Other experts on criminal psychology, though, are skeptical about whether a name alone is enough to motivate mass murderers. Dr. James Alan Fox, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston and the author of the book “Extreme Killing,” said it is important for media coverage not to show fascination with killers or their beliefs. That […]

Now the anonymous online ranking system, RateMyProfessors.com, has been subjected to algorithmic sifting to find that genius is a term students apply to male professors at least three times the rate for women, depending on the discipline. Brilliance is also something men do better in university lecture theatres, according to these ratings, and in music […]

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, a cardiologist, will remain president of the Brigham but will join the NFL in a consulting role on player safety, working directly with its commissioner, Roger Goodell, and other league officials, the NFL said. Her appointment comes as the NFL has embarked on a high-profile campaign to reduce the prevalence of […]

When, in 2010 and 2012, Hungary passed laws entitling Hungarians living abroad to Hungarian passports and then the right to vote in Hungarian elections, it seemed to fan dangerous nationalistic flames and fueled fears of secessionist movements in Hungarian communities beyond the country’s border. Indeed, Hungary’s illiberal Prime Minister Viktor Orban has frequently stated that […]

With Republicans back in charge of Congress, corporate tax reform is on the agenda for 2015. Although it is hard to see how they can reduce corporate tax rates without also doing something for individual taxpayers. If congressional leaders can cobble together a set of reform proposals, their next problem would be how to pay […]

Male professors are brilliant, awesome and knowledgeable. Women are bossy and annoying, and beautiful or ugly. These are a few of the results from a new interactive chart that was gaining notice on social media Friday. Benjamin Schmidt, a Northeastern University history professor, says he built the chart using data from 14 million student reviews […]

Scientists have developed a device that allows bacteria that would not grow in a lab environment to be cultured into potentially powerful antibiotic drugs. The device has already unearthed one antibiotic that can vanquish drug resistant super bugs like MRSA in animal models but its creators say its just the beginning.

In 2011, journalist Luke Dittrich set out to walk the 1,933-mile U.S.-Mexico border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way he and his souped-up baby carriage encountered mountains, deserts, and border agents. A contributing editor for Esquire magazine, Dittrich chronicled his grueling journey in a story for the magazine. We’re […]

“It’s become part of his brand and the NBC brand,” Northeastern Professor Dan Kennedy said. Kennedy, a journalism expert, said the detailed repetition of the falsehood suggests a willful violation of public trust. “He went somewhere we didn’t go, experienced something and came back and told us about it,” Professor Kennedy said. “That’s journalism, and […]

The Affordable Care Act, with its individual mandate and subsidized health insurance policies, was intended to address the ongoing issue of medical debt. But it has barely made a dent in the phenomenon. Millions of Americans continue to labor to pay off bills they had accumulated as the result of medical emergencies or ongoing healthcare […]

The work is being driven by the realization that diseases, as defined in medicine, sound like tidy, distinct entities, but are messier in reality. Diseases tend to be defined by their symptoms. But the molecular roots of a disease may have biological effects that go far beyond our current understanding. Certain diseases tend to follow […]

The mainstream press this morning is stepping gingerly around Brian Williams’ literally incredible mea culpa about (not) coming under fire in Iraq 12 years ago. Ravi Somaiya of the New York Times reports that the NBC News anchor “apologized for mistakenly claiming” his helicopter had been shot down. The Washington Post — which, unlike the […]