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The Knowing Nose: Chemosignals Communicate Human Emotions
Many animal species transmit information via chemical signals — and humans may be among them, psychology researchers find.
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Why do we vote? Not to pick the winner, probably
The Associated Press: There's always grousing about the many people who don't bother to vote. But look at it the other way: An estimated 133 million Americans will cast ballots in Tuesday's election. Some will persevere despite long lines, pressing personal burdens or the devastation left by Superstorm Sandy. Why do they do it? It's not because any one voter will decide the contest between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney. A one-vote win is rare even in local or state races, which attract smaller turnout. The largest numbers of voters - about 6 in 10 eligible adults - come out for presidential years.
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A Simple Way to Get Conservatives to Support Higher Taxes on the Rich
Pacific Standard: It is a fundamental fault line of contemporary American politics: Republicans adamantly oppose higher taxes on the wealthy, while Democrats consider such taxes a moral and fiscal imperative. This disagreement plays a central role in the election campaign, and it threatens to derail any deal to cut the deficit. But conservative opinion on this issue may be more malleable than anyone realizes. Newly published research suggests that, for those on the right, support for this specific form of wealth redistribution depends on how the issue is framed.
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Obama, Romney debate: Mom and Dad settle whom you support
Toronto Star: The way you were brought up could determine whether you were rooting for Romney or Obama last night. An analysis of the parenting styles and political attitudes of 1,364 U.S. families found that “parents’ attitudes predicted their children’s political orientations at age 18.” Which means, study author Dr. R.
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Where Are the Gifted Minorities?
Scientific American: For more than a quarter century, critics have faulted gifted education programs for catering to kids from advantaged backgrounds. These programs do, after all, typically enroll outsized numbers of European American and Asian American students hailing from relatively well-off homes. Members of other ethnic groups, meanwhile, tend to be underrepresented, as judged by the percentage of these students in a school district relative to that in its gifted program. In a study based on data from the 2006 Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Survey, for example, education researcher Donna Y.
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Why Are States So Red and Blue?
The New York Times: Regardless of who wins the presidential election, we already know now how most of the electoral map will be colored, which will be close to the way it has been colored for decades. Broadly speaking, the Southern and Western desert and mountain states will vote for the candidate who endorses an aggressive military, a role for religion in public life, laissez-faire economic policies, private ownership of guns and relaxed conditions for using them, less regulation and taxation, and a valorization of the traditional family.
