news from the lab

Medicine/Pharmacology - History/Philosophy - 15.02
Complexities in caregiving at the end of life
Faced with the inevitability of death, we all wish for good caregiving during the final stage of our lives. A new study from Karolinska Institutet and Umeå University shows that non-pharmacological caregiving at the end of life in specialized palliative care is not as basic as one might believe but is based on complex professional decisions that weave physical, psychosocial and existential dimensions into a functional whole.

History/Philosophy - 1.02
Archaeologists discover unique ’wing’ shaped building
A unique ‘wing' shaped building discovered close to the ancient capital of the Iceni in Norfolk is mystifying archaeologists. A building without obvious parallel in Roman Britain or the rest of the Roman Empire — that is how archaeologists at The University of Nottingham have described the discovery south of the Roman site of Venta Icenorum, which is known today as Caistor St. Edmund, in Norfolk.

Life Sciences - History/Philosophy - 26.01
Survey suggests family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests
by Morgan Kelly A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE suggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging.

History/Philosophy - Law/Forensics - 18.01
Archaeologist reveals evidence of mass graves at Nazi death camp
Almost 70 years after the end of the Second World War a groundbreaking forensic archaeological study by the University of Birmingham has unearthed evidence of hidden burial sites at a former death camp where more than 800,000 Jews perished during the Holocaust.

Administration/Government - History/Philosophy - 9.12.2011
Bridging the divide
New study shows how integrated institutions can lead diverse populations to cooperate in rebuilding countries. One of the most pressing issues in world affairs today is state building: how countries can construct stable, inclusive governments in which a variety of religious and ethnic groups coexist.

History/Philosophy - 14.11.2011
Killing one to save many has psychopathic component, but may have value
Promoting actions that lead to the most good for the most people seems like a good strategy. But those who are likely to endorse this utilitarian approach to ethics, in fact, are more likely to possess psychopathic or Machiavellian (cunning and duplicitous) personality traits and view life as less meaningful, reports a Cornell study.

History/Philosophy - 13.10.2011
NGOs struggle to close gender gap
A new report by researchers at The Australian National University has revealed that non-government organisations (NGOs) are being hampered in their efforts to close the gender gap in the countries in which they are working.

Earth Sciences - History/Philosophy - 15.09.2011
Minerals from ocean-floor rocks found in ultra-deep diamonds
Mineral inclusions discovered in diamonds prove that surface rocks can be subducted into the deep part of the Earth's mantle. The isotopic composition of the diamonds confirms that recycling of crustal materials, including carbon, extends into the lower mantle.

History/Philosophy - 31.08.2011
Discovery of Celtic chieftain’s fort set to rewrite Scottish history
A major discovery by archaeologists working in Perthshire will cast new light on understanding of the earliest history of Scotland. Broch Discovery [mp3] A team from the Strathearn Environs and Royal Forteviot (SERF) project have uncovered near the village of Dunning an exquisitely preserved Iron Age broch filled with evidence of early between the Picts and the Roman Empire.

Earth Sciences - History/Philosophy - 24.08.2011
Scanners reveal a wreck in the Lake Geneva
Scientists have discovered a new wreck on the bottom of the Lake Geneva. Underwater archaeology is benefiting from scanners developed for scientific research. “It's always a memorable moment when you find an unknown shipwreck.

Medicine/Pharmacology - History/Philosophy - 15.08.2011
Childhood maltreatment & depression
People who have experienced maltreatment as children are twice as likely to develop both multiple and long-lasting depressive episodes as those without a history of childhood maltreatment, according to a new study.

History/Philosophy - 29.07.2011
Dead Sea Scroll tract was precursor to Jewish calendar
An obscure Babylonian document from the world famous Dead Sea Scroll collection was almost certainly a precursor to the Jewish calendar according to University of Manchester research. Helen Jacobus, a part-time doctoral student who graduated this month, investigated one of the 972 texts found in Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan between 1947 and 1956.

History/Philosophy - 14.07.2011
King Solomon: Stanford scholar considers how the man who had everything ended with nothing
Scholar Steven Weitzman's new book on Solomon is a meditation on the "lust to know." But how much can we really know about the legendary king who was the first Faust and inspired the voyage of Columbus' What can we learn from the wisest man who ever lived' Maybe not as much as we think, according to Stanford Jewish studies scholar Steven Weitzman.

Physics/Astronomy - History/Philosophy - 29.06.2011
Astronomers discover Universe’s most distant quasar
PA 201/11 A scientist at The University of Nottingham is part of a team of astronomers which has discovered the most distant quasar to date — a development that could help further our understanding of a universe still in its infancy following the Big Bang.

Earth Sciences - History/Philosophy - 23.06.2011
Stiff Sediments Made 2004 Sumatra Earthquake Deadliest in History
AUSTIN, Texas — An international team of geoscientists has discovered an unusual geological formation that helps explain how an undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004 spawned the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.