Stories by Erika Beras

Trauma can be passed down to offspring due to epigenetic changes in DNA. But positive experiences seem able to correct that. Erika Beras reports. 

Women rate a man they see with an attractive woman as more desirable than an unattached man. Erika Beras reports.

Infants carrying genes that put them at increased risk for asthma had a 27 percent decrease in developing respiratory symptoms while being breast-fed. Erika Beras reports.

Sixty-two percent of survey respondents said self-driving cars would not make them more productive. Another 36 percent said they’d be too concerned to do anything but watch the road. Erika Beras reports. 

A study of seven jurisdictions found that when cops wear body cameras, complaints against them by civilians fall precipitously.

Just as with honest jobs, mobsters with a more advanced education made more money than their less educated counterparts. Erika Beras reports.

Slightly altering one’s appearance—even with glasses—can indeed hinder facial recognition by others. Erika Beras reports.

Reseachers have started to examine the genetic traces of the movement of some six million African-Americans from the south to the north and west between 1910 and 1970.

The branches of birch trees in Europe sagged by as much as four inches at night compared with daytime.

By analyzing the vocal patterns of couples in therapy, an algorithm was able to predict whether a relationship would get worse or improve. Erika Beras reports.

A study links single living to a thinner waistline and lower BMI, compared with co-habitating couples. Erika Beras reports.

Twelve alcohol brands among the top 25 preferred brands for teen black drinkers don’t appear at all on the top 25 for young white drinkers

Heavy drinkers age 18 to 25 who got texts before and after each weekend about their weekend drinking plans cut their alcohol intake compared with those who got no texts or more perfunctory texts

In a study of first graders, teachers rated low-performing minority students more positively than low-performing white students, but they ranked high-performing minority students lower than white students at the same level

Gentrifying residents in two Brooklyn neighborhoods view their new surroundings differently, depending on the race of those who traditionally live there. Erika Beras reports

A study found that the stronger a subject's memory of a particular food, the more likely they were to choose it again, even over foods they professed to enjoy more

Volunteers taking an "implicit bias" test who were unlikely to associate images of women with leadership titles like executive or president were far less likely to vote for a woman in a race against a man of equal qualification

Learning detailed navigation information causes the hippocampus to interact with other regions of the brain involved in location

College students who watched episodes of the various Law & Order episodes had a better understanding of sexual consent issues than those who watched two other crime procedural franchises

By studying the interactions of babies and their mothers, researchers determined that babies smile in hopes others will smile at them. Erika Beras reports

The particular fungi found in house dust can tell investigators where you live, and the bacteria in the dust can give away who and what you live with

An analysis of some 300 cosmetics ads in magazines found the vast majority of their science claims to be either false or too vague to judge

Mediocre main dishes taste even worse when they follow delectable appetizers—an example of the so-called "hedonic effect." Erika Beras reports

People who smoke pot and drink are twice as likely to do both at the same time than to do just one, with the combo associated with bad decision-making; and chronic pot smokers who had not indulged in a month were still more likely to have faulty memories than were nonsmokers. Erika Beras reports