At the BSA Science Communication conference this week, I was invited to speak aboutscience policy, under the title “All hail to the chief”. Except, I think science involves way too much hailing already. I’m not about to start bowing to Sir Mark Walport, just because he’s the government chief scientific adviser. Neither …
Many of you soon-to-be college graduates are determined to make the world a better place. Some of you are choosing careers in public service or joining nonprofits or volunteering in your communities. But many of you are cynical about politics. You see the system as inherently corrupt. You doubt real …
The sun has unleashed two colossal flares since Sunday night, firing off its most powerful eruptions of 2013 in less than a day. The first flare peaked Sunday (May 12) at 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 GMT), registering as an X1.7-class eruption. The second flare, which occurred at midday on Monday (May 13), was …
Ever see a headline boasting of an outrageous conclusion that some new scientific study found? These headlines pop up regularly, and they are a boon for publications that get lots of eyeballs reading their articles about the shocking new findings. Factory farming is actually good for the environment! Labeling genetically …
My mother use to say, “Cuando eres pendejo, eres pendejo;” and there was not much you could do about it – you were just born that way. Although I always enjoy my mother’s sayings, I do not believe that stupidity is genetic. With Americans I would blame their educational system, …
Early childhood education and school readiness is essential to preparing our children to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy. Compared to other countries, however, the United States lags far behind on preschool, trailing a number of other countries in enrollment, investment, and quality. In February 2013, however, President Barack …
Are today’s youth really more materialistic and less motivated than past generations, or do adults tend to perceive moral weakness in the next generation? San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge — along with co-author Tim Kasser, professor of psychology at Knox College — has set out to answer that question. In …
Human beings were occupying Stonehenge thousands of years earlier than previously thought, according to archaeologists. Research at a site around a mile from Stonehenge has found evidence of a settlement dating back to 7500BC, 5,000 years earlier than previous findings confirmed. And carbon-dating of material at the site has revealed …
Beginning on July 1, interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for college undergraduates are expected to double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent. The increase in the interest rate will disproportionately affect those students who are most in need of assistance and occurs alongside of other factors saddling young people with …
An extensive study of the US labor market has shown that the skills shortage which technology firms are constantly complaining about is overstated and firms may instead be using overseas workers to drive down wage costs. In a paper for the Economic Policy Institute by Hal Salzman of Rutgers University, Daniel Kuehn …
In the 2005 documentary, We Feed the World, then-CEO of Nestlé, the world’s largest foodstuff corporation, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, shared some of his own views and ‘wisdom’ about the world and humanity. Brabeck believes that nature is not “good,” that there is nothing to worry about with GMO foods, that profits matter …
We are facing a $6 trillion carbon “bubble” over the next decade unless regulators, governments and investors re-evaluate our carbon-dependent energy business model and, finally, take seriously the great climate threat, says a new report published Friday. According to the report—”Unburnable Carbon 2013: Wasted Capital and Stranded Assets (pdf)— researched and …
Austerity measures are eroding America’s public school system. With massive increases in school closures and class cancellations, advocates say educational opportunities for students of all ages are increasingly being diminished. This is not a new problem, per se. It is, however, an escalating one, and one that is being resisted. …
At the University of California Santa Cruz, where tuition runs to nearly $35,000 for non-residents, students every year pay more than 30 additional fees — including a small charge for what’s billed as “free” HIV testing. Students at Oklahoma State University pay a handsome sum to attend one of the state’s …
Imagine if your child came home from school excited as could be because they had been learning how to plant trees. Or what if your kindergartner started asking you to buy more organic tomatoes and kale at the store, instead of Goldfish, because that’s what her science class harvested …