An analysis by New York City’s public advocate may indicate that racial profiling does not contribute to effective stops.

The report looked at public NYPD data on stop-and-frisk from 2012, and found that weapons and guns were more often found on white New Yorkers than African-Americans or Latinos.

The NYPD discovered a weapon in one of every 49 stops of white New Yorkers. They only found weapons on one of every 71 Latinos stopped and one in every 93 African-Americans stopped, the public advocate’s office said.

Contraband, including marijuana, was also found more frequently on white New Yorkers than minorities. One out of every 43 white people stopped had illegal substances on them, while illegal items were found on one out of every 57 Latinos and every 61 African-Americans.

The director of policy at Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defense organization, said the data align with “what we see representing clients every day in the Bronx.”

“Despite promised reforms a year ago, black and Latino New Yorkers — especially young people — are still stopped every day based on nothing more than the color of their skin or the neighborhood they hang out in,” said director Kate Rubin.

The report acknowledges an overall reduction in stops but found that the skewed proportion of stops of minorities is still the same. Minorities constitute 84 percent of all stops, but make up only 54 percent of all New Yorkers.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said there is “an ugly truth in these numbers” and said the inefficacy of the system puts communities and police officers in danger.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Report: Stops of minorities less effective than stops of white New Yorkers appeared first on Metro.us.

According to a study published by Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy, teens who spend some time bagging groceries or syphoning fries into happy meals have a larger shot at success throughout their career.

Paul Harrington, a Drexel University labor economist and lead author of the study, says that work experience in a formal job during high school (from ages 16 to 19) correspond to a 20 to 25 percent increase in salary for teens almost a decade later. In this case, a “formal” job means a gig in food service or retail for a larger company, as opposed to work like babysitting or cutting the neighbor’s grass. High school students who work, he says, are also more likely to have a job a decade after high school than their peers. The numbers are even stronger for teen boys, Harrington says.

“I think there’s a dignity in work,” Harrington says. “It’s really important for people to understand how they contribute to making an organization function. The way you understand how that works is by doing it.”

The study did reveal some bad news, however. As the economy has suffered, jobs for teens have become more difficult to come by. In the Metro Philadelphia area, the study revealed that in 2000, about 44 percent of teens between the ages of 16 and 19 had jobs. Today, that number has fallen to 25 percent, mostly due to the lack of employment opportunities and to the fact that older workers are holding onto jobs longer than they have in previous decades.

The other piece of data that the study revealed is that attendance in high school is a very strong indicator of good things to come. Harrington says that having high daily attendance in high school means that students have a much higher chance of graduating from college.

“Woody allen said 90% of life is showing up,” Harrington says. “Turns out he was right.”

The post Tie on that apron, kids: Drexel University study says teens who have jobs are more likely to succeed appeared first on Metro.us.

As the air conditioners hum and drip, the summer months in New York can be hot enough to send anyone running indoors. Jamie Bilella, president of the North American Association of Summer Sessions — and dean at Montclair State University — says that while beating the heat, students of all types can benefit from summer classes that will round out their schedule and help them achieve their educational goals.

Take on a challenge. It can seem counter-intuitive, but Bilella says summer is an ideal time to tackle that tough course students may have been avoiding. “There may be one course that students are intimidated by, and the summer is an ideal time to take it,” Bilella says. Because students often take fewer courses at a time in the summer months, he says “they can focus all of their energy on that challenge.”

Explore. For students who want to think outside their major, summer can be a great time to do it. Bilella suggests that students who didn’t get into the class they were coveting, or who want to try a new elective outside of their focus of study should think about the summer. Also, if students have a course required for their major that they didn’t get to take during the year, summer sessions can fill that gap so that they can start the fall semester with their degree requirements on track

Get on it. Bilella says the No. 1 mistake people make regarding summer sessions is to miss out on them until later in their academic career. “Unfortunately, freshmen don’t pay attention to the summer offerings until they’re juniors,” he says. “They should recognize the opportunities of summer and winter early on.”

Stay on track. Graduating on time is good for the bottom line — and taking a summer course can help make that happen. “Maybe you’re looking to catch up because you didn’t take a heavy course load for a few semesters, or you want to get ahead to take advantage of a study abroad opportunity or focus on an internship,” he says. “Summer makes it possible to stay on track to graduation.”

The post Making summer matter appeared first on Metro.us.

Content provided by www.HealthBytesNYC.com

Chances are, you know someone — a family member, friend, coworker or neighbor — whose life has been touched by cancer. It can be the hardest thing in the world to watch someone you care about struggle with this disease. What if I told you there was something simple you could do now to help prevent others — perhaps even your own children or grandchildren — from getting cancer in the future?
Now there is: You can participate in a new research study called the Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3), managed by the American Cancer Society (ACS). In Manhattan, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York  is partnering with ACS in this historic nationwide study that aims to help researchers better understand the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that cause or prevent cancer — in essence, who gets cancer, who doesn’t, and why? Ultimately, the goal of the study, which will follow participants over 20 years, is to limit cancer’s reach and save the lives of future generations.

Who can enroll?
Anyone who:
• Is between 30 and 65 years old;
• Has never been diagnosed with cancer (except for basal or squamous cell skin cancers);
• Is willing to make a long-term commitment to the study, which simply involves completing periodic follow-up questionnaires.

