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To make the US auto fleet greener, increasing fuel efficiency matters more than selling electric vehicles

  • Written by John DeCicco, Research Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan
imageA used car superstore in Colma, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

President Biden has proposed ambitious goals for curbing climate change and investing in a cleaner U.S. economy. One critical sector is transportation, which generates 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – more than either electric power production or industry.

Shifting...

Read more: To make the US auto fleet greener, increasing fuel efficiency matters more than selling electric...

Thawing permafrost is full of ice-forming particles that could get into atmosphere

  • Written by Jessie Creamean, Research Scientist, Colorado State University
imagePermafrost is thawing across the Arctic, releasing microbes and organic materials that have been trapped in the frozen ground for thousands of years.NOAA via Wikimedia Commons

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Permafrost – frozen soil in the far north – is thawing, releasing greenhouse gases a...

Read more: Thawing permafrost is full of ice-forming particles that could get into atmosphere

Travelers coming from Italy may have driven first US COVID-19 wave more than those from China, study suggests

  • Written by Jeff Prince, Professor and Chair of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University
imageThe U.S. banned travel from China early, but the late timing of other travel bans meant the coronavirus had other routes into the U.S.AP Photo/John Minchillo

The coronavirus was still a far-away problem in Wuhan when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ban on travel from China in late January 2020. Six weeks later, as the coronavirus ravaged...

Read more: Travelers coming from Italy may have driven first US COVID-19 wave more than those from China,...

Why it takes 2 shots to make mRNA vaccines do their antibody-creating best – and what the data shows on delaying the booster dose

  • Written by William Petri, Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia
imageAfter a second dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, a swarm of antibodies attacks the virus.Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

With the U.S. facing vaccination delays because of worker shortages and distribution problems, federal health officials now say it’s OK to push back the second dose of the two-part vaccine by as much as...

Read more: Why it takes 2 shots to make mRNA vaccines do their antibody-creating best – and what the data...

A universal influenza vaccine may be one step closer, bringing long-lasting protection against flu

  • Written by Patricia L. Foster, Professor Emerita of Biology, Indiana University
imageWouldn't it be nice if one shot could protect you for life?Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

A bad year for flu can mean tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. Getting vaccinated can protect you from influenza, but you have to get the shot every year to catch up with the changing virus and to top up the short-lived immunity the vaccine provides....

Read more: A universal influenza vaccine may be one step closer, bringing long-lasting protection against flu

Why the next major hurdle to ending the pandemic will be about persuading people to get vaccinated

  • Written by Timothy Callaghan, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University School of Public Health, Texas A&M University
imageMaria Saravia, a worker at the University of Southern California's Keck Hospital, adjusts her mother's mask before her COVID-19 vaccination.Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Today, more Americans hope to receive a COVID-19 vaccine than current vaccine supply will allow. Consequently, although President Joe Biden’s initial prom...

Read more: Why the next major hurdle to ending the pandemic will be about persuading people to get vaccinated

Can Biden fix the vaccine mess? An expert says yes

  • Written by Margaret Riley, Professor of Law, Public Health Sciences, and Public Policy, University of Virginia
imageJoe Biden, then president-elect, received his COVID-19 vaccination in December.Joshua Roberts via Getty Images

When President Joe Biden was sworn in on Jan. 20, he inherited the raging COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most difficult crises any incoming president has ever faced. More than 400,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and tens of...

Read more: Can Biden fix the vaccine mess? An expert says yes

5 websites to help educate about the horrors of the Holocaust

  • Written by Jennifer Rich, Professor of Sociology, Rowan University
imageAnne Frank House Executive Director Ronald Leopold, left, presents pages of Anne Frank's diary.Bas Czerwinski/AFP via Getty Images

Whenever there’s an analysis or discussion about how much people know about the Holocaust, the focus is often on what they don’t know.

For instance, a 2018 survey of 1,350 people age 18 and older found that...

Read more: 5 websites to help educate about the horrors of the Holocaust

Biden faces the world: 5 foreign policy experts explain US priorities – and problems – after Trump

  • Written by Muqtedar Khan, Professor, Islam and Global Affairs, University of Delaware
imageCan Joe Biden restore U.S. world leadership?Agela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s note: President Joe Biden inherits from Donald Trump a United States that was simultaneously isolated from the rest of the world and openly hostile toward parts of it. Biden – an internationally minded leader who has longstanding relationships with...

