ScienceDaily: Science & Society News

F-bombs notwithstanding, all languages skew toward happiness: Universal human bias for positive words Posted: 09 Feb 2015 01:11 PM PST Arabic movie subtitles, Korean tweets, Russian novels, Chinese websites, English lyrics, and even the war-torn pages of the New York Times -- research examining billions of words, shows that these sources -- and all human language -- skews toward the use of happy words. This Big Data study confirms the 1969 Pollyanna Hypothesis that there is a universal human tendency to "look on and talk about the bright side of life."

Both Liberals, Conservatives Can Have Science Bias Posted: 09 Feb 2015 08:30 AM PST New research suggests that liberals, as well as conservatives, can be biased against science that doesn’t align with their political views.

An Internet of Things reality check Posted: 09 Feb 2015 05:35 AM PST Connecting different kinds of devices, not just computers and communications devices, to the Internet could lead to new ways of working with a wide range of machinery, sensors, domestic and other appliances. Researchers suggest that we are on the verge of a another technological revolution but practicalities and legal obstacles may stymie the development of the so-called Internet of Things if they are not addressed quickly.

Would federal lands takeover in Utah harm the public? Experts think so Posted: 06 Feb 2015 09:51 AM PST The transfer of 31 million acres of land managed by the federal government to Utah would hinder public land management reforms and harm the state, according to a newly released analysis.