What’s involved?
Step 1 – Register for an enrollment appointment at www.cps3manhattan.org.
Step 2 – You will receive a health history survey by e-mail; complete this prior to your enrollment appointment (takes about 30 minutes to fill out).
Step 3 – At your appointment, you will answer a few more questions, have your waist circumference measured and give a small blood sample (similar to a doctor’s visit), taken by a certified, trained phlebotomist.
Step 4 – Every 2 or 3 years, you will be sent a brief follow-up survey at home to complete and return.

What about my privacy?
Confidentiality is of the utmost importance to the study, which has multiple procedures in place to safeguard your personal information.

What difference will the study make?
Results from previous long-term follow-up studies like this one have established major links between smoking and lung cancer, physical activity and cancer prevention and obesity and cancer risk, to name a few. Now is your chance to join fellow New Yorkers and thousands of others across the nation in advancing cancer research even further. Perhaps someday you’ll be able to tell your grandson or grandniece, “I helped researchers figure out how to prevent cancer — I helped save lives!”

Be sure to make an appointment at one of the Continuum Cancer Centers of New York enrollment locations, and encourage your friends and family to sign up, too!

Continuum Cancer Centers of New York (CCCNY) Enrollment Dates and Locations
Register here for an enrollment appointment at one of the following CCCNY locations:

Tuesday, April 30, 9 am to 1 pm
Beth Israel Medical Center – Phillips Ambulatory Care Center
10 Union Square East, 2nd floor, conference rooms 1-3

Tuesday, April 30, 2 pm to 6 pm
Beth Israel Comprehensive Cancer Center – West Campus
325 W. 15th St., main conference room

Wednesday, May 1, 11 am to 3 pm
Beth Israel Medical Center – Petrie Campus
Bernstein Pavilion, reception area
10 Nathan D. Perlman Place

Friday, May 3, 10 am to 2 pm
Roosevelt Hospital
1000 Tenth Ave., conference room 5

Information provided by Michael P. Osborne, MD, Director, Strang Cancer Screening and Prevention Program, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York, and Attending Surgeon, Appel Venet Comprehensive Breast Center, Beth Israel Medical Center

The post Change the World — Join cancer prevention study today for a cancer-free tomorrow appeared first on Metro.us.

Autism symptoms correspond to the level of toxic metal in the blood, with exposure to lead particularly harmful, according to a US study.

Autism sufferers carried 74% more lead in their systems than control subjects, and 115% more tin. Sufferers with more severe symptoms carried higher concentrations of metal, with researchers at Arizona State University finding that toxic metal was the “strongest factor” in determining severity.

“We knew that exposure to lead makes people lose IQ points, and clearly it can induce autism”, lead researcher Professor James Adams told Metro. “The study also showed that people with the highest levels are least able to excrete them”.

Autism was previously thought be largely a hereditary condition but environmental and chemical reasons are now being accepted. “Studies such as this improve our understanding”, said Caroline Hattersley, head of information and advice at the UK-based National Autism Society, calling for “more research…across a greater geographical area.”

It is the latest lead concern, after Metro reported research in January that revealed exposure could induce aggression, violence and brain damage. “Anything to do with the nervous system will be badly affected, we’re only starting to see the full damage”, Professor Howard Mielke, who studied the toxin’s effects in 14 countries, told Metro. “There are huge repercussions for learning ability from just a small change in exposure.”

Lead remains widespread across the world, most commonly in soil and paint. But neither government nor the petrol companies that produced leaded gasoline have taken action to clear it, with the Ethyl Corporation suing environmental groups that attempted to hold it responsible.

In civil courts, hundreds of millions of dollars have been recovered by the victims of lead poisoning, and is a rapidly growing area for compensation claims. The largest award to date is the $320 million paid out to victims of exposure at a St. Louis smelting plant in 2011.

The post Study: Lead exposure can cause autism appeared first on Metro.us.

A shocking report from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute found that cats kill far more animals than was previously believed – a potentially genocidal four billion birds and 20 billion mammals a year in the US alone.

We spoke to lead researcher Dr. Scott Lost.

Metro: Which cats are the biggest killers and why?

Lost: We estimate that un-owned cats including barn cats, stray cats, cats in subsidized colonies, and cats that are completely feral are responsible for 69% of bird mortality and 89% of mammal mortality. The predation rates by this group average three times greater than rates for owned cats.

How many kills might a pet cat make in a year?

The best available data suggests that owned cats kill between 4 and 18 birds and 11 and 30 mammals per year. This is before accounting for prey items that cat owners and researchers are unable to detect, so the numbers are probably higher. Un-owned cats – because they spend 100% of their time outdoors – kill far more animals: 23-46 birds and 140-330 mammals per year, on average.

But we know cats are predators – why should we worry?

In the United States there are no native predators that are comparable to domestic cats; thus, cats represent a novel predator and threat to wildlife. The data suggests that native bird and mammal species – as opposed to ‘pests’ – make up the majority of the species preyed upon by cats. More research is needed to determine which species are most vulnerable to cats, but these should be a wildlife management priority.

What steps could/should be taken to reduce the killing?

We hope that the large amount of wildlife mortality indicated by our research alerts policy makers, wildlife managers, and scientists to the large magnitude of this problem.

