Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from The Fate of Nature by Charles Wohlforth, published on June 8 by St. Martins Press. The Fate of Nature considers the burgeoning science of human nature and behavior, using Alaska as a starting point to explore our capacity to save the planet from environmental decline. As we meet a cast of characters from hippie activists to blind evolutionary scientists, from environmentalists to oil companies, we come to better understand the history of mankind's relationship with nature and the challenges for our future life on the planet. [More] Exxon Valdez - Alaska - Oil spill - Energy - Environment
Changing Brains www.changingbrains.org [More] Reviews - Brain - Arts - Social Sciences - Psychology
The Changing Arctic Landscape by Ken D. Tape. University of Alaska Press, 2010 [More] University of Alaska Press - Alaska - United States - Education - Colleges and Universities
The common wombat ( Vombatus ursinus ) is, as its name suggests, fairly common in Australia. In fact, the indigenous badgerlike mammal is often considered to be a pest. But widespread species are usually ignored because they are pervasive, and in the case of V. ursinus new research warns that the meter-long marsupials could soon be in trouble if Australians don't start paying attention. [More] Australia - Marsupial - Mammal - Biology - Flora and Fauna
Viruses do not make good fossils. But advances in genomic technology have allowed scientists to peer into the genetic material of viruses and their hosts to search for clues about their shared evolutionary history. [More] Ebola - Genome - Gene - Virus - Biology
Some people pay big bucks for a designer handbag or a luxury car--and the distinctive logo that goes along with them. Now scientists have learned that other people pay even more to leave the logo behind. The findings appear in the Journal of Marketing . [Young Jee Han, Joseph Nunes and Xavier Drèze, http://bit.ly/cxapoC ]
High-end goods are often ostentatiously labeled. After all, if you spend all that money on a status symbol, you want to make sure that other folks recognize your good taste, even at a distance. But researchers surveying California consumers found that people who are seriously well-off are willing to pay a premium for items whose branding is more discreet.
Some dreams feel so revelatory--if only returning to sleep would take us back there. It turns out, however, that our ability to shape our dreams is better than mere chance. In the blockbuster movie Inception , Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his compatriots use drugs and psychological profiles to trigger specific dreams in people. Although the heavy sedation and level of detail incited are far-fetched, dream control isn't entirely a Hollywood fantasy. [More] Leonardo DiCaprio - Inception - Dream - Psychology - Social Sciences
Binge-shoppers and serial daters might perpetually be living at the whim of their latest impulse, and now research is getting to the biological basis of their seemingly random behavior. [More] Health - Psychology - Social Sciences - Addiction - Mental health
By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday rejected 10 petitions challenging EPA's 2009 finding that climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and the environment.
A new era for nuclear power is taking shape as third-generation reactors, designed to be simpler and safer, inch through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) design certification process. Much of nuclear's revival hinges on the ability of new reactors to outshine those of yore in terms of safety, economics, construction time and life span. [More] Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Nuclear power - Nuclear reactor technology - Nuclear safety - Nuclear