science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Πέμπτη 5 Ιουνίου 2014

Science News SciGuru.com

A new approach to diversity research
Gene and environment interaction predicts criminal behaviour in prison inmates
Courts Face Challenges When Linking Genetics to Criminal Behavior
Fishing Boats Are Powerful Seabird Magnets

Posted: 04 Jun 2014 11:10 PM PDT

When people work in socially homogeneous groups, they overestimate their own contributions to the group’s success, according to a new study co-authored by an MIT scholar. In fact, in some cases such “self-serving bias” occurs to a degree about five times as great in homogeneous groups as in ethnically diverse groups.

Gene and environment interaction predicts criminal behaviour in prison inmates

Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:26 PM PDT

Interaction of the monoamine oxidase A genotype with childhood adversity is predictive of crime rates in a group of incarcerated men. This is the main finding of a new study from researchers in Sam Houston State University published in the journal Psychiatric Genetics. The results of the study suggest that gene-environment interactions could have neurodevelopmental consequences that could predict criminal behaviour and that attention to this could be beneficial in crime prevention efforts.

Courts Face Challenges When Linking Genetics to Criminal Behavior

Posted: 04 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Studies suggest that some people may be at increased risk of criminal behavior due to their genes. Such research holds potential for helping judges and juries with some of the difficult decisions they must make, but it also brings a substantial risk of misinterpretation and misuse within the legal system. Addressing these issues will be of critical importance for upholding principles of justice and fairness, according to an essay being published in the June 4 issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron.

Fishing Boats Are Powerful Seabird Magnets

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT

It's no surprise that seabirds are attracted to fishing boats, and especially to the abundance of discards that find their way back into the ocean. But researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 2 now find that those boats influence bird behavior over much longer distances than scientists had expected.

Specifically, each boat creates a ”halo of influence” across an area measuring about 22 kilometers. That's 13.6 miles—a distance a little longer than a half marathon.