January 23, 2023 – Over the last year, the world’s energy market has been highly volatile. The warmer-than-average winter in Europe helped avoid a gas crisis this year, but the forecast for the next winter is unclear as instabilities persist. More than 20% of global liquefied natural gas exports originate from a single port in […]
University of Southern California
Posted inWorld
USC study shows dire impacts downstream of Nile River dam
The rapid filling of a giant dam at the headwaters of the Nile River — the world’s biggest waterway, supporting millions of people — could reduce water supplies to downstream Egypt by more than one-third, new USC research shows. A water deficit of that magnitude, if unmitigated, could potentially destabilize a politically volatile part of […]
Posted inUS
USC research shows Costco beats Medicare in generic drug savings nearly 50% of the time
A USC study comparing Medicare Part D prescription drug prices with those paid by Costco members finds that the federal government overpaid on roughly half of the most common generic medicines in 2018. The findings suggest that policymakers should take a closer look at the practices of intermediaries who effectively negotiate drug prices on behalf […]
Posted inCalifornia
Pandemic pushes California into new age of telehealth and telecommuting
Though the technology needed to work from home and consult with health professionals online has been established for decades, traditional paradigms remained in place. During the pandemic, however, Californians have embraced telecommuting, telehealth and distance learning in ways that offer opportunities to leverage broadband access to support sustainability and improve access to health, education and […]
Posted inUS
COVID-19 reduced US life expectancy, especially among Black and Latino populations
The COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed more than 336,000 lives in the United States in 2020, has significantly affected life expectancy, USC and Princeton researchers have found. The researchers project that, due to the pandemic deaths last year, life expectancy at birth for Americans will shorten by 1.13 years to 77.48 years, according to their study […]
Posted inUS
Business closures, partial reopenings due to COVID may cost the US $3-$5 trillion in GDP over 2 years, USC study finds
November 30, 2020 – USC economists project that a best-case scenario for the United States hinges on whether the initial mandatory closures and social distancing measures were sufficient to control the rise in coronavirus cases. In a worst-case scenario, infections would ramp up considerably after businesses reopen; thus, forcing another round of closures. The study […]
Posted inCalifornia
Predicting drought in the American West just got more difficult
People hoping to get a handle on future droughts in the American West are in for a disappointment, as new USC-led research spanning centuries shows El Niño cycles are an unreliable predictor. Instead, they found that Earth’s dynamic atmosphere is a wild card that plays a much bigger role than sea surface temperatures, yet defies […]
Posted inSci/Tech
New approach to police lineups measures the strength of an eyewitness’s memory
July 14, 2020 – In a discovery with important implications for criminal justice, a team of scientists from USC and other Southern California research institutions has developed a unique way to measure the reliability of an eyewitness trying to pick a culprit from a police lineup. It’s a new forensic approach that attempts to gauge the strength […]
Posted inCalifornia
New USC Poll Reveals Likely CA Voters’ Sentiments on Homelessness Ahead of March 3 Primary Election
Los Angeles, Calif. Feb. 13, 2020 – Homelessness and housing are top of mind for likely California voters leading into the March 3 Primary Election, according to a new statewide poll conducted by the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. In an open-ended unaided question, […]
Posted inEnviro
Sea-Level Rise Could Reshape the United States, Trigger Migration Inland
January 24, 2020 – When Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast in 2017, displaced residents flocked inland, trying to rebuild their lives in the disaster’s aftermath. Within decades, the same thing could happen at a much larger scale due to rising sea levels, says a new study led by USC Computer Science Assistant Professor Bistra […]
Posted inSci/Tech
How does your body respond to feelings of moral outrage? It depends on your politics.
January 8, 2020 – When you see someone being unfair, disloyal or uncaring toward others, do you feel a sense of moral outrage in the form of a twisting stomach, pounding heart or flushing face? And is it possible that your body’s response depends on your political affiliation? Researchers with USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute set out […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Bots might prove harder to detect in 2020 elections
Sept. 9, 2019 – USC Information Sciences Institute (USC ISI) computer scientist, Emilio Ferrara, has new research indicating that bots or fake accounts enabled by artificial intelligence on social media have evolved and are now better able to copy human behaviors in order to avoid detection. In the journal First Monday, research by Ferrara […]
Posted inCalifornia
As Salton Sea shrinks, experts fear far-reaching health consequences
September 3, 2019 – In the string of small farm towns that stretches south from California’s Salton Sea toward the border with Mexico, pretty much everyone knows someone with asthma. As many as three of every 10 people report having the disease in places like Brawley, Calipatria and Westmorland — compared with about one of 10 in […]
Posted inLife
Financial abuse of older adults by family members more common than scams by strangers
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15, 2019 — Despite numerous telephone, mail and internet scams directed toward older adults, relatives may perpetrate more financial elder abuse than strangers, suggests a new study by experts at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Using a unique source of frontline data — instances of elder abuse reported to the […]
Posted inCalifornia
Southern California coast emerges as a toxic algae hot spot
Aug. 22, 2018 – A new, comprehensive survey led by USC scientists shows the Southern California coast harbors some of the world’s highest concentrations of an algal toxin dangerous to wildlife and people who eat local seafood. Episodic outbreaks of algae-produced toxins make headlines every few years when stricken marine animals wash ashore between Santa […]