Prop 8 May Be Same-Sex Couples' Least Worry
A family law professor explains why differences between states over gay marriage may lead to a deluge of court cases.
The Cyborg Composer
David Cope's software creates beautiful, original music. Why are people so angry about that?
Letting Your Good Intentions Backfill My Budget
Researchers investigate whether that dollar of foreign aid just frees up money for the recipient to spend elsewhere.
Before the Flood
The U.S. spends billions on levees, but river flooding still causes havoc across the country. Vermont has a better way.
The Inside Dope on Snitching
A law professor explains how to keep criminal informants from duping prosecutors, police and the rest of us.
Fumbling FEMA Wants Back in the Game
A political scientist argues that while FEMA has pulled up its socks since Hurricane Katrina, it's still not ready for primetime.
Forgive and Get Healthy
University professor Loren Toussaint wants to spread the tangible benefits of forgiveness.
How Much Does It Hurt?
Northwestern's David Cella is leading a vast effort at better measuring pain, fatigue and outcomes. It may change the way researchers run clinical trials.
Journalism 2.0 Effort Reverts to 1.0
A pioneering nonprofit Chicago news source has gone the way of many old-fashioned for-profit predecessors, but wants to resurrect itself as for-profit.
Making a Plan and Not Sticking To It
When sick people change health plans, it can muck up the insurance market. A new paper suggests ways for fixing it.
Mental Problems
New book Healing the Broken Mind by Timothy Kelly demonstrates how to begin fixing America's utterly failed mental health care system.
Racism's Hidden Toll
Does the stress of living in a white-dominated society make African Americans get sick and die younger than their white counterparts? Apparently, yes.
Sprinkling of Facts Dramatically Alters Schools Debate
Giving people basic facts changes their opinions on major schools issues — which may dismay those seeking more school funding.
Battling AIDS In Its Worst-Hit Demographic
With African Americans disproportionately affected by HIV, we asked Donna Hubbard McCree to describe the culturally centered work being done to stem the infection. A Miller-McCune.com interview.
What Katrina Taught Us About Disaster Mental Health
On the whole, the mental health establishment outshone most other emergency responders after Hurricane Katrina. In a Miller-McCune interview, the director of the National Center for Disaster Mental Health Research explains some of the lessons drawn from that experience.
Would You Like Nutrition Info With That?
A new study suggests that no one really looks at the nutritional information that fast-food outlets are being urged to — or forced to — paste on their walls.
A Government at Risk?
Wonks examine the state of American self-governance; little hopeful audacity is found.
A Pox on Outdated Public Health Laws
As new health threats, changes in privacy requirements and shifting legal precedents advance, the laws governing public health mostly remain stuck in the past.
Meet the Real Islam
History professor and blogger Juan Cole succeeds at debunking American myths about the Muslim world. It's the policy prescription that's trite.
Great Society 2.0
An ambitious project in Chicago provides a glimpse at poverty solutions that might actually make a difference.
Smokers Behind Bars Can Quit, Too
U.S. smoking rates have declined, but tobacco still runs rampant in prisons. A new study documents a technique to help prisoners quit.
Raising Awareness About a Silent Killer
A community-based strategy to prevent and treat hepatitis B may reduce its staggeringly high prevalence among Asian Americans.
Thinking Ahead: Let's Favor Long Term Over Short Run
Lawrence Summers and Richard Zeckhauser say politicians and bureaucrats should spend more time thinking about long-range policy.
Doctor: Vets Need More Basic Training
A Veterans Administration psychiatrist and researcher offers a revamped model for treatment of returning soldiers that looks to training and education as much as therapy and pills.
The New College Try
Gritty Hammond, Ind., and 80 other cities in decline have a novel approach to economic development: They're attracting new residents by offering to pay for their children to attend college. But is a promise to pay tuition a growth strategy — or welfare for the middle class?
Documentary Warns Against U.S. Fiscal Policies
A documentary film warns that America's fiscal policies are a looming disaster as Wall Street melts down in real time.
Book Review — "The Private Abuse of Public Interest"
Two professors explain why small government, loose regulations and an over-reliance on markets eventually cost taxpayers.
Bill of Goods: The World's Biggest Boondoggles
As seen in our main story on a cure for billion-dollar cost overruns, here's a look at some infamous public works projects and what went wrong.
Danish Professors Offers Cure for the Common Boondoggle
A Danish professor promotes a cure for billion-dollar cost overruns in government megaprojects: Use past boondoggles as a baseline.
Health Care That Capitalizes on Social Ties
Portland-area researchers find that investing in social capital improves health among the disadvantaged.
Terror Trials May Distort Civilian Courts
Court experts worry that actions taken in prosecuting terrorism could erode protections for those accused of common crimes.
Parallels in Government Spending and Suicide
Two economists say increased public health spending may lower suicide rates. But how?
Turning Grieving Youths Into Happier Campers
A camp for grieving children applies academic research on trauma to help kids cope with death.
Should the Government Make Us Happy?
In Europe and elsewhere, governments are using ideas from the new science of well-being to try to make citizens more content. Will America follow their lead?
Help, the Conservatives Are Attacking My Brain
A psychotherapist argues that right-wing political operatives, religious leaders and the media are prospering by screwing with our collective sense of reality.
Helping Kids Weather Divorce
Research into helping families cope with divorce is finally bearing fruit, but some governments continue funding unproven programs.
Supreme Confidence
New research examines how controversial Supreme Court decisions affect American confidence in the nation's highest court.
Is Sarbanes-Oxley a Prescription for Hospitals?
Congressmen and state legislators aim to further regulate hospital management, hoping to encourage better care and finances. New research suggests these laws might not make much difference.
An Activist Manual for the Davos Crowd
The "megacommunity" approach to problem solving, with a dose of consultant-speak.
The Bottom Line for Nonprofit News
Across America, nonprofit Web sites are trying to keep public interest journalism alive at the local level. But to provide what print newspapers increasingly do not, these digitized nonprofits must overcome the challenge facing every startup: Eventually, they have to break even.
Kindergarten: Half Full or Half Empty?
States' kindergarten policies continue to diverge, despite years of research revealing the academic benefits of full-day kindergarten.
Suburbs in Decline
Since the 1970s, the cry has been to 'Save Our Cities' — often from the seductive call of the suburbs. But now our oldest suburbs themselves are under siege from the same problems.
Zeroing in on Underage Drunken Driving
While zero-tolerance laws have slightly curbed underage drunken driving, researchers have been unable to describe exactly why they work.
Up to the Test?
The GED may not be worth as much as governments, the military and employers might suggest, but new research shows it may promote better health.