Purchase a plastic water bottle, and there’s a good chance that it will feature a “BPA-free” label. You might be seeing it more often because the industrial chemical Bisphenol-A has now been removed from…
Will there be brotherly love in Philadelphia next September?
Giampiero Sposito/Reuters
In late November, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis is going to visit the United States of America for the World Meeting of Families that will take place in Philadelphia at the end of September 2015…
Issuing the immigration executive order.
White House
There has been a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding President Barack Obama’s November 20 executive order concerning the implementation of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended…
Police often rely on witnesses to finger the right guy, but eyewitnesses are far from perfect.
Lineup image via www.shutterstock.com.
Twenty eyewitnesses testified before the grand jury investigating the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. None of these accounts is fully consistent with any other. Moreover, eyewitnesses…
Fantasies shouldn’t be confused with wishes or behaviors.
Image of couple kissing via conrado/Shutterstock
Can we use unusual sexual fantasies to identify sexual deviancy? Is there a link between what people fantasize about and how they actually behave? Psychiatry’s two main diagnostic manuals list certain…
Is it a crime scene or just a store checkout? Could be both.
Marlith
Shoppers have launched into the holiday buying season and retailers are looking forward to year-end sales that make up almost 20% of their annual receipts. But as you check out at a store or click “purchase…
Just three of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the Boko Haram in northern Nigeria
Stringer/Reuters
‘Am I still a citizen of Nigeria? The soldiers are watching or running while thousands are being slaughtered.’ – Mohammed, a graduate student at the University of Maiduguri speaking at a food distribution…
A Wal-Mart employee puts a bow on a discounted television ahead of Black Friday in Los Angeles.
Reuters
The manic nature of Black Friday has often led shoppers to engage in fistfights and other misbehavior in their desperation to snatch up the last ultra-discounted television, computer or pair of pants…
In 1984, British LGBT rights groups worked on behalf of striking miners.
Flickr
The film Pride, which won the Queer Palm Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is based on the true story of what seems to be a rare occurrence in human history: two oppressed groups (in this case…
Mark Ryden’s art for Michael Jackson’s 1991 album Dangerous.
Augusto Podrido/Flickr
The album cover for Michael Jackson’s album Dangerous was painted by American pop-surrealist artist Mark Ryden. In it, he depicts a world in which the boundaries between human and animal, living and dead…
Physician attitudes towards mental illness can reflect the general public’s prejudice.
Image of man on stairs via Dariush M/Shutterstock
Mental illness is a major public health problem in the United States. Suicide alone takes the lives of 38,000 Americans each year, more than double that from homicide. Medical and surgical patients who…
One of the perks of becoming an elite flyer is it’s easier to upgrade to better cabins, such as Virgin Atlantic’s upper class cabin.
Phillip Capper, CC BY-SA
Frequent flyer programs are one of the primary ways airlines build customer loyalty. In a nutshell, the more you travel with the same airline (or its partners), the higher the odds you will be able to…
Seattle protests the Ferguson grand jury decision.
Jason Redmond/Reuters
Last week on ABC’s This Week, President Obama said, “My own experience tells me race relations continue to improve,” and “There’s no way to say race relations are worse than 20, 50 years ago.” It’s impossible…
A paradoxical situation seems to confront today’s political scene and the choices it generates. On the one hand, the market and its particular logic have come to dominate more and more human affairs. Even…
Prior to the introduction of jets, most commercial airplanes were propeller driven, like the DC-3 pictured here. These planes had a limited cruising altitude – and experienced much more turbulence.
NOAA Photo Library
My last article looked at how social media stocks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are overpriced unless these companies manage to boost their revenues several times over. Given their business model…
Classic traffic jam in the airplane aisle.
ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health. Resistance makes it harder for physicians to treat infections and can increase the chance patients will die from an infection. What is more, the…
President Obama’s immigration plan may help some illegal migrants find higher-paying jobs, helping spur some additional economic activity.
Reuters
An estimated 11 million undocumented residents in the United States live in daily fear of deportation. This fear permeates nearly every aspect of their lives. President Barack Obama’s executive actions…
Anti-government messages on Mexico City streets: “Phony government that shoots at students.”
Tomas Bravo/Reuters
Most murders in the United States are well hidden. Popular tourist cities like Chicago, New Orleans and Washington D.C. have homicide rates substantially higher than the national average. At times they…
Movie theaters have seen declining box office revenues over the past two years.
Michael Gabler/Wikimedia Commons
If Dumber and Dumber To, Interstellar and Big Hero 6 didn’t get you to the movies last week, you weren’t alone: just before Thanksgiving, Box Office Mojo put year-to-date gross receipts at almost $9 billion…
Young Steller sea lions in Prince William Sound, Alaska. NMFS Permit 14336.
Markus Horning
A decade ago, we set out to unravel deep ocean crime scenes we weren’t even sure existed. The crime? Endangered Steller sea lions were rapidly disappearing in parts of Alaska. Their numbers dropped by…
We need to rethink care for the elderly.
Image of hands via Lighthunter/Shutterstock
By 2030, the last of the Baby Boomer generation will have turned 65 years old, putting the population of “senior boomers” in the United States at approximately 71 million. Currently, only about 7,000 certified…
Consumers always hope to get the best deal when they make their travel and holiday plans. But so do the airlines.
Shutterstock
How airlines price tickets is a source of many myths and urban legends. These include tips about the best day of the week to buy a ticket, last-minute discounts offered by the airlines, and the conspiracy…
They have family values too
Charles Mostoller/Reuters
Not so long ago, I sat across the table from Teresa, age 25, in a migrant shelter right across the border from Nogales Arizona, her tired face glimmered through the veil of tears as she described her experience…