Culture

An analysis of 25 years of school voucher program results finds that voucher programs do not significantly improve test scores, and worse, that vouchers distract from proven policies and programs with more proven impact on test scores and graduation rates.

Few people today know that from 1630 to 1654 Brazil was a Dutch colony, the presence of the Portuguese language and Latin culture leads most to assume the rainbow of indigenous peoples became part of Portugal after the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 made it possible for them to keep their coastal settlements created after Pedro Álvares Cabral began exploring in 1500.

Before Brexit and the US elections, Nature magazine columnist Colin Macilwain set out a challenge: “If Donald Trump were to trigger a crisis in Western democracy, scientists would need to look at their part in its downfall.”

Now that he has become president, the possibility of crisis is real, including the spectre of a “Twitter ban” for scientists. So what of scientific introspection?

Early in our careers, few of us imagined a vaccine could one day prevent cancer. Now there is a vaccine that keeps the risk of developing six Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers at bay, but adoption of it has been slow and surprising low.

A paper published today finds that very little research into how males and females respond differently to climate change has been carried out, and that could be a real goldmine for advocates of policy changes. 

An analysis after the arrest of nearly 400 illegal immigrant workers at a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa has led scholars to link immigration raid worry to low-birth weight babies. The Postville raid of 2008 was, at the time, the largest single-site federal immigration raid in US history.

Millennials need less stress, and a little more time for themselves, in contrast to prior generations who attended college. 

A new article in JAMA Pediatrics discusses the importance of large birth cohorts, such as the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and the Danish National Birth Cohort (BSIG) while noting why the US and Britain have tried to launch similar birth cohorts, but failed due to economic and more practical reasons.

In reading tests, young girls tend to be ahead of young boys in all countries, but by young adulthood there is no longer any difference between skills.

Though there is often talk of testing bias when it comes to differences in gender or ethnicity, there is much less when the result has been positive for girls. Yet a new analysis shows that could also be in the way the tests are designed.

The Affordable Care Act may be leaving American policy shortly after its chief advocate leaves office. Democrats are keenly aware that the incoming administration may do to Obamacare what President Obama did to No Child Left Behind and NASA's Constellation program. To try and keep much of it intact, they aee touting its benefits, but many are being spun in partisan fashion.

You might not have noticed thanks to world events, but the UK parliament recently approved the government’s so-called Snooper’s Charter and it will soon become law. This nickname for the Investigatory Powers Bill is well earned. It represents a new level and nature of surveillance that goes beyond anything previously set out in law in a democratic society.

Drinks loaded with added sugars, such as juice, soda, and frappuccinos, are one of the leading sources of empty calories in the diet of both children and adults, and overconsumption of sugar is associated with obesity and an increased risk of heart disease.

In 2012, Howard County, Maryland activists went after sugary sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks and flavored water/teas. They used:

The core theme of Donald Trump’s campaign – that the establishment was broken – drove waves of his supporters to the polls.

Surprisingly, this theme didn’t make it into his victory speech. Nor did any reference to the seismic shift in American politics that took place, save for brief mentions that the night was “historic.”

Trump took the stage at 2:50 a.m., spoke for approximately 10 minutes and finished the speech by mingling with supporters as The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” blared in the background.

Europe has a rabid distrust of science and medicine and a corresponding higher level of belief in in naturopathy, homeopathy and various other alternative techniques.

Given that, it is little surprise that psychosomatic medicine has taken off in Europe. and especially in Germany. Psychosomatic issues - "it's all in your head" - have a long history but it was popularized by German psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud in the early part of the 20th century. Today, psychiatrists officially disavow treatment for people who might be making it up but others have pursued mind-body relations.

During the first centuries after having been written down, the Bible’s Ten Commandments were not nearly as set in stone (pardon the pun) as has been assumed, according to new claims.