science wire

U. of I. program targets growing obesity rate among Midwest Hispanics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Hispanics living in the Midwest have the highest obesity rates among Latinos in the U.S., and in Illinois, the percentage of obese Latino children 6-11 years of age has doubled since 2001, standing now at 24 percent.

Design eye for the science guy: Drop-in clinic helps scientists communicate data
“ A brief guide to designing effective figures for the scientific paper ” by Marco Rolandi, Karen Cheng and former UW faculty member Sarah Perez-Kriz Some of the figures scientists create are stunning.

New book helps bring evidence-based explanations to science classrooms
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The National Research Council's newly released Framework for K-12 Science Education captures contemporary thinking about the role of core ideas, cross-cutting themes, and scientific practices in science learning.

Many babies born to immigrants incorrectly labelled underweight
For some immigrant parents, especially South Asians, questions about a baby's birthweight may be stressful, because many of their newborns are incorrectly diagnosed as being significantly underweight. Low birthweight generally means a baby could be at higher risk of developmental issues. Researchers at the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital say many of these infants are in fact the correct birthweight for their ethnic group and should not be compared to those of babies of Canadian-born mothers.

Puzzle play helps boost learning of important math-related skills
Children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills, a study by University of Chicago researchers has found. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of spatial skill after controlling for differences in parents' income, education and the overall amount of parent language input.

Women leave math-intensive science fields when they decide to have kids
Women with advanced degrees in math-intensive academic fields drop out of fast-track research careers primarily because they want children - not because their performance is devalued or they are shortchanged during ing and hiring, report two Cornell professors.

The secret science of The Simpsons
A collaborative study involving undergraduate students and researchers has revealed that science in our favourite TV shows often slips under the radar.

Melbourne parents with teens invited to participate in groundbreaking research
Researchers at the University of Melbourne are calling on families from the Melbourne metropolitan area to help them find long term ways to help teenagers better cope with physical and mental stresses.

U of M seeks Minnesota National Guard and Reserve families to evaluate parenting resources during and after deployment
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/08/2012) —University of Minnesota researchers are recruiting more than 300 Minnesota National Guard and Reserve families to participate in an ongoing study that

A Spoonful of Sugar or a Bitter Blocker?
Hannah Newton, an historian of science with an interest in how previous generations coped with childhood illness, digs up some 17th century tips for making medicine taste better and finds evidence for common sense and compassion among the doctors of the day.

Blurting out answers in class can be good for learning
Blurting out answers in class can be good for learning Pupils who blurt out answers in class often learn more than their quieter classmates, according to new research. Test results from hundreds of schools across England show a surprising advantage for pupils with symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); pupils who shout out answers attain better results than pupils who have similar symptoms but remain quiet and interrupt less.

’Shadow Education’ Affects Academic Success of East Asian Americans
A new study co-authored by University of Pennsylvania sociologist Hyunjoon Park chalks up East Asian American students' high SAT scores in part to their high level of participation in "shadow education" activities outside formal schools.

Early intervention may curb dangerous college drinking
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The first few weeks of college are a critical time in shaping students' drinking habits. Now Penn State researchers have a tailored approach that may help prevent students from becoming heavy drinkers. "Research shows there is a spike in alcohol-related consequences that occur in the first few weeks of the semester, especially with college freshmen," said Michael J. Cleveland, research associate at the Prevention Research Center and the Methodology Center.

Managing the education needs of our young gifted children
PhD researcher Anne Grant is using her knowledge of gifted children in their formative educational years to help better inform and teach these bright youngsters.

Learning to ’talk things through in your head’ may help people with autism
Teaching children with autism to 'talk things through in their head' may help them to solve complex day-to-day tasks, which could increase the chances of independent, flexible living later in life, according to new research from Durham University, the University of Bristol and City University London.

University of Minnesota startup Drive Power uses mobile app DriveScribe to monitor and coach teen driving skills
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/12/2012) —Some 16.5 million drivers are involved in traffic accidents in the United States each year, and more than 12 percent of them are under the age of 20&m

Science career ’not for me’ say many 10 year olds
Children as young as ten already see a career in science as ‘not for me'. Despite the majority of children enjoying the subject at school and viewing scientists positively, fewer than 17 per cent are interested in pursuing a career in science, according to research from King's College London, published today.

