Opponents of the Endangered Species Act don't argue against it because they have something against gorillas -- it's because, they say, the cost in lost jobs and higher taxes seems too high. But a study recently published in the journal Science suggests it's much lower than you'd guess.
Research studies by Betsy Sparrow of Columbia University "support a growing belief that people are using the Internet as a personal memory bank: the so-called Google effect." Yes, the awareness that we can look things up easily later makes our memories worse. But when it comes to retrieving that online data, she notes, "We're remarkably efficient."
Spurred largely by a 1999 report that cited gender discrimination among reasons why women accounted for less than 10% of MIT's science and engineering faculty, the school made a concerted effort to address the stereotypes and misconceptions that limited women's advancement through MIT's academia. The effort appears to have paid off.
A new study says top-performing teachers turn out students who learn more than the students who had the worst teachers. And that extra learning has a huge impact on earnings -- and the nation's economy. Still, some educational experts say the study raises more questions than it answers.
Aside from the embarrassment, researchers know deceptions like the autism research fraud can have much larger consequences, both for the parents of autistic children and for the future of their studies. Says one prominent scientist: "It taints a lot of very good work that goes on."
NASA has discovered a bacteria that can use arsenic -- which is toxic to most forms of life -- as a building block of its DNA. Scientists say the discovery may broaden our definition of what constitutes life and may revolutionize how we search for life beyond Earth.
In an effort to boost worker skills to better match the needs of employers, President Barack Obama today unveiled Skills For America's Future, a new initiative to increase workforce development, worker training and job placement.
In the U.S., 52% of companies report problems attracting critical-skill employees. And some of the hottest jobs over the next 10 to 15 years require tech skills that most people aren't learning. Here's what some workers and companies are doing about it.
At a total of nearly 5 million barrels, the spill from BP ruptured Macondo well easily outstrips the previous record of 3.3 million barrels released into the Bay of Campeche by Mexico's Ixtoc I rig in 1979.
Need an excuse to raise a glass? A new study finds that alcohol may reduce both the severity of rheumatoid arthritis and the risk of getting it in the first place. But don't overdo it: more research is needed, and excessive drinking can do more harm than good.
Two trends have emerged from the 2010 International AIDS Conference taking place in Vienna: Science has made great strides to combat the disease, but global demand for drug therapies exceeds the funding available to pay for them.
The popular narrative in the world of higher education is that American students aren't being taught as rigorously as those in other countries, and we're falling behind. But do the scores of high school students on math and science tests really matter for the nation's long-term economic outlook?
