academic research – News Stories About academic research - Page 2

Anti-'Frankenfood' Activists
Should Modify Stance

OPINION

Aug 4, 2008 5:48 PM CDT

Anti-'Frankenfood' Activists Should Modify Stance

Opposition to genetically souped-up crops has run its course

(Newser) - The recent destruction of a research crop of genetically modified potatoes in England highlights how attitudes towards altered crops have changed, the Economist writes. A decade ago, Greenpeace activists caught in the act of destroying food crops were acquitted because of popular fear of the consequences of “Frankenfoods.”...

Firebombed Researcher Fears Animal-Rights Activists

Aug 4, 2008 4:43 PM CDT

Firebombed Researcher Fears Animal-Rights Activists

UC Santa Cruz biologist speaks out after weekend firebombing of home

(Newser) - A university researcher says he fears for his family’s safety after a weekend firebomb attack, the San Jose Mercury News reports. David Feldheim, who does neuroscience research on mice at the University of California Santa Cruz, was slightly injured. He said he expects a continuining threat from animal-rights activists—...

Big Pharma
Sickens Universities

OPINION

Jun 22, 2008 6:07 PM CDT

Big Pharma Sickens Universities

It's too easy for drug companies to skirt lax academic regulations

(Newser) - Weak legislation allows professors to collect huge under-the-table payments from Big Pharma, and it’s time to fight back, Dan Greenberg writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Pharmaceutical companies pay professors to shill drugs and lend their names to industry research, and the only oversight is an honor-system mechanism...

Better Red
Than Dead in
Online Games

Jun 12, 2008 2:24 PM CDT

Better Red Than Dead in Online Games

Red teams win more often than blue teams, researchers find

(Newser) - If you want to win, at least in the online first-person shooter Unreal Tournament 2004, get your red on. Researchers have found that red teams beat blue teams in the multiplayer game 55% of the time, even though players choose their own teams. One scientist suggested this is because the...

$3.7M Study Questions Origins of Faith

Feb 20, 2008 1:40 PM CST

$3.7M Study Questions Origins of Faith

UK researchers will ask if people believe in God naturally

(Newser) - UK researchers will spend $3.7 million probing whether belief in God is a matter of nature or nurture, the Times of London reports. The University of Oxford crew will examine whether faith in a deity conferred an evolutionary advantage, or might be byproduct of other advantageous human characteristics, such...

Let Facebook Ring from the Ivory Tower

Dec 16, 2007 12:11 PM CST

Let Facebook Ring from the Ivory Tower

Academics unleash study of social networking craze

(Newser) - Move over, preening teenagers: byte-thirsty academics are now frequenting social networking hangouts like Facebook and MySpace. Hoping to snatch a dissertation out of the latest digital craze, plus a side of fame, they’ll all have to line up behind danah boyd (small caps intended), a Berkeley PhD candidate who’...