Read more: Biden faces the world: 5 foreign policy experts explain US priorities – and problems – after Trump

People take better care of public places when they feel like they have a stake in them

  • Written by Suzanne Shu, John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing, Cornell University
imageIf they run across some trash while they're out paddling, what will they do about it?Marlin Levison/Star Tribune via Getty Images

Takeaways

· People can feel “psychological ownership,” a sense of personal attachment, even for parks and other public places.

· These feelings lead them to see property they don’t own as...

Read more: People take better care of public places when they feel like they have a stake in them

More Articles ...

  1. Expert in fluid dynamics explains how to reduce the risk of COVID-19 airborne transmission inside a car
  2. The problem with India's 'love jihad' laws
  3. Death threats and intimidation of public officials signal Trump's autocratic legacy
  4. Intense scrutiny of Chinese-born researchers in the US threatens innovation
  5. What is an executive order, and why don't presidents use them all the time?
  6. How new voters and Black women transformed Georgia's politics
  7. Incitement to violence is rarely explicit – here are some techniques people use to breed hate
  8. Beetle parents manipulate information broadcast from bacteria in a rotting corpse
  9. How Biden's dogs could make the Oval Office a workplace with less stress and better decision-making
  10. Think US evangelicals are dying out? Well, define evangelicalism ...
  11. Feeling relatively poor increases support for women in the workplace – but men still don't want them making household decisions
  12. TikTok's sea chanteys – how life under the pandemic has mirrored months at sea
  13. The body's fight against COVID-19 explained using 3D-printed models
  14. Harriet Tubman: Biden revives plan to put a Black woman of faith on the $20 bill
  15. Women's health is better when women have more control in their society
  16. Why COVID-19 won't kill cities
  17. Yes, customers do like it when waiters and hairdressers wear a mask – especially if it's black
  18. Biden has pledged to advance environmental justice – here's how the EPA can start
  19. Rural health care is in crisis – here are 5 innovative ways Biden can help it transform
  20. Your corner pharmacy – joining the front lines of the COVID-19 fight
  21. How history textbooks will deal with the US Capitol attack
  22. Strange costumes of Capitol rioters echo the early days of the Ku Klux Klan - before the white sheets
  23. Why does it take longer to fly from east to west on an airplane?
  24. What does the economy need now? 4 suggestions for Biden's coronavirus relief bill
  25. Capitol mob wasn't just angry men – there were angry women as well
  26. Far-right groups move to messaging apps as tech companies crack down on extremist social media
  27. 'The US is falling apart': How Russian media is portraying the US Capitol siege
  28. A healthy microbiome builds a strong immune system that could help defeat COVID-19
  29. Why the US rejoining the Paris climate accord matters at home and abroad — 5 scholars explain
  30. Will Merrick Garland, Joe Biden's pick for attorney general, be independent in that role? History says it's unlikely
  31. Huge numbers of the formerly incarcerated are unemployed, but there are some promising solutions
  32. The NRA declares bankruptcy: 5 questions answered
  33. 'Early warning' systems in schools can be dangerous in the hands of law enforcement
  34. Kratom: What science is discovering about the risks and benefits of a controversial herb
  35. Sen. Ossoff was sworn in on pioneering Atlanta rabbi's Bible – a nod to historic role of American Jews in civil rights struggle
  36. US could face a simmering, chronic domestic terror problem, warn security experts
  37. 5 ways Biden can help rural America thrive and bridge the rural-urban divide
  38. Voters are starting to act like hard-core sports fans – with dangerous repercussions for democracy
  39. Trump revived Andrew Jackson's spoils system, which would undo America's 138-year-old professional civil service
  40. Invasive tawny crazy ants have an intense craving for calcium – with implications for their spread in the US
  41. How engineering can contribute to a reimagining of the US public health system
  42. St. Matthew's Cathedral, where Biden attended pre-inauguration Mass, has long been a place where politics and faith meet
  43. From Biden's giant Bible to Christian flags waved by rioters, 'religion' means different things to different people and different eras
  44. Joe Biden's inaugural address gives hope to the millions who stutter
  45. Trump’s big gamble to gut US power plant emissions rules loses in court, opening a door for new climate rules
  46. I'm a First Amendment scholar – and I think Big Tech should be left alone
  47. Biden is inheriting a wrecked economy, but Democrats have a record of avoiding recession and reducing unemployment
  48. They don't come as pills, but try these 6 underprescribed lifestyle medicines for a better, longer life
  49. How law enforcement is using technology to track down people who attacked the US Capitol building
  50. Stickiness is a weapon some plants use to fend off hungry insects