Newswise – In Utah, birds are being given “breathalyzer” tests. Nope,cops aren’t stopping them for flying too fast?a biologist istrying to determine whether sparrows and warblers aremigrating under the influence of bayberries, gnats, or otherfoods, in an effort to help protect the habitats ofmigrating birds. It turns out that birds can get too drunkto fly, just like people can become too drunk to drive.
read more

We are constantly being reminded that China is an oppressivesociety with prisons full of political detainees and minimalhuman rights, but now it has released a report on US humanrights abuses that makes it painfully clear that our countryhas lost the moral high ground because of our own tragicinvolvement in the use of torture.

Following is the full text of the Human Rights Record of theUnited States in 2004, released by the Information office ofChina’s State Council Thursday, March 3, 2005:
read more

Belief in God can literally be carried in your DNA, meaningyou inherit it from your parents. While environmentalfactors, such as taking kids to church or placing them inreligious schools, plays a part in whether children believein God, new research into the so-called God gene shows thatif you still believe when you’re an adult, it’s in yourgenes.
read more

Newswise – Race matters when it comes to interpreting facialexpressions. When whites see the same computer generatedfacial expressions on both whites and blacks, they interpretthe black expressions as looking more hostile.

Psychologist Kurt Hugenberg says such misperceptions mayhelp explain how racial stereotypes are perpetuated. Evenpeople who claim not to be prejudiced are susceptible tothis, suggesting an unconscious bias.

Hugenberg and fellow psychologist Galen Bodenhausenconducted a series of experiments, with results published inthe journal Psychological Science. They found that whitesshow greater readiness to see anger in black faces than inwhite faces. This belief was especially strong in prejudicedpeople.
read more