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A small new study suggests less than one alcoholic drink a week affects fetal brain structure.  The research is the first to use fetal MRI to see how drinking affects the fetus in real-time.  Recommendations against light drinking in pregnancy have been criticized as paternalistic and not evidence-based.  Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! ...

A closed business in downtown Vancouver, on April 19, 2020. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press Ottawa’s contentious use of Canadians’ mobility data early in the COVID-19 pandemic should serve as a warning the government needs to strengthen its proposed new private-sector privacy law, the Toronto internet-security and human-rights organization Citizen Lab says. The report adds to broad criticism from the privacy community of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, which was introduced as part of Bill C-27 in June. A Citizen Lab report released Tuesday argues the federal government’s use of location data from Telus Corp. and BlueDot Inc. – which allowed Ottawa to track the movement of millions of devices to understand population movements in the era of rolling COVID-19 lockdowns – could create a slippery slope in which such data could restrict human rights. Even though that data about people’s movements had been stripped of identifying information, or “de-identified,” some data sets can be me...

It's long been believed that ancient Egyptians used mummification as a way to preserve a body after death. However, an upcoming museum exhibition indicates that was never the case, and instead the elaborate burial technique was actually a way to guide the deceased toward divinity. Researchers from the University of Manchester's Manchester Museum (opens in new tab) in England are highlighting the common misconception as part of preparations for an exhibition called "Golden Mummies of Egypt" that opens early next year. This new understanding about mummification's intended purpose essentially upends much of what is taught to students about mummies. "It's a big 180," Campbell Price (opens in new tab) , the museum's curator of Egypt and Sudan, told Tausi Insider. So, how exactly did this misconception flourish for so long? Price said the Western-led idea began with Victorian researchers who wrongly determined that ancient Egyptians were pre...

A new complaint filed with a federal watchdog alleges that Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. CTC-T pays “poverty-level wages” to workers at its factories in Bangladesh. The Canadian Labour Congress and one of North America’s largest private-sector unions, United Steelworkers, filed the complaint with the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise on Monday. CORE was set up in 2019 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to investigate accusations of human-rights abuses related to Canadian businesses’ activity overseas. CLC and USW are requesting that CORE investigate Canadian Tire and its subsidiary, Mark’s, “to determine the extent of their human-rights abuses in the Bangladesh ready-made garment industry, specifically, their failure to ensure workers in their supply chain are paid a living wage.” According to the complaint, factories in Bangladesh produce clothing that Mark’s (formerly known as Mark’s Work Wearhouse) sells in stores in Canada, under brands the company owns including Denver H...

The idea of "proof of reserves" is relatively new in the world of crypto and has come as a response to the financial issues surrounding crypto exchanges like FTX, BlockFi, and others. The idea is that crypto companies inspire confidence in investors by revealing their reserves, but there are more than a few people who question the relevancy of this act. Should crypto companies reveal their proof of reserves? And moreover, does it actually mean the crypto exchange is in good health? What Is Happening in Crypto? First, Coindesk released the Alameda Research balance sheet, revealing FTX's internal problems, prompting many investors to withdraw their FTT holdings. Not long after, Binance announced it was liquidating $2 billion worth of FTT, which made many more investors sell their FTT tokens out of panic. Those two events marked the beginning of the end of FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of trade volume. The massive n...

Christmas card. Source: ROADNAE Productions/Pexels The family is an institution that is revered, celebrated, and admired, especially at this time of year. During the holidays, it is hard, if not impossible, to avoid the images of family members spending quality time together around a dining table or cuddled up on the sofa wearing matching pajamas. Although many of us see family through the lens of perfection, the reality is that the family as an institution has its flaws, one of which is potential gender inequality. In families headed by mothers and fathers, women tend to do more child care, housework, and caring for elderly family members (OECD, 2019), and whilst this gap is declining over time, it persists. But what we talk about less often is the fact that this inequality spreads into the quality of relationships themselves: men often have more distant relationships with family members than women. Large-scale studies have consistently found that f...

Source: GLady/Pixabay A recent study, from Israel and Germany, published in the September issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science , examines the relationship between power, high self-esteem, and willingness to forgive. The psychology of power and empowerment Before discussing the paper, here is some background information on power, forgiveness, and self-esteem. Power refers to the potential or ability to socially influence others and/or resist social influence. Some people assume—perhaps due to having witnessed abuses of power—that power is coercive by nature and is associated with negative outcomes (e.g., the tendency to blame others). However, research shows power is also associated with many positive outcomes, such as greater well-being, feelings of authenticity, and success at work. Power, especially the subjective experience of power and feeling of empowerment, is particularly important for mental health and well-being. Fo...