Sand is softer than wood

Another study done by scientists who apparently have never been children, or don't have any:

Children who fall off playground equipment and land on sand may be less likely to break an arm than if they land on wood chips, Canadian researchers say...

...How badly a child is hurt depends not only on how far they fall, but also the type of surface they land on, researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto found after some school playgrounds in the city were resurfaced.

Women cry more often, longer, and more dramatically than men...

...with the possible exception of Johnnie Ray. I do have my doubts as to the validity of the "scientific" studies. If the data came from self-reporting, I suspect that the men may be inclined to lie. Roy Orbison was very popular for singing "crying" songs at a time when men weren't supposed to cry or admit that they did--and his following was largely red-blooded heterosexual men.

...German experts provided confirmation on Wednesday: women cry more often than men, for longer -- and in a more dramatic fashion.

Go here for the original German press release.

Young people don't want to let adults in on their conversation

The slang you use gives away your age? Far out! This article leaves one question unanswered: Why would any adult want to talk with today's foul-mouthed, body-pierced, tattooed freaks yutes?

Slang vocabulary, like musical tastes, or physical height, may be one of those things that is more or less fully formed before we exit our teens...

Pamela Munro, a linguist and editor of U.C.L.A Slang 6, defines slang as "language whose use serves to mark the user as belonging to some distinct group within society."

In other words, when your kid is slangin,’ he’s really saying he is different than you — and he likes it that way.

"Anthropologically, kids form themselves," said Munro. "Slang is a kind of code or password if people are trying to show that they are a member of your group."

Late-night snacks could pack on the pounds...

...although the study doesn't mention that they might give you weird dreams, too.

Midnight raids on the refrigerator may have worse consequences than indigestion -- a study in mice boosts the theory that when you eat affects whether the calories go to your hips or get burned off.

Mice fed during the daytime -- when they normally would be sleeping -- gained more weight than mice fed at night, Fred Turek of Northwestern University in Illinois and colleagues found.

Smokers are unpopular with non-smokers

The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network
Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and James H. Fowler, Ph.D.

From the abstract:

Network phenomena appear to be relevant to smoking cessation. Smoking behavior spreads through close and distant social ties, groups of interconnected people stop smoking in concert, and smokers are increasingly marginalized socially.

Translation: Smokers are influenced by the behaviour of those in their social circle, and that social circle is getting smaller.

Maybe the reason non-smokers can't stand the company of smokers is that smokers reek of the foul stench of tobacco. Football coach Dave Skrien put it succinctly in his book Countdown to Grey Cup (page 44):

Tobacco is the most useless habit ever invented by man. It is unnecessary, unclean, unhealthful, rude and thoroughly distasteful.

Could it be that men honk their horns at women because they're interested in them?

University of Alberta professors differ on why men beep their car horns at women
Car honking theories range from male aggression to competition for status
Sarah Malik, News Writer

Dr Michelle Meagher, a women’s studies professor at the University of Alberta, has formulated a theory as to why men blow their car horns at women. According to her, there is no question that this behavior— which she talks about in terms of aggression and desire—reveals how boys have been raised and the sort of fantasies they have developed about women.

"It has nothing to do with how men are hardwired," she said.

However, Dr Peter Hurd, a Psychology professor at the U of A who researches sex and aggression, emphasizes that men are more likely to honk at women when other men are around rather than when they’re alone.

"It is a dominance signal, a competition for status with other men," Hurd explained.

He further maintained that the role of the woman, who is treated merely as an object in such scenarios, is minimal and that the honking is not about her, but about the male peers.

Obviously, these professors need to get out more. If you saw the photo of Dr. Meagher that accompanied the article in the print edition of The Gateway, it would be easy to conclude that she probably hasn't been honked at by any men. On that point, I wonder if she actually conducted a study on this behaviour at all. It's highly unlikely that any such study could be conducted in Edmonton, since most of the city's women are fat, ugly, waddling slobs with butch haircuts, tattoos, and body piercings. In the words of Newman, "A more offensive spectacle I cannot recall."

"This behavior is part of a sliding scale," Meagher said. "It is related to other violent activities by men against women, such as physical violence."

This is typical of the misandrist drivel that "women's studies" serves up by the bagful. My mother has told me that when she was young, she and her friends took offense if men didn't honk and whistle at them. If Dr. Meagher were a woman, she'd feel the same way.

Lonely hearts find comfort in TV characters

Subjects in one study who felt down from remembering unhappy moments of social rejection soon perked up upon writing about their favorite TV shows and characters. This supports the "social surrogacy hypothesis," where technology provides a sense of social belonging when real social connections are lacking.

"Normally rejection has a horrible effect on us, because we're a very social species," said Shira Gabriel, a psychologist at the University of Buffalo in New York who conducted four studies on the issue. "But with our favorite TV shows, we're no longer sad."

However, if George Costanza is the television character that you draw the most comfort from, you may be in trouble. These social scientists may someday discover that lonely people tend to fantasize a lot, and that lonely females like to read romance novels.

Apparently these "scientists" have never met either children or dogs outside a laboratory

To anyone who knows anything about kids or dogs, this isn't unclear at all. So many social scientists are so retarded, I wonder how they ever got their degrees.

Dog Bite Risk for Kids Greatest in Summer

SUNDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- Young children are at the greatest risk for dog bites in the summer and are especially vulnerable to severe bites in the head and neck areas, say researchers who analyzed 84 cases of dog bites in children.

It's not clear why children are more likely to suffer dog bite injuries in the summer, but it may be because children spend more time outdoors playing with dogs in warmer months, the researchers suggested. Or it may be that dogs are generally more irritable in hot weather.

Sex researcher discovers that attitude influences behaviour

I suspect that sex researchers are too busy studying others' sex lives to have any of their own.

Virginity Perceptions Affect Relationship Choices: Trent Professor
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Findings Have Important Implications for Sexual Education Programs

According to Trent University psychology professor Dr. Terry Humphreys, virginity is a powerful cognitive schema that has different meanings for people and can affect their relationships choices and other life decisions.

People who act like snobs are probably rich

Rich Man, Poor Man: Body Language Can Indicate Socioeconomic Status, Study Shows

The results, reported in Psychological Science, reveal that nonverbal cues can give away a person's SES. Volunteers whose parents were from upper SES backgrounds displayed more disengagement-related behaviors compared to participants from lower SES backgrounds. In addition, when a separate group of observers were shown 60 second clips of the videos, they were able to correctly guess the participants' SES background, based on their body language.

The researchers note that this is the first study to show a relation between SES and social engagement behavior. They surmise that people from upper SES backgrounds who are wealthy and have access to prestigious institutions tend to be less dependent on others. "This lack of dependence among upper SES people is displayed in their nonverbal behaviors during social interactions," the psychologists conclude.

Fat kids don't feel good about themselves...

...while kids who do well on exams do feel good about themselves.

According to this study from the University of Alberta:

Kids who scored well on provincial exams tended to have high self-esteem, the researchers said, although children with low self-worth still managed to perform well. Children dealing with obesity, meanwhile, weren't feeling good about themselves.
"Body weight affected self-esteem negatively, and ... school performance affected self-esteem positively," the study says.

For another article on the same study, go here.

Mother knows best

Children may groan, but Mom was right, scientists find
Modern research affirms traditional wisdom of motherly dictums
Tom Spears, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, January 06, 2009

The more scientists study us, the more they confirm that your mother was right. You should eat your veggies, wash your hands and play with friends outdoors.