February 2011

How couples bounce back after a ‘fight’

couple distant

Image credit: © Getty Images

When studying relationships, psychological scientists have often focused on how couples fight. But how they recover from a fight is important, too. According to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, couples’ abilities to bounce back from conflict may depend on what both partners were like as infants.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have been following a cohort of people since before they were born, in the mid-1970s. When the subjects were about 20 years old, they visited the lab with their romantic partners for testing. This included a conflict discussion, when they were asked to talk about an issue they disagreed on, followed by a “cool-down” period, when the couples spent a few minutes talking about something they saw eye to eye about. [continue reading…]

Are you afraid of becoming disabled in old age, of not being able to dress yourself or walk up and down the stairs? Staying physically active before symptoms set in could help. But so could going out to eat, playing bingo and taking overnight trips.

According to research conducted at Rush University Medical Center, higher levels of social activity are associated with a decreased risk of becoming disabled. The study has just been posted online and will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. [continue reading…]

Best Science Pictures of 2010 announced

hiv-virus-visual-science-company

Anyone whose a regular visitor to this blog knows of my passion for beautiful images. Isn’t this HIV in 3D pic a beauty? The most detailed 3-D model yet of the HIV virus won first place for illustrations in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.

Check out more pictures over a National Geographic

Source: National Geographic