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Findings

By Roger D. Hodge

Researchers found that young teens who witness gun violence are more than twice as likely to commit a violent crime themselves, suggesting that violence might best be modeled as a socially infectious disease. Another study found that exposure to media violence affects teenagers’ brains and impairs attention and self-control. Scientists said that the more television children watch the more likely they are to be confused about which foods are healthy. Researchers at Yale found that preschoolers are expelled from school more than three times as often as older children, and a study concluded that baby-faced politicians are less likely to be elected. Scientists said that children who are breast-fed have lower blood pressure, that malnourished fetuses are more likely to become fat later in life, that children who live near major highways are more likely to have asthma, and that children with a rare lung disease showed improvement after taking Viagra.

Doctors warned that the recreational use of Viagra can lead to the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases. Storing mobile phones near the testicles was found to decrease semen quality, whereas viewing pornographic images of two men having sex with a woman (an instance of “sperm competition”) tends to increase semen quality. Scientists announced that a woman’s ability to achieve orgasm is determined by her genes. Other research suggested that neurological damage, leading to decreased sensation in the clitoris, could be a common cause of female sexual dysfunction. Men with diabetes, scientists said, are more likely to have low testosterone levels. A British charity concluded that Aka Pygmy men are the best fathers. A study found that making adolescents get up early for school deprives them of sleep. Researchers announced that many people begin to go crazy by age fourteen, and that people’s bladders generally do not get smaller as they grow old. Brain shrinkage, a study found, has no effect on cognition. Scientists isolated a chemical that, when sniffed, makes people more trusting.

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SEE ALSO: Science-21st century

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