Modern Marriage: Standing on Ceremony
Regarding same-sex marriage, there's less daylight than might be expected between religious conservatives and some LGBT activists.
Amy R. Ramos
Mexican Ex-President Calls for Drug Legalization
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox may be a conservative, but certainly not one recognizable in El Norte.
'Squeeze' Against the Machine
Author Steven Greenhouse's Rx for better workplaces: tougher enforcement and friendlier policies.
Can Development Reduce Poverty?
The economic opportunities found in inner cities should attract private investment, although a nudge from government can overcome traditional inertia.
Moving Inner Cities Out of the Red, Into the Black
Researchers say America's chronically underserved urban cores are an untapped market that can sustain private investment — and turn themselves around in the process.
Pushing Americans to Save for Retirement
Two new proposals look to greatly increase the number of people who have adequate retirement plans, one by encouraging workers to save and the other by requiring them to.
Academics Oppose 21 as Legal Drinking Age
Those suggesting a discussion on the legal drinking age appear to have focused on a specific outcome.
Recruitment Deficit Blamed for Paucity of Female Candidates
Lack of party recruitment, not voter sexism, limits women's presence in politics, according to a new study.
‘Stranger Danger’ Takes Back Seat to Family Fiend
A lot of mythology surrounds criminal sexual offenses, and, in many cases, these assumptions can hamper attempts to reduce recidivism.
Sex Offender Boundaries Deemed Ineffective
Prohibiting sex offenders from living near schools sounds like a good idea, but such residency restrictions may make it harder to supervise offenders — and without preventing new sex crimes.
Pills or Practice? Boosting Brain Power
Our Tom Jacobs wrote in March about plagiarism and fraud among writers and academics, referring to it as a "doping scandal" in the world of letters. The term was meant to be a metaphor, but as it turns out, there may be greater use of performance-enhancing drugs going on in intellectual circles than one might expect.
Birds Do It, Bees Do It
Even educated young adults do it, apparently - "it" being the trading of goods for sex, or what the research literature delicately refers to as "exchanges in reproductively relevant currencies."
Dream Deferred: Fair Housing Act Turns 40
Residential neighborhoods are still the final frontier of desegregation.
Like-New Livers for Rats with Cirrhosis
Untold numbers of laboratory rodents have been dispatched so that humans could know with certainty that all manner of substances are carcinogenic or otherwise deadly. But in a welcome turnabout, scientists from Sapporo Medical University in Japan reported recently in the journal Nature Biotechnology that they have used synthetic molecules to cure rats of cirrhosis.
Chemotherapy Works Better in Calorie-Deprived Mice
Typically considered a pathology rather than a therapy, starvation has been found to lead to dramatically better results for mice undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
Recipe for Reducing Kids’ Excess Weight
In Miller-McCune.com's interview with nutritionist Marion Nestle, the author of What to Eat and other books declared, "You've got to get rid of the vending machines in the schools. They shouldn't be there in the first place." A recent study conducted in Philadelphia public schools, while not going to the lengths recommended by Nestle, suggests that a multi-pronged approach —incorporating healthier food choices; nutrition education for teachers, students, and parents; and encouragement of physical activity — can have a substantial impact on the incidence of overweight (a body mass index for their age in the 85th to 94th percentile) among children.
Rakish Angle on Rodent Research
It wasn't so disconcerting to learn that wild chimps use tools for eating, grooming, and defending themselves. Chimps, after all, are members of the great apes and almost identical genetically to humans. But now, in a development sure to give paws, er, pause to all owners of opposable thumbs, researchers at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan (RIKEN) have taught rodents to use tools.
Apples: Not Just for Teacher Anymore
Miller-McCune.com recently interviewed nutritionist Marion Nestle, who shared her views and experiences related to school food. Asked whether there were any data showing that schools striving to offer healthier food have seen an improvement in academic performance or behavioral problems, Nestle said she had only anecdotal evidence, and related what she had observed at a private school in New York City that had launched a sophisticated school food program.
Big Soda, the USDA and School Food
The public is hearing mixed messages on eating right, and a prominent nutritionist believes government needs to cast off its lobbyist-inspired inhibitions and spread the gospel of common sense.
Senior Moments of Research Rodents
Clinical trials are under way for a drug and vaccine that may inhibit the neurotoxin Aβ (or Abeta, if that's Greek to you), which has been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
Good Workplaces: Profit and Principles
Companies that rank high in employee satisfaction offer better returns to investors, a business school professor says.
Too Much Multiculturalism, Not Enough Math?
A pair of researchers claim teachers' college curricula feature misplaced priorities they say helps explain the poor math skills of American students. Critics don't give the researchers even partial credit.
Lies and Campaign Advertising
Negative campaign ads are good for us. Despite our claims that we detest them, research shows we eat them up.
State to Voters: Can I See Some ID?
Indiana law requiring government-issued identification at the polling booth suggests Americans should be as concerned with someone stealing their vote as with their personal information. But is the cost of such protection disenfranchisement for some?