News and Issues
Interfering with Bumble and Honeybees' Extraordinary Feats of Navigation
“Our study raises important issues regarding pesticide authorization procedures. So far, they mostly require manufacturers to ensure that doses encountered on the field do not kill bees, but they basically ignore the consequences of doses that do not kill them but may cause behavioral difficulties.” more »
1940 Census Questions: If unmarried, are you a virgin? Are you a blonde or brunette? Do you own a Bible?
The 1940 Census is a unique Census in our history — the first to include questions that were asked only of a subset of the population, chosen through a near-random scheme. In addition to the questions on age, sex, race, and relationship to the householder were questions about the value of the home, living on a farm, marital status, attending school, highest grade of school completed, place of birth, and citizenship. For persons 14 years and older, there were additionally seven different questions on working status, current occupation and industry, number of weeks worked, and income. more »
Birdsongs Keep Pace with City Life; Whistling the same tune and turning up the volume
Michele McDonald writes: “We’ve created this artificial world, although one could say it’s the real world now, with all this noise — traffic, leaf blowers, air conditioners,” David Luther says. “A lot of birds are living in these areas, and what, if anything, is this doing to their songs?” more »
Consumers Have a Right to Know What is in Their Products: House Panel Focuses on Cosmetics Industry Regulation
"Cosmetics firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing. However, they are not required to submit safety substantiation data to the agency, nor make it available to the agency." more »
