ScienceDaily: Living Well News

A team found flaws in previous research that purported to show meditation could alter the brain's structure.

Difficult social and legal conditions are stress factors for same-sex families, but do not affect the behavior of children and young people with same-sex parents, new research suggests.

What are the barriers to the adoption of electric cars? Although the main financial and technological obstacles have been removed, their market share still needs to increase. In a recent study, a team investigated the cognitive factors that still dissuade many people from switching to electric cars. They found that car owners systematically underestimate the capacity of electric driving ranges to meet their daily needs.

Thought to enhance muscle recovery, compression garments are commonly worn by athletes and people engaging in exercise. Yet, an international research team's systematic review provides evidence to the contrary.

In February 2020, a group of musicians from around the world living in China recorded their cover of a song by Michael Jackson on video to express their support to the families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and to those working in the frontline. The video went viral. Now, a new study analyzes why the video and song had such a profound effect.

Here's another good reason for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to eat their fruits and vegetables: It may help reduce inattention issues, a new study suggests.

Everyone eats the equivalent of three extra cheeseburgers a day than they admit -- regardless of their waistline, researchers have revealed. The study shows obese and thin people all fib about food to the same amount regardless of the number on the bathroom scale and this could be undermining national health advice.

Researchers have found that eating cranberries could improve memory, ward off dementia, and reduce 'bad' cholesterol. The research team studied the benefits of consuming the equivalent of a cup of cranberries a day among 50 to 80-year-olds. They hope that their findings could have implications for the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.

Praying mantises have gained recent popularity as pets, sold at animal fairs and pet markets, but also collected in the wild by a fast-growing community of hobbyists and professional marketers. An overview of this market's dynamics reports on both problems and opportunities of the pet mantis market, like the absence of regulations, but also the potential of a stronger collaboration between hobbyists and scientists for biodiversity conservation.

Women instructed to embrace their romantic partner prior to undergoing a stressful experience had a lower biological stress response -- as indicated by levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva -- compared to women who did not embrace their partner. This effect was not seen for men.

Life circumstances during childhood -- including having fewer friends and siblings, low-quality relationships with parents, bad health and growing up in a poorer household -- are all correlated with a higher rate of loneliness in older age, according to a new study.