Video games at school?
To video gamers, the name Microsoft Kinect is synonymous with the Xbox 360 video game console. To University of Toronto graduate student Uzma Khan , the motion-sensing input device offered a myriad of other possibilities.

No higher risk of acute leukaemia in close relatives
Parents, siblings and children of patients with the most common form of acute leukemia do not run a higher risk of developing the disease as was once believed, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.

Playing and Making Location Based Learning Games
Talk by Eric Klopfer, professor at MIT January 27th 2012, 10:00, room BC 410 ABSTRACT: Playing and Making Location Based Learning Games - - Over the last ten years, The Education Arcade @ MIT has been working on location-based "Augmented Reality" learning games.

Doctoral researchers reflect on their work
Doctoral researchers reflect on their work A new set of online films will showcase the work of Sussex doctoral students.

New Approach to Management of Overeating in Children
Promising results lead to upcoming clinical trial at UC San Diego for adults and children Overeating, whether in children or adults, often takes place even in the absence of hunger, resulting in weight gain and obesity. Current methods to treat such overeating in youth focus on therapies that restrict what kids may eat, requiring them to track their food intake and engage in intensive exercise.

Parents views sought on childhood obesity risk
PA 377/11 A new website has been launched to help raise awareness of work being done in the East Midlands region to tackle childhood obesity and to seek the views of parents and healthcare professionals.

Parental response to sexual abuse varies by age of victim, suspect
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Parents are more likely to blame or doubt a child victim of sexual abuse when the suspected perpetrator is an adolescent rather than an adult, according to a new study that examined child molestation cases in four states. The findings also suggest that, regardless of the age of the perpetrator, parental blame/doubt toward the victim significantly increases if the victim is an adolescent.

Divinity appoints first Muslim professor
The University of Edinburgh's School of Divinity has appointed its first Muslim professor. Professor Mona Siddiqui, a regular on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, is the new Professor of Islamic and Inter-religious studies at the University.

Research explores relaxed approach to anxious children
Research explores relaxed approach to anxious children Do anxious parents pass on their fears to their children?

New DVC Academic to join ANU team

Two for joy
An innovative dance performance with creative input from Professor Nicky Clayton, a expert on bird cognition, goes on tour this week.

Teach a computer friend to count – and improve your maths skills while you’re at it!
Those who have been given the task of teaching someone something learn a lot themselves in the process.

Unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research on learning
Lund University is in a good position to start a unique interdisciplinary research collaboration on learning, according to Assistant Vice-Chancellor Sven Strömqvist, who is pushing to get such a collaboration started.

New hope for children with special needs
Children with special educational needs are making remarkable progress in maths and english as well as their behaviour and relationships with other people, thanks to a new way of supporting them at school.

Teenagers who "want to be famous" face poorer job prospects in later life
Teenagers who "want to be famous" face poorer job prospects in later life Teenagers who have unclear career aspirations, or whose ambitions are mismatched with their educational expectations s

Testing the world’s English
English language testing, and the research that underpins it, has been elevated to a new level by the increasing global dominance of English, now used by an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide.

For lust of knowing what should not be known
Clare Holtham (1948-2010) had a huge enthusiasm for learning. After a troubled childhood, which led to a spell of homelessness, she became an intrepid traveller and independent-minded student at Newnham College, Cambridge.

City’s former Poet Laureate launches new romantic collection
Acclaimed poet Roshan Doug is to launch his latest anthology at the University of Birmingham later this month.

Learning Center at UC San Diego Wins $18-Million Renewal
How do humans learn, and how is the element of time critical for learning? The Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center (TDLC), headquartered at UC San Diego in the Institute for Neural Computation, is helping to answer that question, thanks in part to an $18 million renewal grant from the National Science Foundation.

Event offers an opportunity to interact with new autism technologies
This week teachers, parents, and children with autism – will have a unique opportunity to see how innovative interactive technologies can be used in enhancing autism education at a special event at Topcliffe Primary School in Castle Vale.

Ramon Saldivar takes helm of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity
The center, whose twin pillars are undergraduate teaching and faculty research, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.

