Science & Society
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Psychology
Undecided voters not so undecided
A measure of unconscious attitudes predicts the opinions that undecided people eventually reach on a controversial issue.
By Bruce Bower -
Science & Society
Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science
An Astronomer Among the American Romantics.
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Health & Medicine
This trans fat is vindicated
Featured blog: FDA accords some trans fats a "generally regarded as safe" designation.
By Janet Raloff -
Ecosystems
Aspiring to Save the Planet
The failure of the G-8 Summit to put some teeth in greenhouse-gas limits suggests it may be time for a global climate czar.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Animal rights and wrongs
Featured blog: Some animal-rights activists are taking a page out of the anti-abortionists' playbook and now bully animal researchers at home.
By Janet Raloff -
Science & Society
BOOK REVIEW | The Score: How the Quest for Sex Has Shaped the Modern Man
Review by Tia Ghose.
By Tia Ghose -
Science & Society
Seeding liberal arts courses with science parables
In the July 19 Comment, Dudley Herschbach, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in chemistry, discusses how to infuse scientific ideas into humanities education with an aim of increasing overall scientific literacy. Herschbach is Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Science & the Public.
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Science & Society
Climate Threatens Living Fossil
Thanks to global warming, within the lifetimes of certain reptiles in the South Pacific, all members of their species could be born male.
By Janet Raloff -
Psychology
Simpleminded Voters
An innovative research technique has led researchers to conclude that well-informed voters often use simple rules of thumb to sift through mountains of campaign information and pick the candidate who best reflects their own political views.
By Bruce Bower -
Science & Society
Confirmed: Big Dipper to Get Doritos
A European astronomy group beamed a video of a Doritos sacrifice to the god of salsa at a possible alien race in a star system associated with the Big Dipper.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Six-legged Arthritis Relief
Here's a novel health food I learned about this morning--one that could be free for the gleaning right outside your front door (especially if you live in China). Warning: You have to be quick or it will get away.
By Janet Raloff -
Science & Society
Science Education and the Future of Humankind
Nobel Prize–winning physicist Leon Lederman warns that science education is crucial for humankind’s future. Lederman is director emeritus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.