Daily Research

Women who regularly use permanent hair dye could be increasing their risk of breast cancer up to 60 percent, according to scientists writing in the  International Journal of Cancer . A study based on the medical records of more than 45,000 women found a positive correlation between permanent hair dye and breast cancer—particularly among those who are black. While the paper is based on patterns and trends and, as such, doesn't confirm a direct cause, it adds to research suggesting there may be carcinogens lurking in commonly-used beauty products. "The results do not surprise me," Otis W. Brawley, medical oncologist and epidemiologist at the Hopkins-Kimmel Cancer Center, told  Newsweek . "Many of us have worried that the chemicals in especially the permanent hair dyes and hair straighteners have the potential to cause cancer." Taken as a group women who regularly dyed their hair appeared to be increasing their risk of developing breast cancer by 9 pe...

Male pick-up lines tend to be of two kinds: bad and worse.  "You're hot, can I have your number?" "Can you recommend a good drink?" "Can I get a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?”  These are just a few of the gems in the male pick-up line repertoire. But what about females? Do women use pick-up lines as well? If so, do they work, and are they any more clever than what the male species has to offer? New research forthcoming in the journal  Personality  and Individual Differences  explored these questions in the context of an online experiment. Specifically, a team of psychologists led by Maryanne Fisher of Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada tested which of three forms of female pick-up lines—direct, flippant, and innocuous—were most effective in piquing the interest of a potential male suitor.  Interestingly, they found that directness was the most s...