top story in August 2008
The Complete Book of Robots
A comprehensive new robotics handbook raises the question: Will we take these machines into our everyday lives? A Miller-McCune interview of the University of Naples’ Bruno Siciliano.
Succor. Succor in the Court.
There’s a problem with problem-solving courts: Taxpayers don’t understand how well they work.
Pax Americana Geriatrica
An unprecedented era of great-power aging makes it likely the 21st century will, again, be American.
OK, Maybe Joan Rivers Can Still Use It for Her Headaches …
A look at some current research that merits a raised eyebrow or a painful grin.
Oprah and the Downfall of American Society
A journalism professor finds a straw woman on daytime TV and, in the name of scholarship, knocks her right down.
Old Without Wheels
About 600,000 elderly stop driving every year. How can we keep them mobile?
Law and Terror
A legal analyst argues for a novel solution to the legal wars over anti-terrorism policy: Congress doing its job.
Truth With Consequences
Why both political parties should support a truth commission on the human rights abuses of the war on terror
The Next Market Crunch: Water
To stave off water crises created by climate change, we need new systems that manage water, energy and ecosystems together. Here’s why.
archive
Environment Becomes Heredity
Advances in the field of epigenetics show that environmental contaminants can turn genes “on” and “off” triggering serious diseases that are handed down through generations. But there’s also a more heartening prospect: The same diseases may be treated by relatively simple changes in nourishment and lifestyle.
The Nature of Design
Biophilic concepts are gradually working their way into the design mainstream, helping humans thrive by bringing the outdoors in.
Nastier, Noisier, Costlier — and Better
Why letting judges speak out during political campaigns enhances democracy and serves justice.
An Insidious Hit Piece Commissioned by the Misanthropy World?
We Get Letters: Somehow, we doubt it.
Slow: Whale Xing
Biologist Christopher Clark builds sonic buoys that help ships avoid running down the last of the right whales.
Solar Power: The Next Generation
Offline Diary: An old way of turning sunlight into electricity reinvents itself in California.
related to August 2008
politics
- Give Me a Receipt Next Time I Pay Taxes
- Will Hispanics Take Over American Politics?
- Probing the Depths of the ‘Submerged State’
- The Ultra-Imperial Presidency
- Bad Times Help Rust Belt Retain Power
business
- A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
- Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
- Private Prisons Can’t Lock In Savings
- Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
- 20,000 Robots Under the Sea
science
- Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
- 20,000 Robots Under the Sea
- CSI: Wildlife — Solving Mysterious Animal Deaths
- Different Cultures, Different Robots
- The Real Science Gap
culture
media
- ‘State of Minds’ Puts Research in the Spotlight
- It Turns Out There Is Accounting for Taste
- In Truth, ‘Lie to Me’ Breeds Misconceptions
- ‘House,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Violate Codes of Conduct?
- The Changing Face of Network Television News
legal affairs
- A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
- California’s Medical Marijuana Morass
- America Edges to Brink of Armed Police Drones
- LAPD Cracks Cold Cases With Science, Grit
- Can Computers Predict Crimes of the Future?
environment
- Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
- CSI: Wildlife — Solving Mysterious Animal Deaths
- Solar Showdown: Are New Solar Power Projects Anti-Environmental?
- T.C. Boyle Interview: Nature and the Novelist
- Ocean Carbon Sequestration: The World’s Best Bad Idea
health
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from the source
Gender Wage Gap Skewed By Survey Flaws
The wage gap between the sexes in America has been closing much faster than anyone realized, but that’s tempered by learning it’s been much wider than measurements had shown.
‘Orcas as Slaves’ Argument Sinks
An effort to identify five performing orcas as slaves failed in part, argues one scholar, because there’s no legal precedent establishing them as persons.
The Perceived Delicacy of the Female Conductor
New research finds listeners judge symphonic music differently when they’re told the conductor is a woman.
House Puts Transportation in Partisan Crossfire
Transportation used to be one of the few guaranteed areas of agreement when ideology trumped pragmatism in D.C. But that’s no longer the case.
Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
New research suggests less-creative people do more innovative thinking when they are told individualism is the norm, and instructed to conform.
Better Super Bowl Makes for Better Ads
A lot of people say they watch the Super Bowl mostly for the ads. But it turns out a good game surrounding those ads makes them seem better.
Overseas Troops Finally Get Fair Shot at Voting
After decades of obstacles hindering the voting process, new laws will allow overseas and military voters to submit their votes in time for the 2012 election.
Neglected Tropical Diseases Neglected No More?
World health leaders announce coordinated push to eradicate or control neglected tropical diseases.
Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
A survey of award-winning children’s picture books from 1938 to 2008 suggests our increasing estrangement from the natural environment.
Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
Rather than moaning about too many cars on the road, the Ridesharing Institute says the real key to battling traffic congestion and pollution is filling empty passenger seats.
Hall of fame
Slugging — The People’s Transit
In Washington, D.C., commuters have taken thousands of cars off highways via a homegrown rideshare system known as “slugging.” Can the government create more slugs — without stepping on any?
Bacteria ‘R’ Us
Emerging research shows that bacteria have powers to engineer the environment, to communicate and to affect human well-being. They may even think.
A New Take on Political Ideology
An evolutionary psychologist proposes a new framework for understanding the root causes of our political beliefs.
The Real Science Gap
It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career.
Triumph of the Cyborg Composer
David Cope’s software creates beautiful, original music. Why are people so angry about that?
