Jan. 4, 2019 – A comprehensive new study of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, known as the world’s “Third Pole” for its vast store of ice, and home to Mount Everest, K2 and other soaring peaks, finds that even the most ambitious Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by the […]
Springer
Posted inLife
Books: Why vaccines are important — A plea against vaccinophobia
Sept. 241, 2018 – The increasing distrust in vaccinations has triggered an extensive scientific and public debate over whether or not it is useful, safe and ethical to vaccinate children today. “Unfortunately, vaccines have now become a victim of their own success”, says Paul A. Offit, who wrote the foreword for Andrea Grignolio’s book Vaccines: […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Stricter gun control could stop violent men killing their partners and themselves
April 27, 2018 – Men who use guns to kill their partner are also likely to commit suicide. Those planning to commit suicide are not deterred by severe penalties, and therefore the most successful way of preventing such homicides is to restrict gun access to batterers. So says Sierra Smucker of Duke University Sanford School […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Tea Party movement has paved the way for racialized language in US politics
Feb. 8, 2018 – Overtly racially motivated rhetoric is becoming increasingly acceptable in Republican politics in the US. Two Italian researchers now argue that this can partly be traced back to the conservative Tea Party movement which has reshaped the Republican party’s identity away from its traditional conservative axioms to one that is more nativist […]
Posted inEnviro
Small streams have a big influence on our lives
Aug. 7, 2017 – Small streams make up 70%-80% of the total channel length of river networks, and they strongly influence downstream portions these networks. The role small streams ? known as headstreams ? play in retaining or transmitting sediment and nutrients, providing habitat and refuge for diverse aquatic and riparian organisms, creating migration corridors, […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Is this Gulf of Mexico tubeworm the longest living animal in the world?
July 17, 2017 – Large tubeworms living in the cold depths of the Gulf of Mexico may be among the longest living animals in the world. This is revealed in a study in Springer’s journal The Science of Nature. According to lead author Alanna Durkin of Temple University in the US, members of the tubeworm species Escarpia […]
Posted inEnviro
Oil spill impacts may perturb entire food webs
July 10, 2017 – Oil spills not only have a direct impact on species and habitats, but may also set off a cascade of perturbations that affect the entire food web. These are the findings of new research published in an article in the special issue on Ocean Spills and Accidents in Springer’s journal Archives of […]
Posted inUS
Gender-affirming restrooms recommended for schools
April 3, 2017 – Educational policies and practices should explicitly ensure the wellbeing and healthy development of all students by supporting the right of students to use a bathroom in an institutional context that affirms their gender identity and expression. There are many ways that this can occur including providing gender-neutral restrooms in schools, says […]
Posted inLife
Think chicken — think intelligent, caring and complex
Jan. 3, 2017 – Chickens are not as clueless or “bird-brained” as people believe them to be. They have distinct personalities and can outmaneuver one another. They know their place in the pecking order, and can reason by deduction, which is an ability that humans develop by the age of seven. Chicken intelligence is therefore […]
Posted inWorld
Climate change: Voters will be hot under the collar by 2099
Oct. 26, 2016 – By 2099 the nature of democratic politics could change in costly ways for politicians because of climate change, says Nick Obradovich of Harvard University in a paper in Springer’s journal Climatic Change. Leveraging a century’s worth of political science research, he predicts that voters’ disgruntlement about the societal effects of climatic […]