UC San Diego Health System Experts Offer Halloween Tips
The Emergency Department staff at UC San Diego Health System - along with the California Poison Control System - San Diego Division located at UC San Diego Medical Center- offer the following safety precautions to help parents and guardians make Halloween safe.

New York’s 4-H program to become more research-based
To strengthen its ties to research, oversight of 4-H - New York state's largest youth development program - has moved to Cornell's new Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research from Cornell Cooperative Extension. The move will provide new opportunities for teaching and research and help to improve 4-H programs.

Harsh discipline fosters dishonesty in young children
Study compares lie-telling behaviour in harshly punitive, mildly punitive environments Young children exposed to a harshly punitive school environment are more inclined to lie to conceal their m

Harsh discipline fosters dishonesty in young children
Young children exposed to a harshly punitive school environment are more inclined to lie to conceal their misbehaviour than are children from non-punitive schools, a study of three- and four-year-old West African children suggests.

Transient doctors affecting children
Indigenous children and those born overseas are less likely to have a regular family doctor than all other Australian children, according to a new report by researchers at The Australian National University Medical School.

Governments urged to rethink policy on young people’s aspirations
A new University of Glasgow study challenges widely-held assumptions about the aspirations of young people from deprived backgrounds.

NSF grant will virtualize evidence-based teaching for science and engineering
Harvard and UT-Austin aim to give any instructor, anywhere in the world, open-access research-based tools Harvard University and The University of Texas at Austin have received a $500,000 grant

Surprising number of divorcing parents are open to reconciliation, new University of Minnesota study finds
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/29/2011) —There is a surprising level of interest in reconciliation among couples with children involved in the divorce process, something no research had examined before, according to a new study done by University of Minnesota researcher Bill Doherty in collaboration with Hennepin County District Court Judge Bruce Peterson.

Trappings of Parenthood Leads to Long-Term Weight Gain, New Study Shows
Sept. 22, 2011 AUSTIN, Texas — Parenthood accelerates weight gain over the life course according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin. In a study to appear in Social Science and Medicine , Debra Umberson, professor of sociology at the university, found that adults with children gain significantly more weight over time than those without.

33 percent drop in physical bullying in schools using Steps to Respect
Elementary schools using the bullying prevention program Steps to Respect saw a reduction in physical bullying and in the number of teachers reporting fighting as a big problem, according to a new University of Washington study.

Getting kids to eat whole grains: What will it take U of M researchers may have some answers
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/20/2011) —Children and adolescents aren't eating enough whole grains, but new research from the University of Minnesota offers some insight into how parents and school lunch professionals can improve kids' whole grain intake. Fewer than 1 percent of Americans between the ages of 9 and 18 currently eat the recommended daily 3 to 5 servings of whole grains.

NSF Grant to Help Identify New Teaching Methods to Retain Women in Computing and IT
Sept.

Crisis nursery kids more likely to return to families from foster care
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Children who receive crisis nursery services prior to being placed in out-of-home care are twice as likely to be reunited with their biological families as other children in Illinois' child welfare system, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois.

Researchers give low marks to California’s English proficiency test for kindergarteners
Most of the thousands of four- and five-year-olds who take California's official test for English language proficiency before they start kindergarten are bound to fail that exam, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study.

’Flexible Curriculum’ required to ensure pupils with autism achieve potential
A report published today (14 th September 2011) by the Autism Education Trust (AET) finds the current education system lacks flexibility in its approach to pupils on the autism spectrum.

New limits on physician training hours could prove costly for U.S. teaching hospitals
The new limits on hours that physicians-in-training can work will prove costly for U.S teaching hospitals, which will need to spend up to $1.3 billion a year, and possibly more, to effect the changes, a new UCLA study suggests.

Academic reveals i-opening results in online security survey
A national survey of young social network users in Britain has revealed that an alarming percentage openly provide their personal information on the internet. The ‘i-in-Online’ Children and Online Privacy Survey found that 60% of those polled had not read the privacy policies of the websites they used.

Bilingual babies’ vocabulary linked to early brain differentiation
Babies and children are whizzes at learning a second language, but that ability begins to fade as early as their first birthdays. Researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences are investigating the brain mechanisms that contribute to infants' prowess at learning languages, with the hope that the findings could boost bilingualism in adults, too.