Drought is often the precursor to disaster, but getting leads on its stealthy approach through remote or war-torn areas can be so difficult that relief agencies sometimes have little time to react before a bad situation becomes a calamity. The problem is that there is often no easy way to get data about water supplies […] … learn more→

A UCLA-led group of researchers tracing disparities in life expectancy between blacks and whites in the U.S. has found that white males live about seven years longer on average than African American men and that white women live more than five years longer than their black counterparts. But when comparing life expectancy on a state-by-state […] … learn more→

Why have mass extinctions of species occurred since the late Proterozoic (from 580 million years ago) and repeatedly through the Phanerozoic? Integral to these extinctions were abrupt changes in the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere, ocean and land, inducing environmental changes at a pace to which many species could not adapt. The best […] … learn more→

By what length would Usain Bolt beat you if you raced him in the 200m? Are the long jump or shot put world records more likely to be broken in some Olympic host cities than others? Does the host nation for the Games have an advantage when it comes to winning medals? How does the […] … learn more→

I’ve been in the business of helping people build their brands for a decade and each year, I publish my personal branding trends for job seekers. Take a look at this year’s trends and decide which will help give you an edge and attract the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. 1. Headshots everywhere Do […] … learn more→

American consumers who are outraged to learn that sleek iPads and iPhones are made by underpaid, overworked Chinese laborers, take note: Long-distance support for workers who build for Apple Inc. and other companies is unlikely to have much impact. \”Ongoing labor rights violations in China, despite years and years of consumer campaigns in the West, […] … learn more→

Americans who visit Chinese schools quickly realize that many of our beliefs and assumptions about education hold little water in China: In the United States, our urban public schools perform relatively poorly, but in China the urban systems rate among the nation’s best. Here we often regard private schools as a cut above public ones […] … learn more→

Crocodiles have been put through their paces on a treadmill as part of a James Cook University research project to help determine which muscles they use to breathe. Led by the Townsville-based Dr Suzy Munns, the research was conducted on five young estuarine crocodiles to test the role of the diaphragmaticus muscle, also known as […] … learn more→

Obesity can be a dangerous risk to our physical health, but according to a Tel Aviv University researcher, avoiding the gym can also take a toll on our mental health, leading to depression and greater burnout rates at work. Dr. Sharon Toker of TAU\’s Recanati Faculty of Management, working with Dr. Michal Biron from the […] … learn more→

New, more precise measurements of a particle called the W boson are again suggesting that physicists\’ prized Higgs boson is lighter than previously predicted. Using detectors at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, Duke physicist Ashutosh Kotwal and his collaborators have made the world’s most precise mass measurement of the W boson, a key […] … learn more→