Computer analysis of sentiments expressed in a billion "tweets" during 2008-2009 yielded measures of consumer confidence and presidential job approval similar to those of well-established public opinion polls, Carnegie Mellon University researchers say.

The findings suggest that analyzing the text found in streams of tweets could become a cheap, rapid means of gauging public opinion on at least some subjects. But tools for extracting public opinion from social media text are still crude and social media remain in their infancy, so the extent to which these methods could replace or supplement traditional polling is still unknown.

Working overtime may be bad for your heart, according to results from a long-running study following more than 10,000 government employees in London.

The research, published in the European Heart Journal, found that, compared with people who did not work overtime, people who worked three or more hours longer than a normal, seven-hour day had a 60% higher risk of heart-related problems such as death due to heart disease, non-fatal heart attacks and angina.

Researchers warn, however, that there study did not include any private sector employees and cannot be generalized as a result.

The admittedly small and self-selected group of inmates that I provide psychotherapy for on a weekly basis at our local county jail has inspired my curiosity about the mental and emotional health of general inmate populations throughout the United States.  Of special interest are persistent reports about growing numbers of inmates coupled with correctional facility overcrowding.  In part these swelling numbers are no doubt due to high recidivism rates, and this “revolving door” phenomenon has in recent years generated interest among researchers and officials partly in response to the rising perception of our correctional facilities as the new warehouses for mentally ill, developmentally disadvantaged, and emotionally disturbed individuals.

Neural stem cells have long been defined as origin of nervous system development, spontaneously giving rise to the heterogeneous multitude of cells that make up the brain. Remarkably, neural stem cells seem to have the uncanny sense to differentiate at the right time and place, and to the appropriate fate, to produce a complex network consisting of neuronal connections and supportive glial cells.

In War of the Worlds, giant alien robots emerge out of the ground and begin vaporizing large numbers of actors. There’s a lot to like in those scenes, but there are three things I could not stand.

Like those three legs they walked around on.   Not their fragile-appearing spindly-ness,but their actual three-ness.

A 150 million year old Archaeopteryx fossil, long thought to contain nothing but fossilized bone and rock, has been hiding remnants of the animal's original chemistry, say researchers writing in PNAS. The find provides a chemical link between dinosaurs and modern birds, The authors say.

"Archaeopteryx is to paleontology what Tutankhamen is to archaeology. It's simply one of the icons of our field," said University of Manchester paleontologist Phil Manning. "You would think after 150 years of study, we'd know everything we need to know about this animal. But guess what—we were wrong."

For decades, the consensus among psychologists was that young children adopt an "anthropocentric" stance, favoring humans over non-human animals, when they begin reasoning about the biological world.

But a new study published in Cognitive Development reveals that this style of human-centered reasoning is not universal.

 The study included children growing up in an urban setting (Chicago) as well as children from rural Wisconsin, who have more extensive direct contact with the natural world. To examine the influence of culture, the rural community included European-American and Native American (Menominee) children.

Yes, I am still here! Did you miss me? You totally missed me! Maybe just a little.

I emerge from my thesis-writing cave to spread the word that teuthologists Rui Rosa and Brad Seibel--who, incidentally, are both a hoot to hang out with on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Cortez--have published a new study on squid metabolism. And not just any squid metabolism. COLOSSAL SQUID METABOLISM.

The BBC reports:

Officials from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have announced a new policy designed to increase data sharing among researchers whose work is funded by agency.

By October, 2010, NSF is planning to require that all grant proposals include a data management plan in the form of a two-page supplementary document. The changes are designed to address trends and needs in the modern era of data-driven science, officials say.

The new policy would require grantees to share their data within a reasonable length of time, so long as the cost is modest.

Previous research has found that soda and coffee consumption are associated with risk of colon cancer. But a new review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that drinking even large amounts of coffee and sugar-sweetened, carbonated soft drinks is not linked to the disease.

Earlier studies on subject have reached mixed conclusions. Some found that coffee and tea may lower the risk of cancer, while others found that they could increase the risk. Tea, for instance contains anti-oxidants that in theory help prevent cancer but also has polyamines, which in theory promote cancer. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are associated with weight gain, obesity, and other conditions that are potential risk factors for colon cancer.