Everyone knows the face of fear. Upon beholding the chainsaw-wielding ax-murderer in a slasher movie, the damsel in distress usually widens her eyes and flares her nostrils in horror. It turns out this expression isn't merely for cinematic effect, but actually serves a biological function, scientists have found, by altering...

Some people point to 1906 as the year of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, but, for anthropologists who study American Indians, it is the year that split the Hopi community of Orayvi, the longest continually occupied settlement in North America. The break-up — which came two mornings after the last...

Boomers are tired, overworked, strapped, bummed out and don't expect to get a break. More than young people or seniors, Baby Boomers (aged 44 to 62 now) are gloomy about their lives and the prospects for improvement, a new survey finds. The Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends survey,...

Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than liberal-leaners, and new research pinpoints the reason: Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities. Regardless of marital status, income or church attendance, right-wing individuals reported greater life satisfaction and well-being than left-wingers, the new study found. Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization,...

Seems everyone these days is giving the thumbs-up, no matter the circumstances. Senator Edward Kennedy gave a big thumbs-up as he left the hospital Wednesday, facing a new outlook on life with a potentially deadly brain tumor. Hillary did it just this week at a we're-not-mathematically-defeated-yet campaign rally in Florida....

There have been many suggestions for how and why our hominid ancestors got out of the trees and started walking. The latest: a prehistoric shuffle driven by an empty belly. This proposal relies on a mathematical model to suggest that shuffling emerged as a precursor to walking, between 4 million...

NEW YORK (AP) - Noted neurologist Oliver Sacks has found common ground with the pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church: Both men believe in the healing power of music. Sacks, the best-selling author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was to share the church...

Men are more tolerant of discrimination than women are, but both tend to accept prejudice against some immigrants and Arab-Americans, according to a new study. The results come from telephone and online surveys of more than 3,300 people conducted in 2002 by University of Southern California researchers. Each of the...

Cult or Religious Sect? Cultist groups have permeated society ever since people could chat and share ideas en masse, although modern cult experts today often clash about what, exactly, makes a group of people a cult. What's a loony or eccentric organization to one expert is often seen by others...

Last month in Portland, Ore., Carl and Raylene Worthington's toddler Ava got sick with a blood infection and pneumonia. Both conditions were treatable with antibiotics, but unfortunately for little Ava, her parents belong to the Followers of Christ Church, some members of which believe that prayer can cure the sick....

I just can't make up my mind. But I have to, all day long. It starts as soon as I get out of bed, before I'm even conscious. Should I choose the red blouse or the orange sweater, the skirt or the pants. And for God's sake, which shoes? And...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed on low grade rivets that the ship's builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner, two experts on metals conclude in a new book. The company, Harland and Wolff of Belfast, Northern...

How people read facial expressions of others says a lot about their cultural upbringing, a new study suggests. While Americans home in on a central figure, Japanese take in facial expressions of an entire group to gauge a person's emotional state. The results could reflect North Americans' rugged individualism and...

The lower house of parliament in France has just passed a law to prevent thinness. My, what a cultural contrast to the Unites States, where two-thirds of all adults are considered overweight or obese and our lawmakers are worried about fatness, not thinness. Problem is, both cultures don't really understand...

CHICAGO (AP) — Magician David Blaine set a new world record Wednesday for breath-holding: 17 minutes and 4 seconds. The feat was broadcast live during “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and the studio audience cheered as divers pulled Blaine from a water-filled sphere. He looked relaxed afterward and said the record...