The post Is your cat a mass murderer? appeared first on Metro.us.

“In New Orleans, play areas for children are effectively hazardous waste sites,” Tulane study author and toxicologist Dr. Howard Mielke told Metro. 

Mielke supports a nationwide ‘clean soil’ campaign, which would cost billions of dollars but offset the “cost to society of lead poisoning – in learning, behavioral problems, violence and incarceration.”
 
New civil society groups such as the Lead Safe America Foundation are pursuing an awareness and reparation campaign, supported by lead-poisoning victims.  Mielke argues that oil companies should fund this on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and accuses them of “covering up” the danger of lead.

The hidden menace

Lead can be found in many forms around the home, including…

- Walls: Homes built before 1980 commonly used lead paint
- Soil: Contains trace lead and concentration higher in urban areas
- Containers: Pottery and crystal, especially from Latin America, can be lead-glazed
- Cosmetics: All lipstick contains lead
- Toys: In 2010, Fisher-Price recalled near 11 million toys after Chinese vendor used lead-based paint to coat them

The post Rogue element: Can lead make you a killer? appeared first on Metro.us.

Among the key recommendations are:

- The United States should strengthen security in high-risk diplomatic posts beyond that traditionally supplied by host governments, and continually reassess staffing to account for potential threats.

- The State Department should re-examine the organization and management of its Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and incorporate a new senior State Department official charged with overseeing security at “high threat” posts.

- The State Department should establish a panel of independent experts, including people with experience in military, security and humanitarian areas, to support the Bureau of Diplomatic Security on best practices and evaluate security at high-risk facilities.

- The State Department should have a minimum security level for temporary facilities in high-risk environments, and streamline procedures for rapid security upgrades at such facilities as required.

- All U.S. government facilities in the same city should be in the same secure location unless a waiver has been obtained.

- The Secretary of State should request an action plan from security officials on the use of fire as a weapon against diplomatic facilities, and it should also include reviews of fire safety and crisis management training for all employees.

- In general, the State Department should create training courses for its employees to better prepare them for leadership and decision-making in high-risk posts.

- The State Department should work with Congress to restore capital spending on diplomatic security to approximately $2.2 billion by 2015, including a program of up to 10 years to prioritize construction of new facilities in high-risk areas.

- The State Department should act on its proposal to increase both Marine security at diplomatic facilities and hire more diplomatic security personnel for high-risk posts.

- Key U.S. policy and security staff in high-risk posts should be assigned for a minimum of one year, and temporary staff for a period of not less than 120 days.

- The State Department should ensure there are adequate local staff including interpreters employed at high-risk posts, and improve language training among American employees, particularly in the Middle East.

- The State Department should change its regulations so that unsatisfactory performance by senior officials connected to future security incidents could be a basis for discipline.

The post What you need to know about the U.S. panel’s recommendations on Benghazi attack appeared first on Metro.us.

James Bradner, a researcher at Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discovered a unique property while he was working on a molecule that could make cancer cells “forget” they are cancer cells, as the Daily News reports. That molecule — JQ1 — could also potentially be used as male birth control, he found, by restraining a protein that is critical to male fertility.

According to the study:

JQ1 accomplishes a complete and reversible contraceptive effect in males without adversely affecting testosterone levels or mating behaviors and without prompting obvious teratogenic effects in offspring. These results indicate that targeting a developmental epigenetic reader protein with an orally bioavailable small molecule can modulate male fertility for a contraceptive effect.

Essentially, the male oral contraceptive would work the same way as the female pill. It would be effective for as long as it is taken, and fertility would return after it was no longer taken.

In mice, research showed that JQ1 “did not have any long-term transgenerational effects on testis physiology or reproductive capacity.” In fact, researchers have found the only side effect so far to be mild weight loss.

“For sure, some people would not be too upset with this,” Bradner said.

The post Gentlemen, it could be your turn to take a birth control pill appeared first on Metro.us.

The report, called “The Olympics and Economics” by José Ursúa and Kamakshya Trivedi, takes a close look at the effect money and income can have on a country’s overall success and within specific sports at the games. They took a look at variables including GDP per capita, the ratio of income to that of the US, democracy and hosting duties, and then studied their combined effects on winning medals.

Turns out, richer countries — those with “superior growth environments and higher incomes”— can usually expect to win more medals.

The sports that were most influenced by those factors were canoeing, diving, fencing, swimming and table tennis.  Equestrianism, gymnastics and wrestling were also highly influenced by the factors.

Adversely, sports that aren’t as expensive to train for like football, softball and triathlon, were the sports least affected by the factors.

“Progress and improvement in economic growth have historically often equaled progress in sport,” the authors wrote. “This trend — with a few economically significant countries winning a bulk of the Olympic medals on offer — has continued in recent times. For example, less than 10 countries participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics won more than half of the almost 1,000 gold, silver and bronze medals that were distributed.”

Additionally, the report proves that “home court advantage” is a very real thing. Countries that are hosting the Olympics tend to bring home more medals than they do when traveling elsewhere for the games, though not in every sport.

“In some cases, hosting the Olympics has meant increasing the number of medals by more than 50 percent with respect to what countries would have otherwise attained,” the report stated.

