Science & Society

A couple of weeks ago I was deeply disappointed to read that the USDA might get involved in an aspect of “non-GMO food labeling.”  The marketing of non-GMO food is an opportunistic, fear-based phenomenon – not something worthy of aid from a science-oriented agency like USDA.  Also, if the goal is to allow consumers “know more about their food,” then why not transmit knowledge with context and perspective that would diminish, rather than promote, superstition? Printing was state-of-the-art in 1435.  We can do better in the 21st century! Superstition? It may seem…

In America, the social sciences, like psychology and anthropology, are regarded as female occupations - because they are. But does that mean women are self-selecting women and there is bias against males in those fields? It depends on who you ask. People rarely admit to bias and in 2015 people are rarely overtly biased, so instead it may be that when you walk into a classroom and no one looks 'like' you, you may be uncomfortable or, worse, you may feel like you are representing your whole gender/ethnicity and under-perform because you worry about how it makes your group look if you fail.…

McDonald's may have taken a hit when it comes to revenue growth lately but when it comes to Limited Edition events, they have no peers. Everyone has heard of the McRib and Shamrock Shakes, maybe Starbucks customers can name a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but after that it is really reaching. A survey of over 6,000 people showed that McDonald's locked down the two spots on the list of top-five favorite limited edition foods of all time but everyone else needs to make up some ground. Very few could name Mountain Dews' Baja Blast or Oreos' Red Velvet cookies without being prompted.  But it may be…

I was initially rather excited to see that one of my friends and collaborators, Professor Shri Kulkarni from Caltech, had his picture littering my Facebook feed recently. Unfortunately for Shri, it was because in an interview with National Public Radio he had described many scientists as secretly being “boys with toys”. Worse, he had said “You’re not supposed to say that”, which indicated that although it might be controversial, he said it anyway – which is typical of Shri. There are many ways to interpret Shri’s comment, one is that scientists are boys, but as it turns out that is not what…

Female journalists in Norway between the ages of 25 and 35 are twice as likely to be bullied and threatened as male colleagues of the same age, and nearly half of all Norwegian journalists and editors have experienced bullying during the past five years. 25 percent have been threatened and the majority were men but there are clear gender differences to be found in online harassment, according to Aina Landsverk Hagen of KILDEN - Information Centre for Gender Research in Norway. “Women experience a more sexualized version of the harassment. They are called whore instead of idiot, and the…

Many illegal aliens from Latin America risk migrating to the United States because they are fleeing from desperate situations and see opportunities to help their families, even though they will be stuck low-paying, labor-intensive jobs. But they know that in advance. An illegal job in America is still better than no job at home, we were told in efforts to deal with illegal immigration. Globalization, where jobs and therefore income and wealth are not just in the first world, was designed to reduce those disparities. Instead such globalization is the problem, according to a new paper in…

Abbott Laboratories, the $40 billion conglomerate involved in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and supplements such as Similac and Ensure, has stated they will create a GMO-free version of Similac for parents who worry about GMOs inside their kids. They cited a survey showing 20 percent of respondents wanted that option. The survey also noted that wealthier people in places like California and the Northeast were willing to pay more. Almost all baby formula uses corn and soy derivatives and more than 90 percent of those crops are GMOs, so  this will be for niche consumers who don't regard…

In America, where there is a two-party system, there are numerous opportunities to compromise or cross party lines politically, so looking at where someone falls on a conservative-liberal graph lines doesn't tell us much about how they will vote. Democrats receive over 90 percent of education union donations, for example, so no left-right model predicted that the education reform known as No Child Left Behind would pass  91-8 in the Senate and 384-41 in the House. Yet a Social Identity model might have, according to a new paper. The anti-vaccine, anti-food-science and anti-energy…

Early Christian writers were fond of putting words into other people’s mouths. When the apostle Paul (the theologian formerly known as Saul of Tarsus) wrote to the church in Corinth about a particularly significant religious experience, he informed them that his journey to the “third heaven” or “Paradise” resulted in his hearing “things that are not able to be told, that no mortal is permitted to speak”. That didn’t stop later writers from having a go at communicating what Paul heard and saw. We know of at least two texts containing a good deal of speculation about heaven. In contrast to…

A true story. To protect the innocent – and the writer – I’ll use no names. The president of a large, multi-national engineering and construction firm decided to attract more contracts by reducing customers’ risks. A sound decision, yes?  It was what he did (which was to offer fixed-price contracts instead of cost-plus contracts) and how he did it (by developing his people and by continuous process improvement) that got him fired - even though the move was showing every sign of success. So why was he dismissed? The answer lies in that ol’ stereotype of the corporation as an externality-…