Science & Society

  1. Climate

    IPCC to offer climate science scholarships

    The Nobel Peace Prize will pay dividends in the developing world by funding scholarships for climate-science studies. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received the 2007 Nobel Prize, announced today that it is investing its winnings as seed money for these scholarships. They’d go to residents of nations expected to experience dramatic impacts of climate change.

    By
  2. Ecosystems

    Dining: Bugged on Thanksgiving

    Earlier this week, I met with Zack Lemann at the Insectarium, a roughly 18-month-old Audubon museum. He gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of its dozens of living exhibits hosting insects and more -- including tarantulas and, arriving that day for their Tuesday debut, white (non-albino) alligators. But the purpose of my noon-hour visit was to sample the local cuisine and learn details of preparations for a holiday menu that would be offered through tomorrow at the facility’s experiential cafe: Bug Appetit. There’s Thanksgiving turkey with a cornbread and wax worm stuffing, cranberry sauce with meal worms, and Cricket Pumpkin Pie. It’s cuisine most Americans would never pay for. But at the Insectarium, they don’t have to. It’s offered free as part of an educational adventure.

    By
  3. Science & Society

    Why Cousteau’s granddaughter was at a meeting on public health

    Philadelphia — On brainstorming possible keynote speakers for a major public health conference, the granddaughter of ocean giant Jacques Cousteau does not exactly stand out. But in Philadelphia on Sunday, filmmaker and diver Celine Cousteau stood before the 11,000 or so attendees of the American Public Health Association's annual meeting to explain just why exactly she was there to give the opening session's address.

    By
  4. Science & Society

    College trend: Cut-rate faculty

    Among U.S. colleges and universities, tenure-track positions decreasingly represent the norm. “Adjuncts who teach part time are now about half of the professoriate,” according to a series of articles in the Oct. 23 Chronicle of Higher Education. Non-tenure-track faculty may be offered full-time slots and benefits, but with embarrassing paychecks.

    By
  5. Science & Society

    News of science: Choose wisely

    As the 'news' industry evolves, consumers who value quality science journalism may need to become ever more discriminating.

    By
  6. Chemistry

    Concerns over bisphenol A continue to grow

    Recent research finds that the hormone mimic may be more prevalent and more harmful than previously thought, highlighting why BPA is a growing worry for policy makers.

    By
  7. Science & Society

    Become a guinea pig

    Three NIH researchers argue it should be considered a duty with a social mandate akin to voting.

    By
  8. Computing

    Asia: One reason America can’t afford to jettison good teachers

    Asia appears to prize science and tech education far more than America does, and the result may be a waning of the West's economic and entrepreneurial dominance.

    By
  9. Animals

    Swarm Savvy

    How bees, ants and other animals avoid dumb collective decisions

    By
  10. Science & Society

    Book Review: Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond by Meg Daley Olmert

    Review by Sid Perkins.

    By
  11. Science & Society

    The Great Equations: Breakthroughs in Science from Pythagoras to Heisenberg by Robert P. Crease

    By
  12. Tech

    Stimulus: Substantial money for research infrastructure

    Two agencies will share more than $1.25 billion to upgrade research equipment and facilities around the nation.

    By