Historically, hosting countries can expect to win about 1.5 to 3 more medals per game in events like cycling, gymnastics, rowing, sailing, swimming and wrestling. Other sports like football, rhythmic gymnastics and water polo don’t find as much benefit from the so-called “home court advantage.”  

But when it comes to a financial win for host countries, the results have been mixed. The 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1976 Montreal Olympics both had significant financial losses. However, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics all turned a profit, according to the report.

The researchers note that it is too early to predict whether the London Olympics will be profitable, but the city’s infrastructure plans for the Games were finished on schedule and even below budget. Though, that very budget has been quite the investment at an estimated £8.5bn (about $13.3 billion).

The post Olympic economics: All about the dollars, not just the gold appeared first on Metro.us.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, 29 percent of households in the city now spend at least half of their income on their rents. That’s up from 26 percent in 2008.

Meanwhile, the cost of rent has also jumped to $1,100 per month from the median cost of $950 in 2008, according to Community Service Society.

NYC’s Rent Guidelines Board will vote tomorrow on whether to increase the cost of rent-stabilized apartments in the city. The price increase could be between 1.75 and 6.75 percent for New York’s one million rent-stabilized units.

“In this downturn, people’s incomes have gone down, but it’s not like their expenses are going down,” Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, told the WSJ. “In a lot of other downturns, New York often trailed the rest of the country in the recovery. Now New York has as many or more jobs than other places in the country, so people may be hanging on.”

The post More New Yorkers spending half their income on rent appeared first on Metro.us.

The research was conducted by Kimberly-Clark Corporation, a company that manufactures cleaning and disinfectant products, and consulted on by University of Arizona microbiologist Charles Gerba, according to Health Day News.

Researchers collected more than 5,000 swabs from office break rooms and their findings will make your skin crawl: 75 percent of break room faucets, 48 percent of microwave handles, 26 percent of refrigerator handles, 23 percent of water fountain buttons and 21 percent of vending machine buttons have “high degree of contamination.” That makes the break room the dirtiest hot spot that workers touch all day.

The study didn’t specify on the what types of germs were found in break rooms, but in Gerba’s earlier work studying office desk tops, he found germs like diarrhea-causing norovirus, parainfluenza, and drug-resistant staph (MRSA).

“The two things you spread in a break room are office gossip and germs,” Gerba said.

How do these germs keep finding their way into the break room? Through common, everyday occurrences that you probably don’t think twice about, like using a dirty sponge to wipe out your coffee cup.

“You’re really wiping your mug with E. coli,” Gerba said.

Another way office employees spread germs is by greeting each other, a common activity when bumping into one another in the break room.

“You’d be better off kissing each other than shaking hands,” Gerba said, noting that our palms are loaded with germs that can make us sick.

But before you cause a workplace scandal by going around and kissing your coworkers, try washing your hands and using hand sanitizer often, first.

More fun with pseudoscience:

• Spell check make help you appear smarter by weeding out your mistakes, but it’s actually making you dumber because you never need to know the correct spelling of words.
• Can a change in diet help combat epilepsy?
• Are video games an escape for men who don’t want to commit?

The post A Study Has Found: It’s better to eat lunch off a toilet seat than in your break room appeared first on Metro.us.

A study conducted by researchers from several top U.S. universities and published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people tend to associate meat-eating with manliness. This could be an explanation for why more women than men gravitate toward vegetarianism.

During the experiments, participants were surveyed on metaphors involving certain foods like meat and milk. Researchers found that participants viewed meat to be more masculine than vegetables. When people discussed meat, it tended to prompt them to use more masculine words.

Overall, the study found that participants viewed meat-eating men, especially those who eat muscle meat like steak, to be manlier than their vegetarian counterparts.

This association goes beyond psychology, though. Even linguistics give off the impression that meat is manly. Researchers studied 23 languages and found that most of them used a masculine pronoun for the word “meat.”

“To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American food,” the authors wrote. “Soy is not. To eat it, they would have to give up a food they saw as strong and powerful like themselves for a food they saw as weak and wimpy.”

Guess the expression “you are what you eat” really rings true… at least in the eyes of society.

More fun psuedoscience:

• You may be manlier if you eat meat, but you’ll live longer if you drink coffee.
• So get your fill on red meat and caffeine, but a study found that less young Americans are indulging in tobacco.
• But if you like smoking a different kind of substance, you might identify with this group’s message than weed is safer than alcohol.

The post A Study Has Found: Are men who eat meat manlier than vegetarians? appeared first on Metro.us.

According to Buzzfeed, the study was conducted by Andreas Baranowksi, a PhD student at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany who was itching to get to the bottom of this age-old enigma. 17 men and 23 women went through about six hours of training on how to better pick-up potential mates by learning “evolutionary psychology principles” — what men and women find attractive about each other.

Men were told to use indirect approaches by opening a conversation with a question about something like music rather than a compliment about a woman’s appearance. They were also told to use their physical stature to indicate a high social status by making sweeping hand gestures and and touching others “non-reciprocally” (but this could get weird if you’re not good at it).

Women were told to send men clear signals that they were open to being approached, like smiling… over and over again. In fact, it could take up to 12 times for a man to finally get it (Seriously?).

Both genders were told to touch their love interest slightly in conversation. Then they were sent out to battle. Did the training pay off? Yes, both men and women actually doubled their typical success rates.

