Physical fitness is associated with improved academic performance in young people, according to a study of fifth grade students presented at the American Heart Association's 2010 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism. Many people have suggested that such a relationship exists between academic performance and physical fitness, but until now researchers say there was not enough evidence to define the nature of the relationship.

A 3.5-metre-long snake that lived 67 million years ago made a habit of eating baby sauropods as they first scrambled out of their eggs, say paleontologists writing in PLoS Biology. The conclusion is based on the discovery in India of a nearly complete fossilized skeleton of the primitive snake Sanajeh indicus coiled inside a dinosaur nest.

Modern humans are generally monogamous while exhibiting tendencies toward polygamy over the course of evolutionary history, say scientists who analyzed genomic data from three population samples of African, Asian and European origin. The findings, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, are consistent with studies in evolutionary psychology and anthropology that depict contemporary human populations.

A new study of adult participants in committed relationships suggest that the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) helps people control their emotional reactions to negative facial expressions from their romantic partners. The findings indicate that compromised LPFC function may be a risk-factor for mood and behavioral problems after a stressful interpersonal event.

 Research subjects in the Biological Psychiatry study viewed positive, negative, and neutral facial expressions of their partners during a brain scan. In an online daily diary, participants reported conflict occurrence, level of negative mood, rumination, and substance use.

the 47-million-year-old Darwinius masillae fossil that was celebrated last year as a so-called 'missing link' between humans and early primates is actually a forebearer of modern-day lemurs and lorises, according to two papers in the Journal of Human Evolution and PNAS.

Researchers note in one article published in the Journal of Human Evolution that Darwinius masillae is not a haplorhine primate like humans, apes and monkeys, as the 2009 research claimed. They also note that the article on Darwinius published last year ignores two decades of published research showing that similar fossils are actually strepsirrhines, the primate group that includes lemurs and lorises.

In a new study dedicated to the blatantly obvious, a Georgia State political scientist says that residents of states with more government corruption may not only lose trust in political officials but also in the general public. The study will be published in American Politics Research.

The research looked at arrests of government officials in 50 states combined with 2002 through 2004 survey data of the American National Election Studies panel, which produces data on voting, public opinion and political participation.