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A sacred light in the darkness: Winter solstice illuminations at Spanish missions

  • Written by Rubén G. Mendoza, Chair/Professor, Division of Social, Behavioral & Global Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay
imageThe 2007 midwinter solstice illumination of the main altar tabernacle of Old Mission San Juan Bautista, California.Rubén G. Mendoza/Ancient Editions, CC BY-ND

On Wednesday, Dec. 21, nations in the Northern Hemisphere will mark the winter solstice – the shortest day and longest night of the year. For thousands of years people have...

Read more: A sacred light in the darkness: Winter solstice illuminations at Spanish missions

High rates of medical student depression: What do they say about our health system?

  • Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University
imageMedical student. From www.shuttterstock.com

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that 27 percent of medical students around the world exhibit symptoms of depression and 11 percent have thought of taking their own lives. Equally troubling is the fact that, among students experiencing depressive symptoms, only...

Read more: High rates of medical student depression: What do they say about our health system?

Rating, ranking and recommending: Three R's for the internet age

  • Written by Christopher Brinton, Visiting Researcher and Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Princeton University
imageStars via shutterstock.com

This holiday season, when we Google for the most trending gifts, compare different items on Amazon or take a break to watch a holiday movie on Netflix, we are making use of what might be called “the three R’s” of the Internet Age: rating, ranking and recommending.

Much like the traditional “three...

Read more: Rating, ranking and recommending: Three R's for the internet age

Brick-and-mortar retailers should nix deep discounts to make most of jittery shopping season

  • Written by Sharmila C. Chatterjee, Academic Head, Enterprise Management Track; Senior Lecturer, Marketing, MIT Sloan School of Management

Brick-and-mortar retailers have been on a bit of a roller coaster ride this holiday season as early expectations of strong consumer spending were weighed down by the uncertainty prompted by the election.

That’s on top of the usual jitters about the slow demise of Black Friday and more consumer cash gravitating to online retail.

That has...

Read more: Brick-and-mortar retailers should nix deep discounts to make most of jittery shopping season

Policy uncertainty discourages innovation and hurts the environment

  • Written by Lucas Davis, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley
imageUncertainty around government policy affects how businesses operate and whether they'll invest in R&D.Pixabay

Large-scale changes are anticipated for U.S. environmental policies heading into 2017. The new administration has promised a “comprehensive review of all federal regulations,” which include policies aimed at carbon dioxide...

Read more: Policy uncertainty discourages innovation and hurts the environment

Obama administration's big science and tech innovation: Socially engaged policy

  • Written by Shobita Parthasarathy, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Women's Studies, University of Michigan
imageObama annually welcomed students to the White House with their Science Fair projects.AP Photo/Susan Walsh

When President Barack Obama gave his inaugural address in 2009, he promised to “restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.” For the previous...

Read more: Obama administration's big science and tech innovation: Socially engaged policy

Another reason to exercise every day during the holidays

  • Written by William B. Farquhar, Professor of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology, University of Delaware
imageExercising in a winter wonderland. www.shutterstock.com

Yes, of course we all know we should exercise every day during the holiday season to help counter the onslaught of excess calories that started on Thanksgiving and will mercifully end with a New Year’s toast.

We may even tire of hearing about exercise and weight from family, friends and...

Read more: Another reason to exercise every day during the holidays

Can legal activist Scott Pruitt undo clean air and water protections as head of EPA?

  • Written by Robert Percival, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Maryland, Baltimore
imageOklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt gestures as he answers a question during a news conference in Oklahoma City, Thursday, June 13, 2013.AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Donald Trump’s election has jolted environmentalists and voters who care about conservation. Trump has called for abolishing or greatly shrinking the Environmental Protection Agency;...

Read more: Can legal activist Scott Pruitt undo clean air and water protections as head of EPA?

