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Bath Salts, Zombies, and Crossbows: An Update
Scientists are working to study the make-up and effects of bath salts, while ER doctors are struggling to treat its victims.
By Lauren Kirchner
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Dim Lighting Sparks Creativity
New German research finds a darkened room encourages freedom of thought and inspires innovation.
By Tom Jacobs
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The Next Political Weapon for Minority Parties: Recall Elections
Why all the recall elections? And why do they matter?
By Seth Masket
MICHAEL TODD
Face to Face With More Electronic Privacy Concerns
As facial recognition on the fly becomes more and more possible, are there any uses that don't send chills up the spines of civil libertarians?
How Do We Know the Death Toll in Syria Is Accurate?
The count of the dead in Syria and other global trouble spots matters a great deal, and so does the provenance of the numbers presented. Here's one exhaustive effort to get them right.
NSA Surveillance: Better Down the Stretch Than at the Start
Looking at 20 years of jihadist plots in the West, a leading expert on terrorism finds that Internet surveillance has its uses but is no panacea.
TOM JACOBS
Dim Lighting Sparks Creativity
New German research finds a darkened room encourages freedom of thought and inspires innovation.
You’re Probably Not as Conservative as You Think
New research finds a disconnect between young Americans’ self-proclaimed political ideology and their opinions on actual issues.
Want to Learn How to Think? Read Fiction
New Canadian research finds reading a literary short story increases one’s comfort with ambiguity.
RYAN O’HANLON
The Highest Paid People on the Pentagon’s Budget: 3 Football Coaches
The head coaches at Army, Navy, and Air Force make the most money in the Pentagon—and it's not all that surprising.
The 51 Best State Flags
In honor of Flag Day, a definitive list.
Farmers Don’t Make Money From Farming
Instead, they lose it.
MICHAEL FITZGERALD
News Outlets Show Significant Bias in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage
The public is in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, but not by a margin of five to one, which is how a new Pew study weighs coverage during Supreme Court hearings for two landmark cases.
Sarah Gets Her Lung
It's unclear what it means for the future, but the 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl is set to receive a lung transplant today.
Sarah Versus the Data
When a child is deemed suitable for an adult organ transplant, why are they put at the end of the donation line?
SETH MASKET
The Next Political Weapon for Minority Parties: Recall Elections
Why all the recall elections? And why do they matter?
What Your Cell Phone Data Actually Looks Like—and How It Might Be Used Against You
There's no reason to believe that the government is listening in on all of our phone calls, simply because the task is absurdly vast.
Just How Much of a Problem Is Campaign Money?
Wait a minute. Last year was supposed to be the one in which big donors bought the election—but that didn't happen. So why are we still getting worked up over the Citizens United decision?
JIM RUSSELL
Demographic Deception
How mesofacts, or facts that change slowly, influence what we think about urban policy and talent migration.
Germany’s Demographic Bust
The population is shrinking and German companies need talent, but the country has always had a strained relationship with immigrants.
Madison’s Portland Problem
"There’s a persistent rap that Madison simply lacks an entrepreneurial spirit, with many locals content with a laid-back life spent enjoying their neighborhoods, lakes, bike paths, and craft beers."
MARC HERMAN
Is Anyone Counting the Guns in Syria?
Two years ago, illegal arms deals helped Libya's rebels topple a dictator. Now it's Syria's turn, and the rules haven't changed.
Crisis-Wracked Town Bets on Smurf-Based Economy
Two years on, some blue paint continues to save a classic village. Except for the "classic" part.
A Security Scholar Talks About the NSA Scandal’s Private Side
"If there’s full disclosure—we are monitoring your phone calls and we’re tracking your keystrokes, and you should just know that this is happening—people tend to be OK with it, because they can self regulate."
MATT NOVAK
How to Conjure a Ghost to Get a Murderer to Confess
All you need is a projector and a willing prisoner.
The Google Maps of 1917
Before Mapquest and Google, there was the "electric directory."
Were There Robot Librarians in the 1950s?
No, there were not. Here's how we know.
LISA MARGONELLI
The Environmental Defense Fund Is Pissing Off Fellow Environmentalists
Has the large advocacy group allowed itself to be “co-opted by industry interests"?
Nikola Tesla Would Not Approve of Your Online Viewing Habits
Collectively, we've spent more than 50 years watching the Tesla vs. Thomas Edison rap smackdown that went viral on YouTube.
How the Trailer Park Could Save Us All
A healthy, inexpensive, environmentally friendly solution for housing millions of retiring baby boomers is staring us in the face. We just know it by a dirty name.
MARIA STRESHINSKY
Application for Employment (Women)
Fifty years ago President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. A glimpse back at what it was like to apply for a job as a woman.
The Last Mile
Introducing the May/June 2013 issue of Pacific Standard.
My Vote for Most Inventive Way To Manage Stress
In the multi-tasking world we live in, it's safe to say many of us are looking for either more hours, or better ways to manage our stress and workload.
Most Recent Stories

