Culture

DURHAM, N.C. –- During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama proposed an economic plan that would create 5 million jobs in environmental industries. These so-called "green collar" jobs do, in fact, present the next frontier for U.S. manufacturing, says a new report from Duke University.

Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have discovered an Iron Age chiseled stone slab that provides the first written evidence in the region that people believed the soul was separate from the body.

University of Chicago researchers will describe the discovery, a testimony created by an Iron Age official that includes an incised image of the man, on Nov. 22-23 at conferences of biblical and Middle Eastern archaeological scholars in Boston.

Ants specializing on one job such as snatching food from a picnic are no more efficient than "Jane-of-all-trade" ants, according to new research.

The finding casts doubt on the idea that the world-wide success of ants stems from job specialization within the colony. Ants are found on every continent besides Antarctica.

Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, wrote in 1776 that specialized labor provides benefits to human industry, and similar benefits have been suggested to explain the world-wide success of ants, and other social insects which live in colonies. Ants are found on every continent besides Antarctica, and their success has been attributed to the evolution of specialization – it has been theorized that this increases the efficiency of individual workers - but has rarely been measured.

China is not eroding the foundations of U.S. alliances in East Asia and the United States remains the security partner of choice in the region. But consistent U.S. efforts are needed to ensure that the nation retains its influence, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

The study finds that America's key East Asian allies do not see China as a viable strategic alternative to the United States and that allied nations seek to broaden economic and diplomatic relations with both the United States and China.

That unforgettable honeymoon has a special place in your memory—so specialthat you might be reluctant to try to repeat it. A new study in the Journal ofConsumer Research says people tend to treat their memories of previous specialexperiences as assets to be protected.

People are different, both physically and mentally, but genetically everyone is very similar. That's been the thought of scientists for decades now. But with population research becoming more and more common, the University of Alberta's Tim Caulfield is concerned that genetic research could awaken racist attitudes.

Just last year Nobel Prize winning geneticist James Watson claimed there are genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence. These comments made international headlines and Watson later apologized.

WASHINGTON, DC — To prevent global warming, researchers and policymakers are exploring a variety of options to significantly cut the amount of carbon dioxide that reaches the atmosphere. One possible approach involves capturing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide at the source — an electric power plant, for example — and then injecting them underground.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Democratic Party control in Washington could restore lawsuits as an option for workers and consumers now forced to settle disputes through mandatory arbitration that gives employers and businesses an unfair edge, a University of Illinois labor law expert says.

Michael LeRoy predicts a bill sponsored by Democrats that would bar companies from imposing arbitration will likely be approved next year when Democrats take over the White House and add to their majorities in Congress.

WASHINGTON, DC--Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of the requirement — whether existing or anticipated — to capture all emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. But an MIT analysis suggests an intermediate step that could get construction moving again, allowing the nation to fend off growing electricity shortages using our most-abundant, least-expensive fuel while also reducing emissions.

What makes residents of certain states or countries more likely to consume morealcohol? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, highlevels of individualism lead to more problem drinking.

"We looked at the extent to which consumer levels of individualism (vs.collectivism) were related to their beer and problem alcohol consumption," writeauthors Yinlong Zhang and L.J. Shrum (both University of Texas-San Antonio).

Why not buy that treadmill? You'll be exercising every day, right? A new studyin the Journal of Consumer Research examines why our expectations of ourbehavior so often don't match reality.

Authors Robin J. Tanner (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Kurt A. Carlson(Duke University) uncovered a specific process that they believe contributes tounrealistic optimism. They also suggest a method to encourage consumers tothink more realistically about their future actions.

That unforgettable honeymoon has a special place in your memory—so specialthat you might be reluctant to try to repeat it. A new study in the Journal ofConsumer Research says people tend to treat their memories of previous specialexperiences as assets to be protected.

A research paper, by Dr Stuart Fraser of Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick, has found that many Ethnic Minority owned Businesses (EMBs) in the UK struggle to obtain credit in comparison to White owned businesses. Black and Bangladeshi owned businesses are the most likely to be refused credit, facing up to four times as many refusals as white owned businesses.

Government ownership of banks – something unthinkable until very recently for the 'Anglo-Saxon' model of capitalism –- became a reality early in 2008. This was a policy response to an unprecedented global financial crisis, aimed at preventing financial meltdown. It succeeded in doing so, according to Professor Panicos Demetriades, an Economist funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) at the Department of Economics of the University of Leicester.