Men who usually got 1.07 phone numbers from women per hour on average were able to snag to 3.67 numbers. Women were offered drinks 3.1 times compared to their usual rate of 1.65 cocktail.

See? There is hope for you!

The post A Study Has Found: You, too, can train yourself to be a pickup artist appeared first on Metro.us.

The elusive pleasure zone has mystified men for centuries (women knew it existed all along). There are plenty of studies to the contrary, claiming the G-spot is a myth. But, the new study by Dr. Adam Ostrzenski published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine identifies the G-spot as a “well-delineated sac structure” on the perineal membrane.

For those who have yet to locate the G-spot, take comfort in this: it’s quite small — 8.1mm long and 3.6mm wide, to be exact. That’s just half the size of a fingernail. Ostrzenski called it a “grape-like” structure. 

While the study’s findings are really sexy and all, the research process for getting those findings was not: Ostrzenski found the G-spot by examining the cadaver of an 83-year-old woman. Still, facts are facts, right?

“This study confirmed the anatomic existence of the G-spot, which may lead to a
better understanding and improvement of female sexual function,” Ostrzenski said.

Wow, fellas… the pressure is really on now! 

The post A Study Has Found: Gyno confirms G-spot exists! appeared first on Metro.us.

According to a recent study in the medical journal Cancer, people who get frequent dental X-rays are journal much more likely to develop a brain tumor called meningioma. The link to dental X-rays specifically is likely the fact that meningiomas are the most common type of tumor that appears in the head.

The study analyzed 1,433 patients participants. Their average age was 57. Study author Dr. Elizabeth Brooks Claus noted that older patients may have more radiation exposure from older X-ray technology.

Patients who had a specific type of dental X-ray, called a bitewig exam, were 1.4 to 1.9 times more likely to have a meningioma, though the results did depend on what age patients were when they got the exams.

“My impression is that people get more dental X-rays more frequently than the American Dental Association says,” Claus said, according to CNN.

Some experts have pointed out that the study might have a margin of error— it relied upon a patient’s memory of how many X-rays he or she received, rather than documented proof. The American Dental Association was quick to shoot down the findings.

“Studies have shown that the ability to recall information is often imperfect,” the ADA said in a statement. “Therefore, the results of studies that use this design can be unreliable …”

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• The teen birth rate is on a decline in the country. Is sex education working after all?
• Are nail polish companies painting over the truth? Toxins found in so-called “non-toxic” polish.
• Could a mother’s obesity lead to autism in her child?

The post A Study Has Found: Dental X-rays linked to brain tumors appeared first on Metro.us.

However, before you get too excited, the potential inaccuracy actually underestimates body fat. Womp, womp, womp….

According to a report in the Public Library of Science’s PLoS One journal, BMI calculations, which are based on height and weight, were compared to x-ray absorptiometry — or DXA — scans, which calculates obesity based on fat-composition standard.

Turns out, BMI calculations often classify people as “underweight” when the DXA scans would consider them obese, nearly four out of ten times.

“Some people call it the ‘baloney mass index,’” said Eric Braverman, a clinical assistant professor of neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, according to Health.com.

The findings of this study, of course, imply that America’s already atrocious obesity rate is actually worse than we realized. Additionally, this means some Americans may be unaware that they are obese (which is hard to imagine) and therefore not taking proper steps in healthcare.

The study authors recommend health professionals start utilizing methods like  X-ray testing, instead of BMI calculations for more accurate results. You can’t run from the cold, hard truth now.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• Call it the power of positive thinking — watching a dance performance could be enough to convince your body that you’re gettin’ down, too.
• Five common cancer tests could be axed after some doctors claim they don’t do anything to help patients live longer.
• Salmonella is sweeping the nation! Health officials are trying to hunt down the source.

The post A Study Has Found: BMI measurements may underestimate obesity appeared first on Metro.us.

Previous studies have shown that prolonged bike seat sitting can lead to erectile dysfunction in men. Now, researchers have found that women who spend a lot of time in the saddle could lose sensation in their genitals.

The study, as reported by The  New York Times, was conducted on women who rode their bicycles at least 10 miles per week, and four weeks per month. During the study, the women alerted the researchers when they felt numbness or soreness. They also used a device that measured sensation in the pelvic floor as the women pedaled.

Researchers found that women who positioned their handlebars lower than their seats often had more pressure against the soft tissue area known as the perineum. This resulted in a decreased vaginal sensation. Ouch.

However, women cyclists can take steps to salvage their sexual health! As a result of the study, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends a “no-nose” bike seat for female riders. It helps women shift pressure to their sit bones, rather than the perineum. So ladies, sit back and enjoy the ride.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• Forget happy meals — a study says fast food is actually linked to depression.
• Now for some above-the-belt news for women. Is early breast cancer over-diagnosed?
• And if you’re still worried about cycling, here are the top 25 cities for walking.

The post A Study Has Found: Can bicycle seats lower a woman’s libido? appeared first on Metro.us.

Researchers at Sydney University in Australia found that too much homework can often have the opposite effect on students. Instead of enhancing their intellect, they become bored and unhappy, leading to absolutely no academic advancement.

“What the research shows is that, in countries where they spend more time on homework, the achievement results are lower,” Dr. Richard Walker, from Sydney University’s Education Faculty, told The Telegraph.

