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U.S. Workers Are ‘Giving Away The Store,’ Costing Firms Billions

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Nearly 70 percent of the nation’s service employees give away free goods and services – from hamburgers to cable TV – costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.

Clay Voorhees, study co-author and marketing expert at Michigan State University, said one of the best ways to combat this illegal practice – called “sweethearting” – is through better screening of job candidates. (more…)

‘Explorers’ Use Uncertainty And Specific Area of Brain

Science

As they try to find the best reward among options, some people explore based on how uncertain they are about the outcome of the options. Those who employ that thought process, unlike people who use other strategies, uniquely harness the computational power of the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, a new study finds. (more…)

Treatment For TB Can Be Guided By Patients’ Genetics

Health

A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis. (more…)

3-D Laser Map Shows Earthquake Zone Before and After

Science

Geologists learn how earthquakes change the landscape — down to a few inches

Geologists have a new tool to study how earthquakes change the landscape–down to a few inches. It’s giving scientists insights into how earthquake faults behave. (more…)

Astronomy Team That Includes UCLA Finance Professor Discovers Nearby Dwarf Galaxy

Science

A team led by UCLA research astronomer Michael Rich has used a unique telescope to discover a previously unknown companion to the nearby galaxy NGC 4449, which is some 12.5 million light years from Earth. The newly discovered dwarf galaxy had escaped even the prying eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The research is published Feb. 9 in the journal Nature. (more…)

Distorted Art

Culture

*UD art professor creates sculptures from baking flour, aluminum*

There’s a quality to David Meyer’s art that’s both conceptual and ephemeral, sort of like watching the clouds roll by.

You see with your mind, not your eyes. And even then, as with clouds, shapes move. Things change.

There’s art in distortion. (more…)

Why Bad Immunity Genes Survive

Health, Science

*Study implicates “arms race” between genes and germs*

Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs–even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.

“Major histocompatibility complex” (MHC) proteins are found on the surfaces of most cells in vertebrate animals. They distinguish proteins like themselves from foreign proteins, and trigger an immune response against these foreign invaders. (more…)

comScore Releases the “2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus” Report

Technology

Report Offers Insights on Key Trends from 2011 and What They Mean for the Coming Year

RESTON, VA, February 9, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report. This annual report examines how the prevailing trends in social media, search, online video, digital advertising, mobile and e-commerce are defining the current marketplace and what these trends mean for the year ahead. (more…)