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Study Shows Black Youth are Politically Involved, Critical of Rap Music and Skeptical of a Post–Racial Society

Image credit: University of Chicago

Many of the assumptions people have about black youth — that they are politically detached and negatively influenced by rap music and videos—are false stereotypes, according to a new University of Chicago study by

Prof. Cathy Cohen, based on surveys and conversations with the youth themselves.

Black youth say they are politically involved, critical of many messages in rap and skeptical of the idea that the country has entered a post–racial era. They also are socially conservative on political issues such same–sex marriage, said Cohen, the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and lead researcher of the study. (more…)

200,000 Malaria Deaths Preventable Annually, says U of T Researcher

General

*Deaths in India vastly underestimated*

Professor Prabhat Jha of medicine and an international team of researchers from India, Canada and the U.K. say their new studty shows the number of premature deaths from malaria in India has been vastly underestimated.

The new study is of a nationally representative sample of all deaths from any cause in India, asking family members to describe the fatal illness. Its results show that malaria accounts for about 200,000 (2 lakh) premature deaths before age 70 in India (including 80,000 children below age 15 and 120,000 adults). Previous estimates of malaria deaths were less than 10 per cent of this new figure. (more…)

Soot From Space Tourism Rockets Could Spur Climate Change

Environment

WASHINGTON—Rocket exhaust could become a significant contributor to global climate change in coming decades, according to a new study. The research finds that soot emitted by rockets — not their carbon dioxide emissions — has the greater potential to contribute to global climate change in coming decades. (more…)

Plants Play Larger Role Than Thought in Cleaning up Air Pollution

Environment, Nature

*Chemicals known as oxygenated volatile organic compounds (oVOCs) affect environment, human health*

About the image: Poplars, aspens, other trees provide extensive “ecosystem services.” Image credit: USDA

Vegetation plays an unexpectedly large role in cleansing the atmosphere, a new study finds. (more…)

Climate Change May Create Tipping Points for Populations, Not Just Species

Environment

*Researchers measure survival, reproduction of thousands of arctic and alpine plants over six years*

As Earth’s climate warms, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges away from the equator or to higher elevations.

While scientists have documented such shifts for many plants and animals, the ranges of others seem stable. (more…)

Subprimes Were Not The Culprit In Most Mortgage Meltdowns

Economy

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Subprime mortgages were not the main reason behind the housing crisis that started in 2009 and continues to bedevil the faltering U.S. economy, according to a University of Michigan study. (more…)

The Promise of Ion Beam Cancer Therapy

Health

For certain kinds of cancer, the most effective therapy does not use x-rays or gamma rays but beams of ions, the electrically charged cores of atoms, including hydrogen ions (protons) and heavier ions such as carbon and neon. (more…)

Computer Modeling of Swimming Fish Could Lead To New Robots and Prosthetics

Science

Image credit: University of Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md — Scientists at the University of Maryland and Tulane University have developed a computational model of a swimming fish that is the first to address the interaction of both internal and external forces on locomotion. The interdisciplinary research team simulated how the fish’s flexible body bends, depending on both the forces from the fluid moving around it as well as the muscles inside. Understanding these interactions, even in fish, will help design medical prosthetics for humans that work with the body’s natural mechanics, rather than against them. This research is published in the October 18, 2010 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)