The study found that 59 percent of 10 and 11-year-olds do less than two hours of homework per week. About 22 percent do three or four hours a week, and five percent complete seven or more hours of homework per week.

“At the moment homework (is often) an add-on because parents want it,” Walker added.

The one exception to the study was high school students in grades 11 or 12. Those students did prove to benefit from more than a few hours of homework each week.

However, recalling our own high school days, the last two years were exactly when we started blowing off homework all together.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• While 17-year-old students are likely to benefit from homework, they aren’t likely to benefit from Plan B’s over-the-counter availability. A new study found that one in five pharmacies will deny access to the emergency contraceptive to 17-year-old’s, despite a federal mandate.
• A man in the U.S. has undergone the most extensive face surgery in history. You have to see these before and after photos.
• If those pictures make you blurt out an obscenity, have no fear. A new study found that cursing in the work place can actually boost relationships. Sh**, that’s cool!

The post A Study Has Found: Homework is pointless appeared first on Metro.us.

The study, which was funded by a popcorn company, was conducted at the University of Scranton. Researchers found that popcorn is actually packed with antioxidants, which can boost the immune system. Popcorn specifically contains polyphenols, which can prevent damage to cells and fend off diseases.

“The hull is where the most nutritional goodies (polyphenols) are — not the white fluffy part,” chemistry professor and study author Joe Vinson told USA Today.

Popcorn can retain its nutritious properties in part because it doesn’t contain a lot of water and it is 100 percent whole grain, while some polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables do contain a lot of water. Popcorn also undergoes minimal processing when it is cooked.

However, before you switch out your celery sticks for a bag of popcorn, researchers warn that it shouldn’t be used as a substitute for other healthy choices.

“I don’t want people to think they can just eat popcorn to get all the polyphenols they need,” said Vison. “I don’t want them to think of popcorn as an alternative to fruits and vegetables.”

Pop on!

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• While your favorite movie snack is good for you, sitting down for too long while you’re watching a movie, or for any other reason, can apparently kill you, according to a new study. Researchers found that people who sit for 11 or more hours per day have a 40 percent greater risk of dying. 
• But if you do eat more popcorn and boost your immunity, you might have a better chance at fighting off the common cold which, research shows, is the cause of coughing and wheezing. Yes, there was research conducted to prove this.
• And in other shocking snack news, people who ate more chocolate tended to have lower BMIs in one study. Get the skinny on this fantastic research. Chocolate-covered popcorn, anyone?

The post A Study Has Found: Is popcorn better for you than fruits and vegetables? (No.) appeared first on Metro.us.

Using a grid of the city streets and avenues and the labMT word list, which includes a variety of words from “ecstasy” to “grief,” bloggers found west side neighborhoods to have a higher happiness level than their east side counterparts.

The happiest place in all of Manhattan, though, is, no surprise, attached to Central Park — along the western edge, which would be the intersection of 7th and 77th street, to be exact. That spot had the most tweets with words indicating happiness like “loves” and “sky” and less tweets with negative words like “fear,” “not,” and “no” — which leads us to ask how a tweet like “Loving the blue sky today. No fears about rain, not one cloud” might be categorized, but the bloggers acknowledge that the study isn’t scientifically sound.

Most of the city’s other happy spots also fall in Central Park, but there are little bursts of joy scattered among each corner of NYC. Check out this heat map and see just how much happiness is floating around at your intersection.

The post Where to find the happiest corner in NYC appeared first on Metro.us.

According to an AP report, new research has found that doctors are increasingly heading online to ask out their patients, sometimes through dating websites.

The study included surveys from state medical boards that license and discipline doctors. Most of those medical boards reported receiving at least one complaint of unprofessional online behavior form a doctor. More than 25 percent of the boards reported at least three complaints.

Doctors might want to stick to writing prescriptions rather than flirty emails because those complaints can often mean a doctor has his or her medical license revoked.

In a sign of our times, the Federation of State Medical Boards may issue professional guidelines for doctors’ on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

Kidney disease in cats could be caused be a newly discovered virus

Could ibuprofen cure altitude sickness?

Epinephrine may be better for your brain than your heart

The post A Study Has Found: Doctors ask out patients on dating websites appeared first on Metro.us.

A study from The University College London found that adults who do not know how to read are twice as likely to die within five years, compared to adults who are literate, according to BBC News.

The connection is an obvious one: Adults who have trouble reading cannot fully understand instructions on medicine labels and prescription bottles, hence putting their health at risk.

About 8,000 adults over the age of 65 in England were tested on their ability to understand the instructions on an aspirin bottle. About 12.5 percent had “low health literacy,” meaning they made at least a couple of mistakes in the directions.

Over the next five years, 16 percent of the “low health literacy” group died. Researchers believe they’ve found a link between illiteracy and health problems physical limitations, chronic diseases and depressive symptoms.

“How are patients expected to make informed decisions if they do not fully understand the information being given to them?” said Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients’ Association. “Patients must be involved in the development of these information leaflets from the outset to make sure they provide relevant and clear information.”


More adventures in psuedoscience:

• Not for lack of trying, sex-crazed apes on the brink of extinction
• Males with DNA that includes extra female gene have higher sex drive
• 
  “White plague” spreading in major cities, drug-resistant

The post A Study Has Found: Illiteracy can affect your health appeared first on Metro.us.

