a new study finds that people with dysfunctional traits such as narcissism and antagonism are more tolerant when they run into others who share those troublesome traits. [Read More]

A Newly Recognized Brain Disorder Can Mimic Alzheimer's. Here's How It's Different.

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  674 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Researchers are officially defining a new brain disorder that mimics Alzheimer's disease, giving the condition a name and diagnostic criteria, according to a new report. The disorder will be known as LATE, which stands for limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, the report said. LATE has only recently been recognized as a type of dementia, and this is the first time that researchers have come to a consensus about what the disease should be called and how it is distinguished from other brain disorders. [Read More]

Best Birth Control for Teens: Implants, IUDs

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  598 words  |  Trudie Dory

For teens, the first choice for birth control should be the long-acting forms of birth control, such as intrauterine devices and progestin implants, according to new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Once implanted in a teen's body, these devices prevent pregnancy for years; they are referred to as long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC). The new guidelines update a 2007 policy statement from the AAP that emphasized abstinence and condom use. [Read More]

Dozens of Mummified Mice and Birds Found in Ancient Egyptian Tomb

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  380 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

A tomb that was recently unearthed in Egypt holds a collection of about 50 mummified animals, including mice, falcons, cats and dogs. Inscriptions in the tomb indicate that it was built for a man named Tutu and his wife, Ta-Shirit-Iziz, about 2,000 years ago, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities announced on April 5 in a Facebook post. Authorities had located the tomb and its entrance in October 2018, after they apprehended a team of looters who were attempting to tunnel into a nearby dig site, Reuters reported. [Read More]

Full Wolf Moon: New Year's Supermoon Is the Biggest of the Year

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  488 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m. E.T. New Year's Day is a time for resolutions and hangovers, but this year, it also provides a chance to see the moon in all its glory. The first day of 2018 brings a "Full Wolf Moon" — the biggest of two supermoons that will rise in January. Skywatchers, take note! On Jan. 1, 2018, Earth will be closest to the moon at 4:54 p. [Read More]

Genetic Study Reveals Origin of India's Caste System

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  576 words  |  Trudie Dory

The caste system in South Asia — which rigidly separates people into high, middle and lower classes — may have been firmly entrenched by about 2,000 years ago, a new genetic analysis suggests. Researchers found that people from different genetic populations in India began mixing about 4,200 years ago, but the mingling stopped around 1,900 years ago, according to the analysis published today (Aug. 8) in the American Journal of Human Genetics. [Read More]

Hurricanes from Above: Images of Nature's Biggest Storms

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  716 words  |  Patria Henriques

Sandy: Beauty of the BeastAs with many hurricanes, the ugly truth on the ground is belies the beauty they take on when seen from space or hurricane hunter airplanes. This picture of Hurricane Sandy from the NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured the massive storm Oct. 28, 2012 at 1302 UTC (9:02 a.m. EDT). The line of clouds from the Gulf of Mexico north are associated with the cold front that Sandy was merging with at the time. [Read More]

Japanese Volcano Sakurajima Due for Major Eruption

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  584 words  |  Trudie Dory

A Japanese volcano that last erupted in 1914 could be set to blow in the next few decades, new research suggests. The pool of liquid magma swelling beneath Sakurajima volcano is growing every year — a sign of a growing threat. "This big reservoir is growing, and it's growing at quite a fast rate," said study co-author James Hickey, a geophysical volcanologist at the University of Exeter's Camborne School of Mines in England. [Read More]

Jobs with Highest and Lowest Heart Disease Risk Revealed

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  597 words  |  Fernande Dalal

People's risk of heart disease may differ based on their jobs — workers in service and blue-collar occupations, as well as unemployed people, are at increased risk for heart disease and stroke, according to a new report. Researchers found that people's risk of heart disease and stroke varies with their industry. Those working in wholesale came in at top of the list, as 2.9 percent of the people in that industry had suffered heart disease or a stroke. [Read More]

Laughing Matter: Finding the Roots of Humor in the Brain

 Posted on November 21, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  485 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

WASHINGTON — Where does humor come from in the brain? To find out, team of researchers scanned the brains of professional comedians to identify the brain activity involved in telling jokes. Compared to regular people or amateurs, professional jokesters had more brain activity in regions involved in producing humor. But the comedians had less activity in regions linked to pleasure and enjoyment of humor, according to a study presented this weekend here at the 44th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. [Read More]