news 2012

Arts and Design - Medicine/Pharmacology - 27.03
Major health benefits of music uncovered in first large-scale review
In the first large-scale review of 400 research papers in the neurochemistry of music, a team led by Prof. Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University's Psychology Dept. has been able to show that playing and listening to music has clear benefits for both mental and physical health.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Arts and Design - 24.01.2012
Patients leave ER with poor understanding of how to care for themselves
In a new review article, researchers at the University of Toronto , The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Children's Hospital Boston have found there frequently is a lack of patient-family comprehension at the time of discharge from the emergency department, leaving patients and families unable to report the diagnosis or understand instructions for at-home care, medication use or reasons to return to the hospital.

Arts and Design - Medicine/Pharmacology - 22.12.2011
No butts about it: Teens who view smoking in movies likely to use cigarettes for the first time
ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Teens who see movie characters using cigarettes are quicker to try smoking than their peers who did not watch the same scene, a new study finds. - However, the exposure to movie images involving cigarettes does not appear to lead teens who have tried smoking to become regular smokers sooner, said Sonya Dal Cin, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan and the study's lead author.

Psychology - Arts and Design - 14.03.2011
Measuring Musical Pleasure
McGill researchers discover it's all in the timing - Daniel Levitin's most recent study grew out of a disappointing concert performance. - Levitin, a renowned author, researcher and professor in the Psychology Department at McGill University, was listening to one of his favourite pieces, a Mozart piano concerto, when he found his attention drifting.

History/Archeology - Arts and Design - 19.10.2009
Mark E. Richard Named Professor of Philosophy
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 19, 2009 - Mark E. Richard, who specializes in the philosophy of language, philosophical logic, and metaphysics and epistemology, has been named professor of philosophy at Harvard University, effective July 1, 2010.

Arts and Design - Veterinary Science - 30.04.2009
Some Vocal-Mimicking Animals, Particularly Parrots, Can Move to A Musical Beat
Cambridge, Mass. - April 30, 2009 - Researchers at Harvard University have found that humans aren't the only ones who can groove to a beat - some other species can dance, too. This capability was previously believed to be specific to humans.

Arts and Design - 18.04
Five Questions with Marie-Louise Mares
Growing up in Australia, Marie-Louise Mares didn't have a television. Even then, she still got the occasional glimpse of “Sesame Street.” - Now an associate professor of communication arts at UW-Madison, Mares and her colleague Zhongdang Pan, professor of communication arts, recently performed a meta-analysis of 24 studies of “Sesame Street's” impact around the world.

Arts and Design - 4.04.2012
Teachers Think White Females Lag Behind in Math, University of Texas at Austin Study Finds
AUSTIN, Texas — High school math teachers tend to rate white female students' math abilities lower than those of their white male peers, even when their grades and test scores are comparable, according to a University of Texas at Austin study.