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center assessed the extent to which circumcision – the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis — hindered the risk of catching infections and subsequently developing some cases of prostrate cancer. The inner foreskin is tougher in circumcised males, and the moist space under it, where pathogens can survive, has been removed.

Should everyone- Jewish or not- have their son circumcised, just so that there is less risk of him developing prostate cancer as an adult? ‘No,’ says the study’s lead author Dr Jonathan Wright.

“It’s an interesting finding in terms of the biological mechanism for cancer development but we are not in the position to make such radical recommendations,” he tells Metro.

There are many ways to develop prostate cancer and this research may be a pathway to reducing the risk in some men. Unfortunately, it could be a point of concern for Jewish communities.

“I can see where the concern would lie. Physicians need to respect and acknowledge an individual’s personal and religious preferences. The study cannot be used to advocate for widespread circumcision,” says Wright.

Think before you snip.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• Love could be key in a child’s bran development
• Lack of sleep makes you crave fatty foods
• Eating vegetables makes your skin look more attractive to the opposite sex

The post A Study Has Found: Circumcision could help prevent prostate cancer appeared first on Metro.us.

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center assessed the extent to which circumcision – the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis — hindered the risk of catching infections and subsequently developing some cases of prostrate cancer. The inner foreskin is tougher in circumcised males, and the moist space under it, where pathogens can survive, has been removed.

Should everyone- Jewish or not- have their son circumcised, just so that there is less risk of him developing prostate cancer as an adult? ‘No,’ says the study’s lead author Dr Jonathan Wright.

“It’s an interesting finding in terms of the biological mechanism for cancer development but we are not in the position to make such radical recommendations,” he tells Metro.

There are many ways to develop prostate cancer and this research may be a pathway to reducing the risk in some men. Unfortunately, it could be a point of concern for Jewish communities.

“I can see where the concern would lie. Physicians need to respect and acknowledge an individual’s personal and religious preferences. The study cannot be used to advocate for widespread circumcision,” says Wright.

Think before you snip.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• Love could be key in a child’s bran development
• Lack of sleep makes you crave fatty foods
• Eating vegetables makes your skin look more attractive to the opposite sex

The post A Study Has Found: Circumcision could help prevent prostate cancer appeared first on Metro.us.

A pill a day could keep the racist thoughts away.

Researchers at Oxford University have found an unintended, and unexpected, benefit from a prescription drug used to reduce high blood pressure, according to Yahoo. 

The study, conducted on 36 white males, found that Propranolol, which is also used to combat migraines and anxiety, can affect the same part of the central nervous system that controls subconscious thoughts regarding race.

However, researchers can’t be sure that the effect of quelling racism was the only change to occur as a result of the drug — it might also change implicit brain systems. The decrease is racist thoughts might also directly correlate with lower blood pressure.

“Given the key role that such implicit attitudes appear to play in discrimination against other ethnic groups, and the widespread use of Propranolol for medical purposes, our findings are also of considerable ethical interest,” said researcher Sylvia Terbeck.

The findings, published in Psychopharmacology, are sure to spark debate over the use of drugs to regulate behavior.

More adventures in psuedoscience:

• Could dropping acid cure alcoholism?
• Does typing with the right side of the keyboard make you happier?
• Is taking Ecstasy while pregnant bad for your baby?

The answer to all of these is, as always, maybe!

The post A Study Has Found: Could a pill cure racism? appeared first on Metro.us.

The sinking of the Titanic in the freezing Atlantic Ocean is one of the most well known events of the 20th century. A massive iceberg went undetected by the ship’s crew until it was too late — causing a disaster that claimed the lives of 1,500 people.

But was there something other than human detection and a natural-occurring iceberg? A new report published in Sky & Telescope magazine suggests the moon could have played a major role in the events of that night, according to astronomers from Texas State University-San Marcos.

Apparently, a unique lunar event took place on Jan. 4, 1912, the night the Titanic sank. An extremely rare “spring tide” was happening, causing the moon to move unusually close to the Earth — the closest it had been in 1,400 years (and coming within six minutes of a full moon). Additionally, the Earth’s closest approach to the sun occurred just the day before — an coincidence so rare, it’s baffled astronomers.

Now, to the iceberg: Researchers found that the higher tides caused by these happenings led to icebergs traveling at a faster rate from Greenland. Typically, icebergs become lodged as they move, unable to drift on until they melt. However, the high tides let icebergs dislodge and move into southbound ocean currents, possible putting them right in the path of the Titanic.

“As icebergs travel south, they often drift into shallow water and pause along the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland. But an extremely high spring tide could refloat them, and the ebb tide would carry them back out into the Labrador Current where the icebergs would resume drifting southward,” said researcher Donald Olson. “That could explain the abundant icebergs in the spring of 1912. We don’t claim to know exactly where the Titanic iceberg was in January 1912—nobody can know that–but this is a plausible scenario intended to be scientifically reasonable.”

Of course, it’s well documented that the Titanic moved full speed ahead, despite warnings of ice in front of it. But this new research could prove that a critical lunar factor was also at play, making the sinking a truly fateful event.

In other science news…

• Psychologist have found that women don’t find men with beards as attractive as clean-shaved men. What do our facial-haired friends have to say about this?

