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Politicians Have Less Influence Through News Media

By Guest PostSeptember 11, 2011Media, Politicsamerican public, corwin smidt, gun control in 2000, health care reform, media coverage, michigan state university, million mom march, news media, public agenda, public opinion, Washington, washington politicians

EAST LANSING, Mich. — News coverage of Washington politicians and their rhetoric appears to have less influence on the American public compared to other news coverage, according to a study by a Michigan State University political scientist.

Instead, citizens are more apt to be swayed by news stories about grassroots protests and local events, said Corwin Smidt, assistant professor of political science. His study appears in the research journal Public Opinion Quarterly. (more…)

Microbes Generate Electricity While Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste

By Guest PostSeptember 8, 2011Environmentallison speers, conductive pili, dena cologgi, electricity, environmental disasters, gemma reguera, geobacter bacteria, groundwater, michigan state university, microbes, microbial fuel cells, microorganisms, nanowires, nuclear contamination, nuclear waste, polluted sites, production of nuclear fuel, radioactive material, sanela lampa pastirk, shelly kelly, toxic metals, uranium

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers at Michigan State University have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals.

Details of the process, which can be improved and patented, are published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination, said Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist. (more…)

Hyenas’ Ability to Count Helps Them Decide to Fight or Flee

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2011Nature, Scienceafrica, animal behaviour, beacon researcher, chimpanzees, evolution of big brains, kay holekamp, Kenya, lions, michigan state university, sarah benson amram, sean dryer, spotted hyenas, study of evolution in action, virginia heinen, zoology

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Being able to count helps spotted hyenas decide to fight or flee, according to research at Michigan State University.

When animals fight, the larger group tends to win. In the current issue of Animal Behaviour, Sarah Benson-Amram, an MSU graduate student studying zoology, showed that hyenas listen to the sound of intruders’ voices to determine who has the advantage. (more…)

Sea Lampreys Fear the Smell of Death

By Guest PostAugust 12, 2011Environmentcanadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences, environmentally sensitive areas, great lakes fishery commission, invasive species in the great lakes, michael wagner, michigan state university, potential game changer, repellant, robert lambe, sea lampreys, sea lampreys in the great lakes

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A repellant for sea lampreys could be the key to better controlling one of the most destructive invasive species in the Great Lakes, says a Michigan State University researcher.

Scientists have seen the effect alarm cues have on lampreys. When scents from dead sea lampreys are poured into a tank of live ones, the lampreys’ efforts to escape are dramatic. In the past, these reactions were simply dismissed as novel. But Michael Wagner, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, sees this reaction as a potential game changer. (more…)

Farmers More Likely to be Green if They Talk to Their Neighbors

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2011Environmentenvironmental behavior, global environmental sustainability, grain-to-green program, harvard university, journal ecological modeling, michigan state university, NASA, plant and harvest, reenroll their land, rural chinese neighbors, san diego state university, southwestern china, systems integration and sustainability, wolong nature reserve, xiaodong chen

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Besides helping each other plant and harvest, rural Chinese neighbors also influence each other’s environmental behavior – farmers are more likely to reenroll their land in a conservation program if they talk to their neighbors about it.

Scientists from Michigan State University’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability used a simulation model to study the amount of land farmers in the Wolong Nature Reserve in southwestern China re-enrolled in the Grain-to-Green Program, which aims to reduce soil erosion by converting sloping cropland to forest or grassland. Farmers receive an annual payment of either 5,000 pounds of grain or $498 for each 2.5 acres enrolled in the program. In 2005, this was about 8 percent of the farmers’ income. (more…)

Perfecting the Meat of the Potato

By Guest PostJuly 11, 2011Scienceagronomic traits, Antarctica, biochemistry and molecular biology, blueprint, chromosomal positions, current issue of nature, elusive genome, genome and its tuber, genome of the potato, michigan state university, nongrain food crop, plant biology, plant's tuber, potatogenome, potato’s genetic, robin buell, solanaceae, the mysterious potato

EAST LANSING, Mich. — By honing in on the mysterious potato genome and its tuber – its edible portion – researchers are unveiling the secrets of the world’s most-important nongrain food crop.

Robin Buell, Michigan State University plant biologist, is part of an international research team that is mapping the genome of the potato. In the current issue of Nature, the team revealed that it accomplished its goal, thus quickly closing the gap on improving the food source’s elusive genome. (more…)

Youth Cybercrime Linked to Friends’ Influence

By Guest PostJune 26, 2011Culture, Generaladam bossler, american journal of criminal justice, computer hacking, criminologist, cyber-trespassing, cybercrime, david may, digital piracy, eastern kentucky university, georgia southern university, juvenile cybercrime, michigan state university, online and offline, online bullying, online bullying and harassment, online pornography, peer influence, scientific survey, sexual messages, thomas holt, youth cybercrime

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Peer influence and low self-control appear to be the major factors fueling juvenile cybercrime such as computer hacking and online bullying, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University criminologist.

Thomas Holt, assistant professor of criminal justice, said the findings reinforce the need for parents to be more aware of their children’s friends and Internet activities.

“It’s important to know what your kids are doing when they’re online and who they are associating with both online and offline,” Holt said. (more…)

Prejudice Linked to Women’s Menstrual Cycle

By Guest PostJune 24, 2011Healthcarlos david navarrete, carlos navarrete, evolutionary psychologist, fertile, human history, male invaders, male strangers, mcdonald and navarrete, melissa mcdonald, menstrual cycle, michigan state university, psychological system, racial and social groups, reproductive choice, risk of sexual coercion, suggesting prejudice, women

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Women’s bias against male strangers increases when women are fertile, suggesting prejudice may be partly fueled by genetics, according to a study by Michigan State University psychology researchers.

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, appears online in Psychological Science, a major research journal.

“Our findings suggest that women’s prejudice, at least in part, may be a byproduct of their biology,” said Melissa McDonald, a doctoral student and lead author on the paper. (more…)

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