Science & Society

Households located in poor neighborhoods pay more for the same items than people living in wealthy ones, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Author Debabrata Talukdar of Columbia University found that the critical factor in how much a household spends on groceries is whether it has access to a car. According to the findings, those without access to cars—which are exclusively poor households, but include only 40 percent of poor households— pay higher prices for groceries than households with access to a car (whether wealthy or poor). Lacking mobility means consumers…

ScientificBlogger Matthew Brown had the chance to sit down with Dr. Kathryn Flanagan, the head of the Mission Office for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to talk about her NASA missions, her public service, and why it’s normal even for an astrophysicist to have self-doubt. "When the moment comes when you’re absolutely desperate, and you’re pretty sure you’re never going to be able to do what you’ve always wanted to do, don't worry—you’re right on schedule." The MIT-educated astrophysicist is helping to explore some of science’s deepest wonders: how the universe came into being, whether…

They have worked for almost seven years in secret. Most people did not know that the work in Ray Goehner's materials characterization department at Sandia National Laboratories was contributing important information to the FBI's investigation of letters containing bacillus anthracis, the spores that cause the disease anthrax. The spores were mailed in the fall of 2001 to several news media offices and to two U.S. senators. Five people were killed. Sandia's work demonstrated to the FBI that the form of bacillus anthracis contained in those letters was not a weaponized form, a form of the…

As the American Presidential election approaches, pollsters are scrambling to predict who will win. A team of researchers at The University of Western Ontario, Canada, and the University of Padova, Italy say they can give pollsters a new way to determine how the undecided will vote - even before the voters know themselves. Senior author Bertram Gawronski, Canada Research Chair in Social Psychology at The University of Western Ontario, explains that sometimes, people have already made up their minds at an unconscious level, even when they consciously indicate they are undecided. Using a…

On the 17th of June 2008, The Richard Green Library, a collection of rare scientific books was put up for bid by Christi’s Auction House. Of the 289 lots sold totaling $11,019,688 the most notable was De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri V, 1543 (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), the seminal work, by Nicolaus Copernicus, in which he explained his theory of heliocentricity. The book, which is often referenced as the beginning of modern astronomy was sold for $2,210,500, the most expensive of the lot. Galileo Galailei who furthered Copernicus’studies has three books that…

Alcohol use during the teen years can not only lead to alcoholism, risky sexual behavior and early childbearing, alcohol dependence (AD) has now also been linked to delayed reproduction. "Reproductive dysfunctions include a range of menstrual disorders, sexual dysfunctions, and pregnancy complications that include spontaneous abortion or miscarriage," explained Mary Waldron, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and corresponding author for the study. "Teenagers who drink tend to have disruptions in their menstrual cycle as well as unplanned…

Sugar-frosting isn’t just for livening up corn flakes; it can also preserve important therapeutic proteins. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a fast, inexpensive and effective method for evaluating the sugars pharmaceutical companies use to stabilize protein-drugs for storage at room temperature, according to their presentation(1) at the 236th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition. Protein-based drugs such as insulin and vaccines must be stabilized after manufacturing in order to be used safely. For the past 30 years,…

The summer games in Beijing are not the only place where the United States can claim gold medal bragging rights. The sixth International Linguistics Olympiad ended Friday in Slanchev Bryag, Bulgaria, and U.S. high school students captured 11 out of 33 awards, including gold medals in individual and team events. This was only the second time the U.S. has ever competed in the event. Their achievement brings a new focus on computational linguistics. This year's Olympiad featured 16 teams from around the world, including Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden…

An apple peel powdering process developed at Cornell University to fortify foods has made its first appearance in the Olympics Games. Six thousand 32-gram tubes of “Applebooster" an organic applesauce fortified with dried apple peel powder were given to approximately 750 U.S. Olympic athletes and 250 coaches as they boarded their flights to China earlier this month. The company says their process enhances the nutritional value of foods by reintroducing ground apple peel into the manufacturing process. Product developer Dave Copeland visited the U.S. Olympic Committee Food and Nutrition…

"Big things come in small packages," the saying goes, and it couldn't be more true when discussing the mouse. This little creature has become a crucial part of human history through its contributions in understanding human genetics and disease. In a review published in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), genetics researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and Fudan University School of Life Sciences discuss the history and future of mice as a model organism. They predict that the next frontiers in mouse genetics – such as creating mice expressing human genes to create "…