Category: research

Scientists tested 30 Apple iPhone fitness apps

If browsing the Apple App Store for a fitness app and going through the hundreds of choices is enough to make your brain explode, check out this new study from the University of Florida.

Researchers rounded up 30 popular free fitness apps for the iPhone, dissected what they do, and compared this against American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for physical activity.

In scoring the apps, researchers looked at everything from warm-ups, cool-downs and stretching to safety and assigned them a score for three separate categories: aerobic exercise, strength/resistance and flexibility.

Washington Post

What’s Up With That: You Hate Pictures of Yourself

It comes down to facial symmetry, and in this regard my face is skewed. My chin is crooked, my eyes don’t line up, and there’s a weird bay in my hairline on my left forehead. News flash: your face probably isn’t absolutely symmetrical either. Only a few people come close, and even some models and actors have crooked faces.

Wired

The demographics and politics of gun-owning households

Americans with young children in their home are just as likely as other adults to have a gun in their household, according to newly released survey data from the Pew Research Center.

Overall, about a third of all Americans with children under 18 at home have a gun in their household, including  34% of families with children younger than 12. That’s nearly identical to the share of childless adults or those with older children who have a firearm at home.

PewResearchCenter

Here’s What Breaking Up Does to Your Brain

When the love of your life dumps you, you’re going to go a little nuts. But it’s a very specific form of crazy: There are actually conflicting neural systems active inside your brain. It’s like you’re falling in love all over again, only in reverse. Here’s how neuroscience explains it.

Throb

Overeating may be caused by a hormone deficiency, scientists say

It’s late at night and you really just want another slice of that chocolate cake — even though you’re not hungry.

Scientists say the phenomenon could be more than just having an overactive sweet tooth. It may be the result of a hormone deficiency in the brain, a discovery that could have implications for obesity down the road.

Washington Post

This cutting-edge research is a huge step in the war against brain disease

If you don’t understand a problem, chances are you won’t be able to solve it.

That’s a major stumbling block for scientists attempting to develop treatments for brain disorders such as autism, depression, dementia, and more that will affect an estimated 100 million Americans at some point in their lives.

TechInside

How Americans can lose a lot of weight without giving up a single calorie

You’ve heard for years that the French and Japanese are much thinner than Americans because their diets are so much better than ours. A new mathematical model assesses why that is and how much thinner Americans could be if they changed their eating habits.

Washington Post

How a Human Scream Uniquely Activates the Fear Response in Your Brain

We know human screams are jarring. They’re loud, occasionally shrill, and tend to make us feel stressed, or even fearful. What’s unclear is why they elicit anxiety. But a new study suggests this response may have something to do with the acoustic quality of human screams, and how they trigger the brain’s fear response.

News360

Here’s How To Stop A Migraine Before It Destroys Your Whole Day

Migraines cause severe throbbing in the head, sensitivity to light, sounds or smells, and are brutally painful.  Researchers don’t agree on the number of Americans who suffer from migraines, but official numbers range from 16.2 percent to 22.7 percent. Dr. Wade Cooper, director of the University of Michigan Headache and Neuropathic Pain Clinic, explained that they’re a lot more common than you think.

Huffington Post