The Ice Caps Are Melting in a Bad Way; Bulimia Doesn't Work
Discovered: The ice caps are melting, bulimia does not work, the recession is killing young people and sore winners are more of a thing than sore losers.
The ice caps are melting. Not only are they melting, but the thickest, oldest parts are melting faster than the younger, thinner parts, finds new NASA research. "The average thickness of the Arctic sea ice cover is declining because it is rapidly losing its thick component, the multi-year ice. At the same time, the surface temperature in the Arctic is going up, which results in a shorter ice-forming season," researcher Joey Comiso said. Over at their site, has an interactive graphic showing the degradation of ice caps from 1980 to now. It's happening, as the graph below shows. For those who think that disappearing ice caps are an issue, this thickness thing is concerning because the older parts of the ice caps have a smaller chance of regeneration. "It would take a persistent cold spell for most multi-year sea ice and other ice types to grow thick enough in the winter to survive the summer melt season and reverse the trend," he continued. And for those who think this is not a bad thing, another NASA study found all this melting ice has caused worse pollution. "But the change in sea ice composition also has impacts on the environment. Changing conditions in the Arctic might increase bromine explosions in the future," said researcher Son Nghiem. [NASA, NASA]
Bulimia does not work. In addition to bulimia involving all kinds of health risks, new research has concluded that it's also not terribly effective as a weight loss technique. Looking at two groups of women with bulimia, researchers found that the participants reached their highest weight after developing the disease. "Most patients lose a lot of weight as part of developing this disorder, and all dedicate significant effort, including the use of extreme behaviors, to prevent weight gain," said researcher Jena Shaw. "In spite of this, we found that most women also regain a lot of weight while they have bulimia," she continues. Maybe tell that to those kids with their pro-bulimia "ana-mia" Tumblrs? [Drexel]
The recession is hurting young people more than everyone else. Millennials will love this data point: during this recession young people face what researcher Mark Taylor calls a "double-penalty." "Young people are particularly suffering in this recession," he explains. "The double-penalty faced by young people is due to them falling victim to the 'first-in, first-out' policies that are used in practice by many employers. Then, on the other hand, young people tend to have accumulated fewer job-specific skills," he continues. Basically it's one of those one-two punch situations, where employers fire the young-ones first, leaving them with fewer marketable skills. We've also heard that having a rough recession-induced start to one's career leads to overall lower wages for the rest of one's professional life. Fun times! [Understanding Society]
Sore winners are more common than sore losers. The glory of winning isn't enough. "It seems that people have a tendency to stomp down on those they have defeated, to really rub it in," said researchers Brad Bushman. Losers, on the other hand, don't change their behavior, found new research from Ohio State University. In three separate studies winners got aggressive with their opponents. "Losers need to watch out," he continued. [Ohio State]
