The research could also help treat drug addiction, in which memory plays an important role. It could also help Alzheimer's disease and other long-term memory disorders.
According to two recent studies, randomly assigned roommates of different races are more likely to experience conflicts so strained that one roommate will move out.
Fazio's Indiana study found that three times as many randomly assigned interracial roommates were no longer living together at the end of the semester, compared with white roommates.
That same study found that randomly assigned interracial roommates at Ohio State broke up before the end of the quarter about twice as often as same-race roommates.
From these studies, scientists have concluded that the surface of the primitive Earth was covered with oceans containing the molecules fundamental to life.