To stay healthy as we age, large social networks trump close-knit ones Living among a tight-knit group of close relatives is best for our health as we age, right? Actually, in many cases, the opposite is true. Social isolation and loneliness have long been associated with poor health and worse outcomes, on par with smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and inactivity. But being ensconced in too […]
The Conversation Zika virus: Only a few small outbreaks likely to occur in the continental US It is estimated that about 80 percent of Zika infections are asymptomatic or have symptoms so mild that the disease is not detected. This means the number of cases reported by disease surveillance systems in the U.S. and across the world might be only a small fraction of the actual number of infections. In fact, […]
The Daily Beast The humanoid robot space explorer NASA has outsourced work on Valkyrie to Northeastern University, MIT, and the University of Edinburgh, each of whom now has its very own Valkyrie to work with for the next two years. The three institutions will develop software that enables the robots to consistently and successfully complete tasks necessary to space exploration, such as manipulating […]
In Ghana, he’s royalty. In Worcester, he’s just Harry. When the first lady was escorted into the ballroom, the crowd applauded politely. But when the king and other royals, including Danso, started their procession, the room erupted. Drums pounded, and elaborately decorated umbrellas twirled overhead. Everyone strained for a view of the king. “He’s the soul,” said Samuel Tandoh, a social services worker from […]
The Providence Journal Official: Victim didn’t know 14-year-old school shooter Such shootings are rarely carried out by females, according to Jack Levin, co-director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University. Levin noted that more than 95 percent of fatal school shootings are committed by males. “And if you look only at the shooters who are students at the school at the […]
WGBH Ahead of ruling on pilot program, Boston Police commanders say they will wear body cameras One major caveat, however, is that the commanders will not be officially part of the study group for the pilot program. The six-month pilot program will be studied by Northeastern professor Dr. Anthony Braga, who will analyze police-community interactions, citizen complaints, use of force incidents and community satisfaction, among other metrics.
WGBH Why some neighborhoods are saying ‘no way’ to apps like Waze “It does become a zero sum game because you are leaving one road and everybody goes over to the next road, and that becomes congested,” explained Peter Furth, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University. Cities and towns increasingly are employing tactics like speed bumps and turn restrictions to try and mitigate […]
Yahoo! St. Jude’s lawsuit against short-seller faces steep climb: lawyers IOActive, NCC Group and Optiv, three prominent firms that provide vulnerability consulting, said they would not enter into an arrangement with short-sellers. Yet some argue that the public interest is served by such an alliance. Andrea Matwyshyn, a Northeastern University computer scientist, said she supported using research to short a stock because the approach pressures […]
Science News Microbial matter comes out of the dark Maybe not. In 2015, a research team led by scientists from Northeastern University in Boston captured headlines after describing in Nature a new chemical extracted from a ground-dwelling bacterium in Maine. The scientists isolated the organism using the iChip, a thumb-sized tool that contains almost 400 separate wells, each large enough to hold only an […]
Yahoo! How meat labels trick your mind In the study, people reported that meat that carried a label saying it was from a factory farm tasted worse than meat labeled as “humanely raised,” when the samples were actually identical. The researchers said the results are a basic demonstration that our “affect” — which is a technical term for the ingredients of our […]
Rhode Island Public Radio This I Believe Rhode Island: Trust Trust is an essential element in the human species. We depend on trust for our very survival. An infant cannot survive without being able to trust her nurturing parent. Marriages that lack trust hit a dead end. Handshakes that seal a business deal assume genuine trust, which sometimes springs from a leap of faith. As […]
New Scientist When infinity gets boring: What went wrong with No Man’s Sky The effect is dizzying. But it wasn’t enough. After three years of hype, it took just a few hours for players to start complaining that the game was boring or was missing features they had seen in early trailers. Many asked for refunds. What went wrong? “The reaction hasn’t been too surprising to me,” says […]