• The urban legend that a penny dropped from a skyscraper could kill whoever it lands on turns out to be a myth! A ballpoint pen, though, is another story.…

• Researchers found that certain types of music could influence racism in students. Bruce Springsteen was one artist whose music led students to favor white people over other races. Find out the other musicians are here.

• 
  Science proves that women enjoy seeing men upset — but only because they’re glad they’re sharing their feelings. What’s love without communication?

The post A Study Has Found: Is the moon to blame for sinking the Titanic? appeared first on Metro.us.

Researchers at the University of Rochester conducted five psychological experiments and learned that red actually makes men feel more amorous towards women, but they don’t realize it’s because of the color.

Men who participated in the study looked at photographs of women framed by borders of different colors, including red. They were asked to judge how pretty they perceived the women to be. Later, they viewed images of women wearing red shirts and were asked how much money they’d be willing to spend on each woman if they were on a date with her.

Turns out, the women wearing red or framed in red came out on top. These women were:

– rated significantly more attractive

– rated more sexually desirable

– more likely to be asked to the prom

– more likely to be treated to an expensive date

However, the color red did not affect other factors the men were asked to comment on about the women, like likability, intelligence or kindness.

This study could very well be the only scientific document on the effects of color on behavior in relationships.

“Much is known about color physics and color physiology, but very little about color psychology,” said psychology professor Andrew Elliot, a researcher on the study. “It’s fascinating to find that something as ubiquitous as color can be having an effect on our behavior without our awareness.”

Though society has deemed red the color of passion, the attraction to it might be more scientific. Primates offer a clear example — the females of some species will redden when nearing ovulation — sending the message that it’s mating time.

“Our research demonstrates a parallel in the way that human and nonhuman male primates respond to red,” said the study’s authors. “As much as men might like to think that they respond to women in a thoughtful, sophisticated manner, it appears that at least to some degree, their preferences and predilections are, in a word, primitive.”

Yep, just confirming what we already knew.

The post STUDY: Women in red prove more attractive to men appeared first on Metro.us.

Finally, there is real evidence that reuniting with an old flame is the equivalent of bashing your head into a way repeatedly in the hopes that it will hurt less each time.

Unfortunately, the vicious cycle is all too common — especially among young adults. 40 percent of college-aged people are in relationships with people who they have broken up with before getting back together.

Amber Vennum, assistant professor of family studies and human services at Kansas State University, analyzed “cyclical” relationships and the information that the couples gave about them. She told  MedicalXpress that on-again-off-again romances can have some serious negative ramifications.

People in these cyclical relationships tend to make hastier decisions, like moving in together or having a child. Because of that, those couples are often less satisfied, which leads to more negative decisions and lower self-esteem. They also tend to be less certain about their future together.

“The idea is that because people aren’t making explicit commitments to the relationship, they are less likely to engage in pro-relationship behaviors, such as discussing the state of the relationship or making sacrifices for their partner,” Vennum said. “The thought is that, ‘I’m not committed to you, why would I work very hard for you?’”

Sounds horrible. So why would anyone want to be in a cyclical relationship anyway? The same old reasons… people believe their partner has “changed,” they think communication has improved… or (the most embarrassing reason of all) they aren’t really sure whether they actually broke up in the first place.  

“When cyclical couples break up, they tend to be ambiguous about ending the relationship,” Vennum said. “So it can be unclear to one or both partners if they broke up and why they broke up, which leads to them continuing the romantic relationship. Other times the breakup won’t be unilateral, so one person pursues the other until they get back together.”

And if you’re thinking about getting engaged to someone you’ve broke up with before, by all means, don’t.

“If you tend to be cyclical while dating, you tend to be cyclical while married,” Vennum warned. The more you are cyclical, the more your relationship quality tends to decrease and that creates a lack of trust and uncertainty about the future of the relationship, perpetuating the pattern.”

So please, can’t you just find someone new?

The post Getting back together with your ex is a horrible idea, says science appeared first on Metro.us.

Apparently, this is a matter that has baffled scientists for ages. The study takes a closer look at natural materials — specifically the distribution of hairs in a ponytail, according to the BBC. Researchers came up with The Ponytail Shape Equation, which is — if you can believe it — the first real scientific understanding about the mind boggling wonder that is the ponytail.

Professor Raymond Goldstein, one of the lead researchers from Cambridge University, called the equation “remarkably simple” and said it’s an example of how physics can “solve a problem that has puzzled scientists and artists ever since Leonardo da Vinci remarked on the fluid-like streamlines of hair in his notebooks 500 years ago”.

The equation, plus a new mathematical quantity known as the Rapunzel Number, can actually be used to predict the shape of any ponytail. That’s right, people — any ponytail.

According to researchers:

Applying this formalism to the iconic problem of the ponytail, the combined effects of bending elasticity, gravity, and orientational disorder are recast as a differential equation for the envelope of the bundle, in which the compressibility enters through an `equation of state’. From this, we identify the balance of forces in various regions of the ponytail, extract a remarkably simple equation of state from laboratory measurements of human ponytails, and relate the pressure to the measured random curvatures of individual hairs.

First of all, what iconic problem of the ponytail?! Secondly, ok, scientists — whatever you say.

We may not be able to appreciate why this study is important to science, but we can appreciate a killer ponytail. Here’s a round-up of some of the greats.

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