Column

  1. Earth

    Obama administration should lead energy transition

    R.K. Pachauri, an engineer and economist by training, is director-general of The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, India, and a corecipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his role as chief of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC periodically issues consensus reports on the science of climate change. Senior editor Janet Raloff spoke with him about changes he hopes to see from the Obama administration.

    By R.K. Pachauri
  2. Math

    The happiness virus

    Two studies apply social networking ideas to data from health studies of thousands of people, and suggest different interpretations of how contagious happiness or other experiences can be.

    By Julie Rehmeyer
  3. Math

    Traveler’s Dilemma: When it’s smart to be dumb

    Some game theory paradoxes can be resolved by assuming that people adopt multiple personae, and aren’t rational.