A young flower-seller walks gingerly among tetrapods on the shore of the Arabian Sea in Mumbai.MANSI THAPLIYAL/Reuters
VIEWER DISCRETION
Movie violence is often being coupled with sexual scenarios in today's Hollywood films. As revealed in The Hollywood Reporter, a co-study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the University of Pennsylvania recently revisited nearly 400 movies released between 1985 and 2010. On the upside, tobacco use was down by nearly 70 per cent while alcohol use dipped nearly 20 per cent. The bad news: An estimated 90 per cent of the films contained violent acts and 81 per cent featured sexual scenarios, all of which could have an impact on impressionable young minds.
LOSING THE MOMENT
Talk about irony: People who try to capture every moment on their digital camera or cellphone may be at risk for memory impairment. The Daily Mail reports on a study from Connecticut's Fairfield University that took a group of students to an art museum and told them to take photographs of certain objects while ignoring others. When researchers tested the group's memory the next day, the students were less accurate in recognizing objects they had photographed than those they had only looked at. Moreover, their memory of detail for the objects they had photographed was weaker. Noted study author Linda Henkel: "People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point that they are missing what is happening right in front of them."
LOVE THYSELF
Women who are pleased with their body image are more likely to be happy in love. CTV News reports on a new study from Estonia's Tallinn University that crunched data from 256 women between the ages of 20 and 45. About 70 per cent were co-habitating with a partner while 30 per cent were married. The women answered a survey on their body weight, self-esteem and body issues. Researchers concluded that women who were content with their current relationship also tended to be more satisfied with their current body weight, even if they weren't at their "ideal" weight. "Our satisfaction with body size, shape and weight has more to do with how happy we are in important areas of our lives than it does with what the bathroom scales say," said researcher Sabina Vatter.
THOUGHT DU JOUR
I have the same goal I've had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.
Madonna, pop star (1958- )