May-June 2010

After monitoring the behavior of soccer hooligans at the 1998 World Cup, researchers determined that violent behavior was more accepted among the English.

Don't spend that World Cup money just yet, South Africa. Statistics show that the World Cup isn't always an economic boon for host countries.

Researchers find a spike in heart problems among European soccer fans during World Cup matches, while other studies show the players on the pitch are suffering fewer injuries.

With few resources but the force of his title — U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions — Philip Alston holds governments accountable for the politically motivated killings they commit, or ignore.

Letters to the Editor: From Beethoven to Zappa, new technology hasn't been out of tune with beautiful music.

The rapidly growing field of paleotempestology lays the foundation for reliable hurricane predictions a decade or more into the future.

Researchers find a link between hip fractures in grandfathers and reduced bone size in their grandsons. Plus, see what happens when pop culture and academics collide ...

Scouring "Avatar," "The X Files" and, yes, even "The Simpsons" for sociological subtext.

A growing movement looks to change development patterns — as a matter of public health.

A U.S. immigration court creates a new persecuted group in Europe: Christian home-schoolers.

Scientists say the dietary silicon in beer boosts bone density, and moderate consumption might help fight osteoporosis.

Conservationists hope to save the Jaguar, the Western Hemisphere's biggest cat, by improving cattle management in Brazil's biodiverse Pantanal.

"DIRT! The Movie" links hope for the future with the earth beneath our feet. The documentary makes its national debut on PBS as an Earth Day special.

When it comes to new treatment guidelines for breast cancer, back pain and other maladies, it's the narrative presentation that matters.

Terry Hazen finds, studies and then uses microbes to clean up pollution deep underground, to refine oil before it is pumped and to produce the next generation of green fuels. He catches alligators sometimes, too. ...

It's no joke: Researchers give Viagra to pregnant sheep and find that the drug boosts vital nutrients needed for fetal development.

Tens of thousands of 'Purple People' — named after the traditional color of Italian mourning — march in Rome to protest a legendarily bombastic, allegedly corrupt prime minister. Is the country finally ready to say basta?

The blandly titled Journalist's Resource sits on the Web, ready — with a little help from Harvard's Kennedy School — to throw substantive story ideas onto reporters' desks.

In Texas, one county's experiment in evidence-based probation reform has cut recidivism and revocations, saved money and served as a model for other jurisdictions.

The human tendency toward war is based on biology, but the right family planning policies can redirect the world toward peace.