Power

Dams have been linked to habitat degradation, worsened biodiversity, and negative changes in river ecology.

• By Claire Asher

By the morning after Election Day, America knew the number of women in the House of Representatives would hit historic highs. Could the Senate and governors' mansions, too?

• By Francie Diep

A record number of women ran for some of the nation's highest offices this year. Here's how they've influenced the gender make-up of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the states' governors.

• By Francie Diep

In a new study, males were more likely to endorse sexually aggressive behavior if they worried they were viewed as incompetent.

• By Tom Jacobs

Pacific Standard spoke to Ocasio-Cortez about how she got to where she is and why it matters that young women and women of color are running for office.

• By Megan Kimble

Officials from the tribe worry about the economic impacts of closing the Navajo Generating Station, but water conservationists are pushing for the region to move on.

• By Debra Utacia Krol

Research finds men who feel metaphorically impotent, and then assume a position of authority, are more likely to sexually harass subordinates.

• By Tom Jacobs

In her new book, lawyer Tanya Osensky argues that constantly monitoring height is a symptom and driver of a pervasive "heightism" that unjustly frames tallness as powerful and shortness as weak.

• By Peter C. Baker

There's ample research on fear, but not much on why people enjoy inducing it. It could be power, group-bonding, or "everyday sadism."

• By Alana Massey

In Wyoming, where Philip Anschutz is currently building the largest wind farm in the world, coal, which is cheap and plentiful, is the answer to just about everything.

• By Gabriel Kahn

Until we find a way to effectively store energy, the power on California's electricity grid will rise and fall with the sun.

• By Sinduja Rangarajan

Injustices to other people don't capture their attention quite as quickly.

• By Tom Jacobs

Political influence, scientific research programs, and big data, oh my.

• By Francie Diep

Gamergate is a cautionary tale that may dampen others’ willingness to speak out, but the problems of video game misogyny and the online harassment of women are more visible than ever.

• By Lisa Wade

What happens when you take the power away from the viewer?

• By Kerrita K. Mayfield

Requests for consumers to shift their electrical usage when the power grid is strained can have "perverse effects."

• By Tom Jacobs

In a new essay collection, historian Richard J. Evans argues against the popular conception.

• By Noah Berlatsky

New research finds having power increases the perception one has plenty of time.

• By Tom Jacobs

The price of this renewable energy source is now competitive with older, dirtier alternatives—and getting cheaper by the day.

• By Kyle Chayka

For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.

• By Avital Andrews

The powerless may carry even heavier loads than we thought.

• By Ryan Jacobs

Expansive body postures like those associated with masculinity increase people’s sense of powerfulness and entitlement.

• By Lisa Wade

A new professional class of movers and shakers—people who serve overlapping roles in government, business, and media with smiling finesse—is controlling the flow of power and money in America. The anthropologist Janine Wedel is bent on making us understand just how dangerous this new normal can be.

• By Lisa Margonelli

If the country's total wealth were distributed evenly among adults, we would all be worth more than $260,000.

• By Martin Hart-Landsberg