Tucson, AZ, USA and Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Investigators testing economic models with fMRI scans have developed new insights into why people choose cooperation over selfish behavior.

A research team targeted regions of the brain associated with a familiar and age-old emotion — guilt, in this case the failure to live up to the expectations of others. The research opens a new avenue in understanding behavioral disorders associated with guilt, such as depression and anxiety.

Lund, Sweden. The pursuit of gender studies developed a bias towards research focused on gender at the expense of other power relationships, marginalizing and reducing the visibility of other power structures.

This claim comes from doctoral research on what gender studies has achieved — and failed to achieve — during its 30 years in Sweden, one of the countries with the highest level of equality, where gender studies were first established as its own subject within academia.

Gambier, OH, USA. Are clothing manufacturers helping to turn young girls into sex objects? Up to 30 percent of young girls' clothing available online in the US is sexy or sexualizing, according to a study.

This has serious implications for how girls evaluate themselves according to a sexualized model of feminine physical attractiveness. It makes them confront the issue of sexual identity at a very young age.

Manhattan, KS, USA. Many Native American and native Alaskan groups (the native nations) deal with alternative genders and homosexuality, with emerging practices that approach many of those associated with western culture.

Lisa Tatonetti notes there has been a significant expansion of Two-Spirit literature since the 1970s. She says that today "Two-Spirit is a term coined in the '90s that refers to people of native cultures who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender/transsexual or queer"

Waco, TX, USA. People living in countries with governments that have a greater number of social services report being more satisfied with life, according to a study by a Baylor University researcher.

Dr. Patrick Flavin, assistant professor of political science at Baylor University, said the effect of state intervention into the economy equaled or exceeded marriage when it came to satisfaction.