Science Education & Policy

Geoengineering By Committee? Time To Get Totalitarian

Solar geo-engineering is one proposed approach to mitigating the effects of climate change- the idea being to deflect some of the sun's incoming radiation.  Ignoring the technology issues, in a world where countries can't even agree they contrib ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 22 2013 - 12:03pm

Student Loans Help All Graduate, But Women More Than Men

Sociologists have found that student loans provide more help to women than they do for men in encouraging graduation from college but, on average, taking out loans makes graduation more likely for all students. Yet the debt eventually  has diminishing ret ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 21 2013 - 4:21pm

Deficit Thinking- Still A Mistake In Science Outreach

Deficit thinking is the belief by elites that the public is simply unaware of or unable to understand science and that lack of knowledge prevents the right policy decision. It rarely works as a strategy. Scholars at Umeå University in Sweden analyzed publ ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 22 2013 - 12:30pm

Climate Change Runs Up Against Green Fatigue

Environmental activists make money telling us all how terrible things are; climate scientists appreciate the help promoting their data, we do have a bit of a train wreck coming at us emissions-wise, but climate scientists also know there is a risk of backl ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Mar 1 2013 - 11:36am

Survey: Public Supports Government Action On Obese People

A survey analysis finds both that the public is supportive of government action to curb obesity, diabetes, and other noncommunicable diseases- but don't like interventions that appear intrusive or coercive. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 4 2013 - 7:24pm

Foodborne Illness Outbreaks- Improving Speed And Accuracy When It Happens

Each year more than 40 million Americans become sick with foodborne infections. Among those who become ill, 128,000 will be hospitalized and 3,000 will die. Foodborne illness also takes a toll on our economy: Broad estimates are that the US loses $77 bill ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 5 2013 - 7:00pm

Buying Science Leadership

Can you buy leadership? If you talk to people trying to convince the government to give them more money, the answer is 'yes', even among scientists who know better. Since the cancellation of the Superconducting Supercollider, Americans have been ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Mar 6 2013 - 2:49pm

Bittman’s Lament...And The Fake Sugar War

Sugar is irresistible to humans, and apparently to writers. There was no better example than this week’s vaygeshray over Mark Bittman’s column in the New York Times. Bittman, the paper’s former food columnist who rose to fame with his fast and easy recipes ...

Article - Greg Critser - Mar 11 2013 - 10:29am

Will Prof. Ernie Moniz Be A Good Energy Secretary?

President Obama may have a thing for northeast academics but he at least stepped out of Harvard and Yale this time, tapping MIT Professor Ernie Moniz Monday to run the Department of Energy. Moniz, a theoretical physicist and simulation expert, was in polit ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Mar 7 2013 - 10:17am

We Need More Hunters, Says Deer Census

In the current U.S. gun ban debate, both sides are claiming they care about hunters- but it is a dwindling population among Americans and that will cause deer populations to grow out of control, according to new findings in the UK, which has been banning ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 7 2013 - 1:02pm