Have you ever noticed how the final digits of a price tag in a store usually follow a similar pattern? Scientists investigated this phenomenon and found that part of it might be down to the culture you live in. Looking at the levels of a society’s individualism, long-term orientation, and uncertainty avoidance, they found a link between these cultural dimensions and just-below, precise, and round prices. This suggests that pricing strategies transcend national borders and are influenced by cultural differences.

Research finds people who learn the basics of debate are more likely to advance to leadership roles in U.S. organizations. A key reason seems to be that debate training makes employees more comfortable about being assertive in the workplace. 

In their own interest, “coalitions of the willing” of industrialised countries should now step up climate finance for developing countries. The aim: to make their climate commitments, which must be updated in 2025 according to the Paris Agreement, as ambitious as possible. Proven CO₂ reductions in the Global South should be rewarded with massive public grants – which would be highly profitable for donor countries due to avoided climate damage. This is the message of an article published today in the top journal Nature, co-authored by Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström, scientific directors of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

About The Study: In this prospective cohort study among participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, food insecurity was associated with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) even after adjustment for socioeconomic factors, suggesting that food insecurity may be an important social deprivation measure in clinical assessment of CVD risk. Whether interventions to reduce food insecurity programs can potentially alleviate CVD should be further studied.