My picks from ScienceDaily

How Shift Workers Can Improve Job Performance And Implement Realistic Sleep Schedule:

A new study in the journal Sleep shows that the use of light exposure therapy, dark sunglasses and a strict sleep schedule can help night-shift workers create a "compromise circadian phase position," which may result in increased performance and alertness during night shifts while still allowing adequate nighttime sleep on days off.

Body Clock Linked To Diabetes And High Blood Sugar In New Genome-wide Study:

Diabetes and high levels of blood sugar may be linked to abnormalities in a person's body clock and sleep patterns, according to a genome-wide association study published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Spider Love: Little Guys Get Lots More:

Big males outperform smaller ones in head-to-head mating contests but diminutive males make ten times better lovers because they're quicker to mature and faster on their feet, a new study of redback spiders reveals.

Men Are Red, Women Are Green, Brown Researcher Finds:

Men are red. Women are green. Michael J. Tarr, a Brown University scientist, and graduate student Adrian Nestor have discovered this color difference in an analysis of dozens of faces. They determined that men tend to have more reddish skin and greenish skin is more common for women.

Do Stereotypes About Social Groups Bias Personnel Decisions?:

In an article in the December issue of the journal Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Frank J. Landy questions research that is said to demonstrate that stereotypes about social groups bias personnel decisions. He argues that this research is based on faulty methods of studying the question.

Natural Hormone Reduces Stress Hormones In Arguing Couples:

A dose of the hormone Oxytocin reduces the stress hormone Cortisol in arguing couples. In addition, Oxytocin strengthens positive behaviour, as researchers at the University of Zurich have discovered.

Collaboration Of Soloists Makes The Best Science:

For the success of a major research university, which is better: large, well-funded laboratory empires with many investigators working toward the same end, or the individual scientist toiling alone in his own laboratory or at his own desk?