Food insecurity in Vermont has increased by one-third during the coronavirus pandemic, from 18.3% to 24.3%, according to a statewide survey conducted by the University of Vermont at the end of March. The increase in food insecurity was strongly correlated with employment status. Among survey respondents overall, 45% had lost their jobs, been furloughed or...
Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, provide people with a lot of information, but it’s getting harder and harder to tell what’s real and what’s not. Researchers at the University of Washington wanted to know how people investigated potentially suspicious posts on their own feeds. The team watched 25 participants scroll through their...
On Super Tuesday, Democratic voters from Colorado and across the United States will face a serious decision: Sanders or Warren? Biden, Klobuchar or Bloomberg? Then, afterward, what kind of wine to drink. Now, a new study taps into mathematics to probe how people make those kinds of fraught choices–in particular, how hypothetical, and completely rational,...
Hundreds of years ago, colossal oysters were commonplace across much of Florida’s northern Gulf Coast. Today, those oysters have disappeared, leaving behind a new generation roughly a third smaller – a massive decline that continues to have both economic and environmental impacts on a region considered by many to be the last remaining unspoiled coastlines...
Urban areas face increasing problems with stormwater management. Impervious surfaces on roads and buildings cause flooding, which impacts the water quality of streams, rivers and lakes. Green infrastructure, including features such as rain barrels, green roofs, rain gardens, and on-site water treatment, can provide affordable and environmentally sound ways to manage precipitation. However, green infrastructure...
After years of skyrocketing home prices, the combination of rising rents, lower mortgage rates and moderating home prices are making purchasing a home more attractive in many of the nation’s largest metros, according to realtor.com’s quarterly Rent vs. Buy report released today. The report, which analyzed the cost of buying versus renting in 593 counties...
The BioScience Talks podcast features discussions of topical issues related to the biological sciences. Agricultural areas are often considered distinct from local ecosystems, and in many cases, such an assessment rings true. Single-crop farmlands, reliant on the liberal use of pest- and herbicides, often limit local biodiversity and species interactions. However, in other agricultural settings, robust ecosystems...
Black and Hispanic borrowers more likely to be rejected when they apply for a loan; more likely to receive a high-cost mortgage Housing discrimination leads to persistent neighborhood segregation Discrimination in mortgage market makes it more difficult for minority households to build wealth through housing A new Northwestern University analysis finds that racial disparities in...
Preaching sexual abstinence to youth was popular for a number of decades, but research repeatedly found that such educational messages fell short in their intended goals. Simply telling youth not to have sex failed to delay the initiation of sex, prevent pregnancies, or stop the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases. Since the advent of photo- and...
According to received wisdom, local activism against the establishment of industrial plants follows a cycle, with its highest intensity a short time after mobilization. If a firm stands, activism is destined to fade away. New research published in the Strategic Management Journal suggests us to think it again. Fabrizio Perretti (Bocconi’s Department of Management and Technology) and...
