Science Education & Policy

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Mind-Body Meditation Reduces Stress

Science Education & Policy News Account |
A team of researchers from China and the University of Oregon have developed an approach for neuroscientists to study how meditation might provide improvements in a person's attention and response to stress. The study, done in China, randomly assigned college undergraduate students to 40-person experimental or control groups. The experimental group received five days of meditation training using a technique called the integrative body-mind training (IBMT). The control group got five days of relaxation training. Before and after training both groups took tests involving attention and reaction…
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Brian Wansink: Eat Healthy, Get Fat

Science Education & Policy News Account |
The "health halos" of healthy restaurants often prompt consumers to treat themselves to higher-calorie side dishes, drinks or desserts than when they eat at fast-food restaurants that make no health claims, according to a series of new Cornell studies. The research, published in the October online version of the Journal of Consumer Research, found that many people also tend to underestimate by 35 percent just how many calories those so-called healthy restaurant foods contain. "We found that when people go to restaurants claiming to be healthy, such as Subway, they choose additional side…
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Women In Science: So What?

Science Education & Policy Hank |
Another article last week, Do Inferior Numbers Scare Women Away From Science And Engineering?, expressed concern that there aren't enough women ( and minorities ) in science, engineering and math. A lot of math and science and engineering is getting done, it is just getting done primarily by men and that is a concern. But why? I know why it should be a concern. I have enough of a liberal leaning to reflexively know it is supposed to be a concern but that is balanced out by age and the hard-earned realization that spending more money, in the case of awareness programs, or implementing…
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Using Bacteria As An Energy Source

Science Education & Policy News Account |
Today's microdevices rely on external energy sources, severely limiting their mobility and autonomy in biofactory environments. New research by a group led by Dr. MinJun Kim at Drexel seeks to use a monolayer of harmless, genetically modified bacteria as a power source, which would allow future “nano-bots” to be both autonomous and self-contained. When fabricating nanoscale motors and in developing micron-scale power sources, the actuating of fluids in microfluidic systems is usually achieved through the use of large external actuators. Dr. Kim's team is exploring the possibility of using…
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Would 'Default Options' Improve Health Care?

Science Education & Policy News Account |
Most people who have tried to install new computer software are happy to know that a common set of default options is available. For many, they will work fine and customization is only required in a few instances, which leads to less technical support, frustration and downtime. Can that same computer software model work in health care? In an opinion article in the September 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, lead author Scott D. Halpern, M.D., a fellow in the division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and…
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Poll: Most Americans Prefer Local Action On Global Warming

Science Education & Policy News Account |
People understand the irony of sentences like "I am from the federal government and I am here to help you" yet are comfortable with local initiatives to reduce global warming, even if it means more money. According to a survey conducted by GfK Public Affairs and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 74 percent of Americans would support local regulations requiring all newly constructed homes to be more energy efficient, even if it would increase the initial cost of a new home by roughly $7,500. Seventy-two percent said they would support local subsidies encouraging…
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New York City Infant Mortality Declined In 2006

Science Education & Policy News Account |
New York City’s infant mortality rate – widely regarded as a barometer of a population’s general health – fell slightly in 2006, the Health Department reported today. The rate in 2006 was 5.9 infant deaths for every 1,000 births, down from 6.0 the previous year. The City has made major progress in reducing infant deaths since the early 1990s, when the rate was double what it is today, but the decline has leveled off in recent years. The Health Department also reported that in poorer sectors of the city, infant mortality rates are still double the citywide rate. In 2006, there were 740 infant…
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Spouses Often Mirror Each Other’s Health Habits, Study Finds

Science Education & Policy News Account |
If one spouse exercises, quits smoking, stops drinking alcohol, receives a flu shot, or undergoes a cholesterol screening, the other spouse is more likely to do the same, according to a new study in Health Services Research. “We found that when one spouse improves his or her health behavior, the other spouse was likely to do so as well,” said co-author Jody Sindelar, health economist and public health professor in the Yale School of Public Health. “This was consistent across all the behaviors analyzed and was similar among both males and females.” Using longitudinal data on 6,072 individuals…
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6 Key Questions For CO2 Storage Proponents

Science Education & Policy News Account |
C02 Storage is an intriguing idea but there are many questions that need to be resolved before it can be realistically implemented. CO2GeoNet, the European Network of Excellence on geological storage of carbon dioxide, is organizing an international training and dialogue workshop aimed at providing information and generating discussion about the technical aspects of geological CO2 storage on Wednesday October 3rd at Salons Hoche, Paris, France. The key six issues are: I.Where and how much CO2 can we store underground? II.How can we inject large quantities of CO2? III.What is the fate of CO2…
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Smoking In Movies Linked To Smoking In 18-25 Year Olds, Say Researchers

Science Education & Policy News Account |
Just under 30 percent of Americans continue to smoke despite repeated warnings about its impact on health - that number has held consistent for a decade, which means young people are still picking up the habit. That percentage is 44.6 percent among young adults aged 18 to 25, according to a National Institute On Drug Abuse study in 2004. The reason young smokers take up this habit despite billions of dollars spent in awareness campaigns? Not adolescent rebellion, say University of California San Francisco researchers, but ... movies. Stanton Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine and director…
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