Study News

A French Institute- Ined, projected that the world's population will rise to 9.7 billion in 2050 from the current 7.1 billion. Also in 2050, India is set to be the most populous country at 1.6bn, ahead of China (1.3bn). Parallel to forecasts by the UN and other prominent institutes, the study projected 10-11bn people inhabiting earth by the century's end.

A new study suggests that unusually well-connected hemispheres in Einstein's brain could have sparked off his brilliance. The study, co-authored by anthropologist Dean Falk and physicist Weiwei Men, shows that Einstein had a thicker corpus callosum (fibers between the cerebral hemispheres) compared to that of fifteen elderly and 52 younger men from 1905, the 'miracle year' of Einstein's scientific contributions.

A study by ATREE(India) and CIFOR(Indonesia) revealed that forests in eastern Himalayas and tropical mountain forests across the world are gradually turning drier and brown. According to the study conducted in 47 protected areas across five biodiversity hotspots using satellite images from 1982-2006, trees aren't able to transpire at the optimum level and have reduced photosynthesis due to temperature rise.

A research led by neuroscientist Elizabeth Brannon, Duke University, has shown that even 6-month-old babies start developing a mathematical proficiency. Tests were conducted on 48 6-month-old babies and again 3-years later. Babies, who showed a better number sense earlier, scored more later also. This correlation, however, has no connection to the babies' IQ or their performance in standardized tests later.

A new UK study found that 70% of kids know how to use the gadgets before they even start primary school. Also, more than 29% can play games on smartphones and tablets before they can string a sentence together. Parental encouragement is one such reason for this, as more than 42% of them end up buying electronic-devices for educational usage.

The more educated a woman, the higher the salary discrimination, says a study by IIM-A, citing the career-breaks women often take as a reason. While women with no formal education earn 11.99% more than their male counterparts do, women with basic education earn 10% less, and the gap shoots up to over 40% in cases where women have master's degrees.

A new study, published in the journal 'Geology', shows that acid rain and ozone depletion caused the extinction of over 90% marine species and 70% terrestrial species 250 million years ago. Gases released during contemporaneous volcanic eruptions in Siberia resulted in ecology-damaging pH fluctuations and UV radiations. These combined with global warming led to the earth's worst known species die-off.

Based on the preliminary findings of International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), nearly 40.7% men in India were found to hold 'rigid and discriminatory' gender views. Men under this category are very controlling and consider women to be inferior. Such traits of rigid masculinity were highest in UP (64%) and comparatively lower in Rajasthan (22%) and Maharashtra (25%).

As per a survey by the Washington-based International Women's Media Foundation and the London-based International News Safety Institute (carried on 822 women media workers), about two-third of women journalists have experienced abuse, harassment, or threats by male bosses at work. Moreover, the survey also says that the majority of women, who are harassed, do not report the incidents.

The annual Education Development Index for 2012-13 shows the southern states continue to outclass the northern ones. EDI has ranked Lakshadweep on top, followed by Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Karnataka. MP (28th position), Bihar (30), West Bengal (31) and UP(34) are among the worst performers. States were judged on four educational development parameters -- access, infrastructure, teachers, and outcomes.

A study conducted across world's 84 major cities has regarded Kolkata as the city having the finest public transport system in India, followed by Mumbai and Chennai. Globally, the study places Kolkata (31st) above several cities in developed countries including New York (35th) and Toronto (38th). Cities that topped the list are Hong Kong, Stockholm, and Amsterdam.

By the end of 2013, Nokia grabbed 92% share of Windows Phone market and its Lumia 520 handset continues to dominate with a new high of 39.3% share, says market research firm AdDuplex. According to TechCrunch, Windows Phone 8 grew against the now-fading Windows 7.x system, with record relative market share of 78.3%.

Dogs align themselves with the Earth's north-south axis before squatting to poop, says a study by Researchers from Czech University and the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. The researchers observed 70 dogs from 37 different breeds over the course of a two-year period. However, researchers also found that the behaviour did not occur under "unstable conditions".