Upon purchasing a product, many consumers will sign contracts that contain gag clauses in the fine print.'Zipper' via www.shutterstock.comIn late September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against two marketers of weight-loss supplements – Roca Labs, Inc and Roca Labs Nutraceutical USA, Inc.
According to the FTC, Roca...
What would an environmental economist do? iip-photo-archive/flickr, CC BY-NCIn announcing the State Department’s decision to reject the permit application for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama focused on how this decision fits into the broader context of international negotiations on climate change.
With this decision made,...
Read more: If the US had price on carbon, would Keystone XL have made sense?
Crucial to Paris is a system to monitor and verify countries' pledges to reduce emissions.Kacper Pempel/ReutersThe United States, like many other countries, has been participating in negotiations in the lead-up to the United Nations' conference on climate change in Paris. The goal is to craft a policy framework that is going to engage all...
Read more: As the US heads to climate talks, it seeks a plan to 'trust but verify'
Behavioral research shows that federal employees are more likely to click on an email if it's sent at lunchtime.ReutersBack in September, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that marked a major turning point in the role that behavioral science plays in helping the federal government achieve policy goals.
The order, which directs...
Read more: How the science of human behavior is beginning to reshape the US government
What difference can a teaching assistant make?https://www.flickr.com/photos/vandycft/, CC BY-NCFrom 1995 to 2012, the rate of college completion in the United States has steadily fallen relative to other developed countries. Over this short period of time, the US went from having the highest young-adult college completion rate among OECD countries...
Read more: Teaching assistants like me? Here's what could change
Computer... or black box for data?US ArmyReproducibility is one of the cornerstones of science. Made popular by British scientist Robert Boyle in the 1660s, the idea is that a discovery should be reproducible before being accepted as scientific knowledge.
In essence, you should be able to produce the same results I did if you follow the method I...
Read more: How computers broke science – and what we can do to fix it
A metrobus driver performs squats at Rio de los Remedios metrobus station in Mexico. To combat growing obesity, lawmakers have introduced a new campaign encouraging physical activity. Edgard Garrido/ReutersThere is a longstanding debate in the research community about the importance of fitnessversus fatness in health. Are exercise and improving...
Getting out the message: environmental activists seized on the Keystone XL pipeline as a symbol. Light Brigading/flickr, CC BY-NCContrary to predictions from energy industry insiders, President Obama has rejected TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the United States-Canada border.
The president downplayed the...
Read more: The activists' playbook behind Obama's Keystone rejection
Obama announcing that he has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline – what message does it send on infrastructure? Jonathan Ernst/ReutersPresident Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline was virtually a foregone conclusion well before he announced it.
Just as the prolonged debate about the pipeline was far more a matter of...
Read more: The Keystone XL pipeline debate is over, but our infrastructure needs are not
The headquarters of The Boston Globe. Brian Snyder/ReutersNote: this article may contain spoilers for those unfamiliar with the story.
In the new movie Spotlight, there’s a wonderful scene where a reporter is seeking documents in a courthouse. The building is a dreary linoleum monument to The Way Things Are. In the scene, a recalcitrant clerk...