Tuesday, 21 May, 2013

After six decades, the Palestine-Israel stalemate seems hopeless. But could that very hopelessness be blocking a solution? A new study of people on both sides of the struggle shows that learning about the peaceful resolution of other intractable conflicts can increase their willingness to compromise – a key to peace.

If conflicts are more common near the equator, what will global warming affect do? A new study shows increases in conflict during el Niño periods — but only during the warm, dry part of the cycle, and only in places affected by these big climatic cycles.

Hitting the road? What could be more enlightening than gawking at a cave, exploring a desert, or eyeballing the largest telescope in the world? Need proof that science is not just books and websites or equations and software? Get moving!

Charges that NFL “deliberately and fraudulently concealed” … link between head impacts and brain damage. What is the science of traumatic brain injury?

When big tech goes bad, we ask: How do engineers design fail-safe mechanisms for nuclear weapons, radioactive waste, spaceships?

Which came first: The empire or the administration? Conventional wisdom says the demands of empire led to the rise of bureaucracy. But a new study of six early states suggests that the specialization of power and function we call bureaucracy arises at the same time as the territorial expansion that leads to empire.

Underground nuclear tests have been the biggest roadblock to a comprehensive test ban. How are these explosions detected, and how reliably?

As missiles get faster, the Navy can’t continue to rely on dumb armor. What can ship designers learn from dirt and beanbags?

What would happen to the global climate after a nuclear war between India and Pakistan? Study says the planet would be dark and cool for 10 years. How much would food production decline?

20 years ago, ecotourism was promoted as a way to save natural systems, and the people who lived in them. We ask: Is ecotourism a force for good, or just another form of “greenwashing”?

New analysis of post-traumatic stress disorder among American Vietnam vets find 19 percent had PTSD after serving in combat. The greater the exposure to combat, the higher the rate of PTSD.

Cooling failure blamed in aftermath of giant quake. What are the health effects of low-level radiation? Lessons from Hiroshima and Chernobyl.

As weapons proliferate, we wonder: exactly how do you make a nuke? How many nations have this ability? How can we track proliferators?

In mid-2004, U.S. jails and prisons held 2.1 million people. What are the psychological effects of imprisonment? How do POWs survive prison and torture? Can these scars be healed?

Scientific journals choose self-censorship, decide not to publish articles related to biological weapons, bioterrorism and national security. Is this a necessary change in scientific tradition, or an over-reaction to a fearful political climate?