2018-12-01_Discover

Total

Characters

Reviewed:

986

20s:

91.3%

DIFFERENCE IN DISTRIBUTION OF CHARACTERS’

AGES IN MOVIES V. ACTUAL U.S. POPULATION

PERCENTAGE OF CHARACTERS PLAYING LEADERS, BY AGE (2016)

MAIN CHARACTERS WHO

REACHED THEIR GOALS?

0

20

40

60

80

100

Female

Male

10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

• 
  


• 
  
  
  
  • 
    
  
  
  
  

0

5

10

15

20

2016

Female

2002

2016

Male

2002

20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

AGE

PERCENT (%)

PERCENT (%)

AGE

Teens

Women

31.8%

Women

32.8%

Men

67.2%

Men

68.2%

Teens:

87.5%

40s:

90.6%

40s:

83.3%

AGES

MOST

LIKELY TO

SUCCEED

86.1%

Women Men

69.4%

Main

Characters

Reviewed:

484

The area of protected forests,

parks and conservation

areas that we humans have

put under intense pressure,

according to a paper in

Science. That pressure —

from intensive farming

practices, light pollution, roads, railways and other

intrusions — can hamper biodiversity in these areas.

The percentage of trees

worldwide that are new

growth, generated by

humans over the past 35

years. Even though losing

mature forests can have

negative impacts, at least this bump, reported in

Nature, more than makes up for the global loss in

our planet’s tree cover.

How many studies a recent

metareview examined

to learn how exposure

to greenspace affects

our health. The review

found that spending time

outside and living near nature is linked to an array of

benefits, including lowering risk of Type 2 diabetes

and premature death, reducing cases of heart disease

and decreasing stress levels.

The number of U.S. employees

researchers included in an

investigation of workplace

burnout. The paper, published in

the journal Career Development

International, found that 1 in 5 highly engaged

workers were also likely to be so exhausted from

work that they were ready to quit their jobs.

How much faster people’s

verbal memory abilities —

recalling information we’ve

heard — deteriorated once

they retired, compared with

those still working. But it’s

not just verbal memory. The study, published in the

European Journal of Epidemiology, reported that all

cognitive abilities slid once people quit working.

The chunk of an ant

colony’s workforce that

should perform the bulk

of the work, for maximum

efficiency. Researchers

reported in Science that when 30 percent of fire ants

took on 70 percent of the load of building tunnels,

they were less likely to clog up those tunnels and got

work done faster.

Degrees of Separation

From threatened lands to ants’ workloads.

Screen Time of the Sexes

Hollywood isn’t really known for equal

representation of men and women

on the silver screen. But it’s making

strides, according to a recent paper

published in the journal Sex Roles.

Researchers from Saint Joseph’s

University in Philadelphia looked at

50 of the top-grossing U.S. movies

of 2016 and compared their findings

with a separate 2002 review of 88 U.S.

movies. They found that, though

women (especially those age 60 and

over) still aren’t represented as

often as men, today’s Hollywood

is more likely to portray women in

leadership roles than in the past.

Source: “Fewer, Younger, but Increasingly Powerful: How Portrayals of Women, Age, and Power Have Changed from 2002 to 2016 in the

50 Top-Grossing U.S. Films,” Sex Roles, 2018

60%

143

38%

30%

1 , 085

6 MILLIONSQUARE KILOMETERS

BY LACY SCHLEY

TRENDING

THE CRUX

CHART: ALISON MACKEY/DISCOVER. FILM COMPONENTS: THENATCHDL/SHUTTERSTOCK. SILHOUETTES: A ALEKSII/SHUTTERSTOCK

18 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM