Science & Society News

July 10, 2016

London's 1952 Great Smog: More Asthma Now

Gap Between Where It's Made, and Where It's Felt

Engineers Design Programmable RNA Vaccines

Common Chemicals Endanger Kids' Brains

Latest Headlines

updated 12:40pm EDT

Game Theory: Does the Rhino Poacher or the Gamekeeper Win?

July 6, 2016 — Conservationists have used game theory to look at the likely outcome of the battle between rhino poachers and the gamekeeper or rhino ... read more

Preserving Forest Carbon Sinks Top of Donors' Climate Mitigation Agenda

July 7, 2016 — Developing countries with large carbon sinks and good governance tend to be the main destination for major green donors' climate mitigation funding, research shows. This study compared the factors ... read more

Why Clinton and Trump Backers Don't Mix

July 8, 2016 — Living around people with opposing political viewpoints affects your ability to form close relationships and accept other perspectives -- and may even change your personality, finds an American ... read more

Mixed Response: Floodwaters Return to the Colorado River but Can Release Greenhouse Gases

July 8, 2016 — Deliberately flooding riverbeds left parched by dams has great potential to restore wetlands but may also have a significant unintended consequence: ... read more

Watery Roadblock in the Pathway to Biofuels

July 7, 2016 — Removing oxygen atoms is vital to turning biomass into biofuels. Scientists discovered how water interferes with two oxygen-removal paths by creating a highly stable ... read more

After Decades of Clean Up Attempts, World's Lakes Still Suffer from Phosphorus Pollution

July 8, 2016 — Leading scientists warn: Phosphorus pollution is a major concern. We need to speed up recovery treatments of lakes -- or ... read more

Two Years and Counting: Cannabis Legalization Efforts Are Starting to Paint a Clearer Picture

July 8, 2016 — What is the current landscape at the US federal level regarding cannabis legalization? A new report shows that from a public ... read more

Bats Take Dangerous Flight Into the Wind Farm

July 8, 2016 — Wind turbines attract bats. They seem to appear particularly appealing to female noctule bats in early summer. In a pilot study, researchers noticed this when they tracked ... read more

How Cooperation Emerges in Competing Populations

July 7, 2016 — Social behavior like reaching a consensus is a matter of cooperation. However, individuals in populations often spontaneously compete and only cooperate under certain conditions. These problems are ... read more

Critical Care Health Care Professionals Have High Rates of Burnout Syndrome

July 7, 2016 — A new report on burnout syndrome in critical care health care professionals gives key stakeholders guidance on mitigating the development of burnout syndrome and calls for initiating research to ... read more

Australian Shark Attacks Prompt New 'eco Barriers'

South Korea's Pregnant Women Find It Easier to Get a Subway Seat

Russia's Tech Drive Not Yet in Fast Lane

It Looks Like Medical Marijuana Is Burning Up Prescription Drug Sales

New Work Aiming to Stop Diabetes, a Major Global Health Challenge

July 8, 2016 — A new study estimates the global prevalence of diabetes and anticipates future trends. According to the results, the world's adult population with diabetes increased from 108 million in 1980 to ... read more

Referees Add More Extra Time When the Big Teams Are Losing

July 8, 2016 — Football (soccer) enthusiasts suspected it, but now statistics is confirming it. After analyzing all the matches of the Spanish league "La Liga" from the 2014-2015 season, two experts in ... read more

Sensing Trouble: New Way to Detect Hidden Damage in Bridges, Roads

July 7, 2016 — Engineers have documented a new approach for monitoring the structural health of roads, bridges and other structures. The method applies a noninvasive medical imaging technique to a carbon ... read more

Too Much Homework Can Lead to Bad Grades in Investing

July 7, 2016 — Investors who do their own research and write down their investment predictions stick with their investment strategy even if subsequent information shows their original analysis was ... read more

Paying With Paper or Plastic?

July 7, 2016 — The way we pay may influence how much we value and feel committed to our purchase, a new study indicates. It appears that going cashless may come at a ... read more

Model for Predicting Coastal Storm Damage in the North Sea

July 7, 2016 — A system for predicting storm damage by waves in northern areas of the North Sea has been developed by mathematicians. The north-east Scottish coast was found to be more exposed to swell arriving ... read more

How the 'Graying Biomedical Workforce' Affects Scientific Funding in the US

July 7, 2016 — As a result of the 'graying of the biomedical workforce' in the United States, many suspect that a preference for older, more experienced researchers in the competitive government grant ... read more

How Solar Energy Can Be Transformed Into Fuel

July 7, 2016 — A new study look into the quest for sustainable fuel, and how solar energy can be transformed into exactly this. The new procedure uses the sun's thermal energy to convert carbon dioxide and ... read more

Exploring Ways to 'Coexist With Wildlife'

July 7, 2016 — Although protected areas such as national parks can play a crucial role in conserving wildlife, most species of large carnivores and large herbivores also depend on being able to occupy ... read more

Highly Prominent Product Placements Tend to Benefit from 3D Movies, While Placements With Low Prominence Lose out

July 7, 2016 — Two new studies have investigated product placements in two Hollywood movies. Volunteers watched the Hollywood movies as either a 2D, a 3D, or a 4D version (the 3D movie with added scent). ... read more

Viral Hepatitis Kills as Many as Malaria, TB or HIV/AIDS, Finds Study

July 7, 2016 — Viral hepatitis has become one of the leading causes of death and disability across the globe -- killing at least as many people annually as TB, malaria or HIV/AIDS. This is the finding of new ... read more

Trauma Research Funding Needed Now More Than Ever, Say Experts

July 7, 2016 — Funding for trauma research is needed now more than ever, and should become a priority in the wake of so many lives lost at mass casualty events -- including most recently at the Pulse nightclub in ... read more

Blurring of National Security Interests, Global Health Agendas Are an Unavoidable Reality

July 7, 2016 — Society must align the overlapping priorities and often clashing interests of medical intelligence, national security agendas and the global health community, according to global health ... read more

Quick, Early Test for Ebola Could Prevent Epidemics

July 6, 2016 — Researchers are working hard in an effort to dramatically improve the test for the Ebola virus. The goal is to offer a quick, accurate and inexpensive method to help contain future ... read more

New Study on State Medicaid Provision, Federal Subsidization

July 6, 2016 — The U.S. federal government matches every state at least $1 for each $1 that the state spends on Medicaid. A new study measured the effect of the subsidy by constructing a multi-regional, ... read more

New Study Calls for Old Methods of Coastal Management

July 6, 2016 — A recent collaborative research effort seeks to highlight this enclave of stability against the stark reality of Louisiana's predominantly sediment-starved, sinking deltaic ... read more

Not Blowing Smoke: Research Finds Medical Marijuana Lowers Prescription Drug Use

July 6, 2016 — Medical marijuana is having a positive impact on the bottom line of Medicare's prescription drug benefit program in states that have legalized its use for medicinal purposes, according to new ... read more

High Rate of Drug Overdose Deaths Among Adults Recently Released from Incarceration

July 6, 2016 — One in 10 adults who died of a drug overdose in Ontario between April 2006 and March 2013 had been released from a provincial correctional facility within one year, researchers have ... read more

ACA's Tobacco Surcharges Reduce Smokers' Insurance Take-Up, Study Finds

July 6, 2016 — A new study reveals an unexpected consequence of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) tobacco surcharges: high surcharges resulted in lower rates of insurance enrollment among smokers in the first ... read more