Bite force research reveals dinosaur-eating frog

(University of Adelaide) Scientists say that a large, now extinct, frog called Beelzebufo that lived about 68 million years ago in Madagascar would have been capable of eating small dinosaurs.The conclusion comes from a study of the bite force of South American horned frogs from the living genus Ceratophrys, known as Pacman frogs for their characteristic round shape and large mouth, similar to the video game character Pac-Man.

from EurekAlert! - Archaeology http://ift.tt/2w6Iyi8

Solving the Easter Island population puzzle

(Frontiers) The nearly nine hundred giant stone statues discovered by the first Europeans to land on Easter Island seemed at odds with the small population found living there. It is believed a once thriving community witnessed sweeping ecological change and suffered internal conflict, resulting in a population crash. A new detailed study of the farming potential of the Island suggests it could have sustained 17,500 people at its peak.

from EurekAlert! - Archaeology http://ift.tt/2fAFrZK

Building social communication skills in shy children helps with peer likeability

(Yale-NUS College) A new study by Yale-NUS College Assistant Professor of Social Sciences (Psychology) Cheung Hoi Shan has discovered that shy children with low English vocabulary skills, can still be popular among their peers if they have high-functioning social communication skills that enable them to engage and interact well with their peers in social settings.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2fAdpxq

Solving the Easter Island population puzzle

(Frontiers) The nearly nine hundred giant stone statues discovered by the first Europeans to land on Easter Island seemed at odds with the small population found living there. It is believed a once thriving community witnessed sweeping ecological change and suffered internal conflict, resulting in a population crash. A new detailed study of the farming potential of the Island suggests it could have sustained 17,500 people at its peak.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2fAFrZK

Researchers develop new tool to assess individual's level of wisdom

(University of California - San Diego) Researchers at University of San Diego School of Medicine have developed a new tool called the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE) to assess an individual's level of wisdom, based upon a conceptualization of wisdom as a trait with a neurobiological as well as psychosocial basis.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2xf41cN

Cell phone data coupled with sewage testing show drug use patterns

(American Chemical Society) The drugs people inhale, inject or ingest ultimately end up in some form down the toilet. So scientists have started monitoring drug use through sewage-based epidemiology. But this approach hasn't taken into account the variation in number of people who add to wastewater in a given area at a given time. Now one team reports in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology a way to account for commutes and vacations: by tracking cell phone signals.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2hh9C8k

Tablets can teach kids to solve physical puzzles

(Frontiers) Researchers replicated a previous study to confirm that 4- to 6-year-old children can transfer learning of a puzzle from a touchscreen device to the physical version. This contradicts most previous research and suggests that different types of screen learning media could have different effects on whether children can transfer learned skills to the physical world.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2hic7uR