September-October 2009
The Meaning of 'Boo'
What happens when witches meet wonks? With Halloween approaching, Miller-McCune's skeleton staff digs up some facts about the haunted holiday.
Shedding Light on Ice Hockey Blackouts
Miller-McCune magazine highlights current research that merits a raised eyebrow or a painful grin.
The Ancestor Hunter
The University of Arizona's Michael Hammer is using advanced DNA techniques to figure out where we came from. Which, apparently, is not just one place, or even one species.
Racism, the Stressor
Readers are impressed and distressed by the idea that racism ages blacks before their time.
To Save Water, Should Grass Lawns Become Artificial Turf?
To save water, some cities let residents replace grass lawns with artificial turf. Environmentalists call for xeriscaping. Aesthetes wince.
Botox for the Brain
A Harvard psychologist argues that our mindless acceptance of stereotypes leads to premature aging.
From Sewage to Artichokes
Wastewater recycling and other water-efficiency programs are saving aquifers and helping a famed produce industry thrive.
The Un-Banging of Middle America
To chase street gangs out of suburbia, adults will have to make a dramatic change: They'll have to start paying attention to the culture their children live in.
Rating Schools Via the Boys' John
You don't always need a standardized test to know a school is in trouble. Just look in the boys' john.
Computer Error?
There appear to be cheaper, more effective ways to improve education in developing nations than the glitzy One Laptop per Child program.
An Iodine Chaser
In the capricious world of nuclear waste, a scientist focuses on promising technologies for the capture and storage of the maddeningly elusive iodine-129.
Breaking the Minority Attorney Drought
Why it's time to minimize use of the LSAT in law school admissions.
The Panhandle Paradox
Are The St. Joe Company's development plans for huge swaths of timberland in northwest Florida an environmentally sensitive 'New Ruralism' or a serious threat to irreplaceable ecosystems? Perhaps both.
Mental Problems
New book Healing the Broken Mind by Timothy Kelly demonstrates how to begin fixing America's utterly failed mental health care system.
Chicken Industry Stops FDA Ban on Antibiotics
The FDA bans injecting chicken eggs with antibiotics as a human health threat but backs down when industry groups — known collectively as 'Big Chicken' — squawk.
The Change I Almost Couldn't Believe In
If the politicians in a sharp-elbowed place like Houston can work across party lines, why can't yours?
Karl Marx and American Health Care
As the Germans and French have shown, a 'public option' for health insurance needn't give government a socialistic monopoly.
The Ecstasy and the Agony
MDMA holds promise as part of a therapy that helps post-traumatic stress patients confront and extinguish their fears. But ecstasy's recreational reputation has slowed research.