Never too old for a ‘eureka moment’ Critics of the tenure system often say that scholarly productivity declines over time. While that’s true, according to a new study in Science, creativity, or a shot at a big breakthrough, doesn’t have to wane — as long as one keeps working. “We offer empirical evidence that impact is randomly distributed within the sequence of […]
Stronger muscles may mean sharper minds for kids Making sure kids have good muscle fitness might also benefit their school performance, according to a recent U.S. study. Aerobic fitness has already been linked to better thinking abilities in pre-teen children, but the current study found an independent link between muscle fitness and kids’ performance on memory tests as well as their math and […]
See how the most influential science comes in waves Despite previous research suggesting that most scientists make their biggest discoveries early in their career, Sinatra argues in a paper in Science today that a scientist’s most impactful publications—those with the largest numbers of citations, in this instance—could happen at any point in your career. Visualized, this phenomenon looks a lot like Sinatra’s waves. Or […]
U.S. News & World Report To improve hospitals, doctors look to Toyota For one, between health and engineering, “we are different cultures, we have different languages, different norms, different languages, different incentives. Probably the greatest challenge in deployment is partnering,” said James Benneyan, director of the Healthcare Systems Engineering Institute at Northeastern University. “What is missing is this sensei,” he added. “What is missing is individuals who […]
Pacific Standard Why we whitewash Trump’s transgressions The conventional wisdom this final week before the 2016 election is that the presidential race is tightening because Republicans are “coming home.” Polling suggests many GOP voters who once insisted they would never vote for Donald Trump have decided to do just that. How can they justify voting for a man with a long record […]
When it comes to success, age really is just a number For years, scientists who study achievement have noted that in many fields the most electrifying work comes earlier in life rather than later. After all, younger people can devote their life to a project in a way that more senior people cannot, and young stars attract support, mentors and prestigious appointments. Now, a big-data analysis […]
The Christian Science Monitor Why a KKK newspaper is backing Donald Trump “What is different about the here-and-now is the impact that those editorials have,” Charles Fountain, an associate professor at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism, previously told The Christian Science Monitor. “Those editorials would have had a profound influence on voting habits 100 years ago, maybe even 50 or 60 years ago, but today they move the […]
Yahoo! Standing Rock Facebook check-ins: Slacktivism, or something more? The trend of checking in at Standing Rock is a “perfect example” of the way that social media “allows people to take part in protests or political activity at a distance,” generating a wider sense of engagement, excitement, and “a feeling of collective identity on the part of the movement that can help make the movement […]
Novartis has a history of charging high prices for drugs in Colombia “This data supports the idea that Gleevec has not been the only drug for which Novartis has, historically, overcharged,” said Brook Baker, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law and a senior policy analyst for Health GAP, a group that advocates for wider access to medicines. “And it shows the unilateral power of companies […]
Smithsonian Magazine Robot Shellfish May Tell Us About Climate Change’s Impact On Marine Species Out in a bed of mussels, off the Monterey coast in California in a space exposed at low tide, a handful of green LEDs blink, indicating the location of a cohort of robomussels. The little black data loggers, formed from polyester resin, have been precisely engineered by Brian Helmuth and his lab at Northeastern University […]
Fukushima Facility to Become Soccer Training Camp for 2020 Olympics “This promised handover of J-village would serve as a symbol of progress,” Daniel Aldrich, professor and director of the security and resilience studies program at Northeastern University in Boston, said by e-mail. “Tepco clearly hopes that this will show the nation that it is on track in the Fukushima accident clean up process,” Aldrich said. […]
Scientific Computing Making Computers Explain Themselves In unpublished work, they’ve applied it to thousands of pathology reports on breast biopsies, where it has learned to extract text explaining the bases for the pathologists’ diagnoses. They’re even using it to analyze mammograms, where the first module extracts sections of images rather than segments of text. “There’s a lot of hype now — […]