Science News

A study arousing interest online Friday found that checking Facebook or Twitter is more alluring than sex for those immersed in Internet Age lifestyles.

Despite past philosophies of immutable souls, today's concept of identity relies more than ever on what we share online, even though our memes seem increasingly transitory and ephemeral. "But are we the things we share? That's a big question.

A science website will use a $200,000 grant from the federal government to use social media to promote science to up to 250,000 young Australians.

What does it mean to be connected in the 21st century? Hope, interdependence, and possibly the creation of a new consciousness, says Tiffany Shlain. Shlain is the founder of the Webby awards and creator of a new documentary, Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology, which premiered this year at Sundance.

Harvard neuroscience researchers have just confirmed what many of us have suspected all along: social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are “brain candy” for Internet users.

NEUROSCIENCE: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=neuroscience

New research has analysed the mood of Twitter users in the UK and detected various changes in the mood of the public. In particular, the researchers observed a significant increase in negative mood, anger and fear, coinciding with the announcement of spending cuts and last summer's riots together with a possibly calming effect during the royal wedding.

Articles about PSYCHOLOGY: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=psychology

One of the key take-home messages of Charles Duhigg’s new book The Power of Habit – Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business is that habits are pernicious little buggers. Over time, they become hardwired in the brain such that you can’t just will yourself to change them.

Articles about PSYCHOLOGY: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=psychology

Facebook and other social network sites may soon have an app that can determine which one of its users has what sort of sexually transmitted disease, according to researchers.

Luks is now able to consult with his patients' primary-care doctors and other specialists before, during and after surgeries - in near-real time. "Utilizing socially rooted tools to collaborate among colleagues and experts (that) we might not otherwise have access to improves care and improves the speed and efficiency with which we can offer that care," Luks says.

A new survey of business professionals across Europe shows how important social media have become at innovating within companies.

So, I guess Facebook is here to stay. In honor of its over-subscribed IPO, I’m brainstorming about how social media might be existentially changing our romantic lives and intimacy. Here’s the first installment.

SOCIAL MEDIA: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=social%20media

Facebook's big stock offering on Wall Street must be followed by an intensive debate on Main Street about social media's powerful impact on children, an expert on the topic says. While social media such as Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter offer "extraordinary possibilities" in such areas as education, he said, "there are also real downsides in a social, emotional and cogitative development way."

Articles about SOCIAL MEDIA: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=social%20media

Many people constantly update about their lives on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter mainly because of the “kicks” that self disclosure offers.

Americans are lonelier than ever before, according to a growing body of research. All those "friends" we have on the giant social network may be part of the problem