Culture | Page 2902 | Science Codex

Toxic Waste and Race: No Progress in 20 Years

Environmental injustice in people-of-color communities is as much or more prevalent today than 20 years ago, say researchers commissioned to conduct a follow-up to the 1987 landmark study, "Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States."

The new report, "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007: Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the United States," shows that 20 years later disproportionately large numbers of people of color still live in hazardous waste host communities, and that they are not equally protected by environmental laws.

Yogyakarta Principles - international legal principles on sexual orientation

Groundbreaking international legal principles on sexual orientation, gender identity, and international law have been released by 29 international human rights experts, led by University of Nottingham academic, Professor Michael O'Flaherty.

The "Yogyakarta Principles" call for worldwide action against violence, discrimination and abuse, by governments, the UN human rights system, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organisations, and others.

High-pressure chemistry in tiny pressure cooker

Small, clever process technology is essential for the future, but is it possible? Dutch-sponsored researcher Fernando Benito López investigated the possibilities of the so-called lab-on-a-chip: microreactor chips in which chemical reactions can take place under (high) pressure. The results were very promising. The reaction rate increased compared to conventional equipment, the measurements were accurate and safety was not a problem. Moreover it was possible to follow and regulate the reaction during the process.

Military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy - new study says telling not so bad

In a new study that will be published this year in Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Dr. Debbie Knapp, Kent State assistant professor of management and information systems, examines the efficacy of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue” policy. She finds that homosexuals are no more disruptive to military life than their heterosexual counterparts.

Approximately 60,000 gays are active in the U.S. military today, according to the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military.

Gene that governs toxin production in deadly mold found

For the growing number of people with diminished immune systems - cancer patients, transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS - infection by a ubiquitous mold known as Aspergillus fumigatus can be a death sentence.

The fungus, which is found in the soil, on plant debris and indoor air, is easily managed by the healthy immune system. But as medical advances contribute to a growing population of people whose immune systems are weakened by disease or treatment, the opportunistic fungus poses a serious risk.

Self absorbed? Students today know more politics than pop

American college students today are civically and politically more engaged than they are commonly given credit for, and more likely to know the name of their elected representatives than the winners of "American Idol", according to the "National Survey of Civic and Political Engagement of Young People" conducted by Tufts University.

Tsunamis in space

Cluster is providing new insights into the working of a ‘space tsunami’ that plays a role in disrupting the calm and beautiful aurora, or northern lights, creating patterns of auroral dances in the sky.The image to the left is the typical appearance of the aurora before a magnetic substorm. During a substorm, the single auroral ribbon may split into several ribbons (centre) or even break into clusters that race north and south (right). Credits: Jan Curtis

NASA aims to clear up mystery of elusive clouds at edge of space

Earth's polar regions. These clouds have grown brighter and more prevalent in recent years and some scientists suggest that changes in these clouds may be the result of climate change.

The first opportunity for launch is on Wednesday, April 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard a Pegasus launch vehicle.

Economics experiment finds people believe in equality

The rich don't get richer -- at least not in laboratory games. According to a new study of behavioral economics, published in the April 12, 2007 issue of Nature, people will spend their own money to make the rich less rich and the poor less poor. They do so without any hope of personal gain, acting, it seems, out of a taste for equality and sense of fair play.

'Axis of evil' a cause for cosmic concern

Some believe it is just a figment of overactive imaginations. But evidence is growing that the so-called "axis of evil" – a pattern apparently imprinted on the radiation left behind by the big bang – may be real, posing a threat to standard cosmology.

Carnegie Mellon P2P system promises faster downloads

A Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist says transferring large data files, such as movies and music, over the Internet could be sped up significantly if peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing services were configured to share not only identical files, but also similar files.

Why people eat less at cluttered tables

People watching the Super Bowl who saw how much they had already eaten -- in this case, leftover chicken-wing bones -- ate 27 percent less than people who had no such environmental cues, finds a new Cornell study.

The difference between the two groups -- those eating at a table where leftover bones accumulated compared with those whose leftovers were removed -- was greater for men than for women.

3 scientific societies applaud climate change report

The 11,000 members of three scientific societies with its roots in agriculture have been closely watching the reports coming out of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

We want to be normal - but no one knows what that is

Most people want to be normal. So, when we are given information that underscores our deviancy, the natural impulse is to get ourselves as quickly as we can back toward the center.

Marketers know about this impulse, and a lot of marketing makes use of social norms. This is especially true of campaigns targeting some kind of public good: reducing smoking or binge drinking, for example, or encouraging recycling. The problem with these campaigns is that they often do not work. Indeed, they sometimes appear to have the opposite of their intended effect.

Biofuels: not just ethanol

As the United States looks to alternate fuel sources, ethanol has become one of the front runners. Farmers have begun planting corn in the hopes that its potential new use for corn will be a new income source. What many don't realize, is the potential for other crops, besides corn, to provide an alternate energy source to fossil fuels. Scientists studied the greenhouse gas emissions and bioenergy of corn, hybrid poplar, switchgrass, and other crops to determine the efficiency of various biocrops in terms of energy consumption and energy output.