Why children believe (or not) that Santa Claus exists

  • Written by Jacqueline D. Woolley, Professor and Department of Psychology Chair, University of Texas at Austin
imageParents go to great lengths to make their kids believe the Santa myth.Boglarka Bodnar/MTI via AP

The holiday season is upon us, and so are its attendant myths, most prominent of which is the Santa Claus story. This is the time that many children are told about a man who lives forever, resides at the North Pole, knows what every child in the world...

Read more: Why children believe (or not) that Santa Claus exists

How to know when holiday drinking is hurting your brain

  • Written by Jamie Smolen, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Florida
imageHoliday drinking brings good cheer, but it also be a sign of problem drinking.

For many, the holidays are indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Families and friends come together and enjoy food, good cheer – and, often, alcohol.

Commercially speaking, alcohol and the holidays seem to be made for each other. Alcohol can be a quick and...

Read more: How to know when holiday drinking is hurting your brain

More Articles ...

  1. Earth on the docket: Why Obama can't ignore this climate lawsuit by America's youth
  2. Why are young women without wrinkles using Botox?
  3. 'Slacktivism' that works: 'Small changes' matter
  4. How news sites' online comments helped build our hateful electorate
  5. Venezuela on the verge of dictatorship: Can dialogue or demonstrations turn it around?
  6. How one political outsider picked a cabinet
  7. Lesson one for Rick Perry: The Energy Department doesn't produce much energy
  8. What Trump Foundation's 'self-dealing' disclosure means for a conflicted president-elect
  9. Why sex gets better in older age
  10. The high cost of pursuing a dream to be a veterinarian
  11. Jesus Christ, businessman: From John Humphrey Noyes to Donald Trump
  12. Yellen's Fed faces a tricky rates dilemma in 2017 that may end up tripping up Trump
  13. Federal Reserve offers vote of confidence in US economy (so there's no reason to panic)
  14. Why 'thoughts and prayers' after mass shootings fall short
  15. Trump questionnaire recalls dark history of ideology-driven science
  16. Why the British love the National Health Service
  17. What Castro's death and Trump's election mean for Cuba's economic awakening
  18. How your college friendships help you – or don't
  19. What does research say about how to effectively communicate about science?
  20. Trump and Tillerson face the Middle East
  21. 1990s Oregon campaigns anticipated Trump's politics of division
  22. The emerging science of 'bromosexual' friendships
  23. The US environmental movement needs a new message
  24. 'Even though I am a girl...': John Glenn's fan mail and sexism in the early space program
  25. Cybersecurity's next phase: Cyber-deterrence
  26. Why kids who have trouble behaving in preschool fall behind
  27. Trump trolls, Pirate Parties and the Italian Five Star Movement: The internet meets politics
  28. Normalizing fascists
  29. Break out of your echo chamber: Technology arranges lunch with someone new
  30. Why OPEC's gambit to raise oil prices might not work
  31. How learning a new language improves tolerance
  32. Celebrity voices are powerful, but does the First Amendment let them say anything they want?
  33. Trump, carbon neutrality and the next phase of business sustainability
  34. When nausea from pregnancy is life-threatening
  35. The Victorian origins of the Mannequin Challenge
  36. The MDMA being used to treat trauma is different from the street drug Ecstasy
  37. The potential costs of Tom Price as HHS secretary
  38. In Puerto Rico, environmental injustice and racism inflame protests over coal ash
  39. Will Trump victory make Angela Merkel leader of the free world?
  40. How the Fed joined the fight against climate change
  41. Catching lightning in a fossil – and calculating how much energy a strike contains
  42. Supreme Court: Design patents are worth less, but we won't tell you how much
  43. Will a weakened EPA set environmental justice back?
  44. Why do we fall for fake news?
  45. How the TPP's demise threatens US national security and Pax Americana
  46. Is it safe for pregnant women to go to the dentist? Yes
  47. Depression in pregnancy: Why doing nothing about it may be a bad idea
  48. Protect your privacy during turbulent times: A hacker’s guide to being cyber-safe
  49. An activist's playbook: How to influence Trump's cabinet and policies
  50. For China, climate change is no hoax – it's a business and political opportunity