Is Anyone Counting the Guns in Syria?
June 18, 2013 • By Marc Herman
Last night, in a televised interview with Charlie Rose, President Obama made the case for arming anti-Assad forces in Syria. In part, Obama was responding to critics who claim the U.S. weapons, once ... Read More

The Highest Paid People on the Pentagon’s Budget: 3 Football Coaches
June 18, 2013 • By Ryan O'Hanlon
According to Chicago Life magazine, yes, that is true. The three highest-paid employees on the Pentagon budget are the head football coaches at Air Force (Troy Calhoun), Navy (Ken Niumatalolo), and ... Read More

The City of the Future: Can Los Angeles Reinvent Itself All Over Again?
June 18, 2013 • By Jeff Turrentine
This post originally appeared on OnEarth, a Pacific Standard partner site. In the summer of 1998, my wife and I left Brooklyn and gamely headed west to Los Angeles, as disaffected New Yorkers are ... Read More

Guess What? Traditional Marriage Doesn’t Exist
June 18, 2013 • By Daniel Luzer
The U.S. Supreme Court, any day now, will issue a decision about gay marriage as it considers the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, the two ... Read More

Face to Face With More Electronic Privacy Concerns
June 17, 2013 • By Michael Todd
Whether or not your electronic life is your own to share or not fuels debate over the propriety of U.S. government trolling of phone and Internet sources. But the face you present to the ... Read More

News Outlets Show Significant Bias in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage
June 17, 2013 • By Michael Fitzgerald
The media is off balance with the public on the issue of same-sex marriage, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Stories with statements mostly ... Read More

Demographic Deception
June 17, 2013 • By Jim Russell
For policy concerns such as brain drain, demographic facts take a backseat to mesofacts. What are mesofacts? Samuel Arbesman coined the term: Mesofacts are the facts that change neither too quickly ... Read More

Inside India’s Perna Caste, Where Women Are Routinely Prostituted by Their In-Laws
June 17, 2013 • By Lois Parshley
NEW DELHI — On a recent sunny day before the monsoons began, a thin woman settled to the floor in the cool shade of a nondescript apartment building in Dharampura, where a Perna community lives on ... Read More

This Is Your Town on Fracking
June 17, 2013 • By Elizabeth Royte
This post originally appeared on OnEarth, a Pacific Standard partner site. Not long ago I found myself stranded in Williston, North Dakota. You might have heard of it. Despite being the ... Read More

He Told You So: Julian Assange, the NSA, and Edward Snowden
June 17, 2013 • By Maria Bustillos
Unpleasant and even unreliable people can produce highly valuable insights; it's the job of interested observers to separate the wheat from the chaff. The irregular fortunes of Julian Assange, who is ... Read More

Your Stem Cells Are Here to Stay
June 17, 2013 • By Michael White
With each new report of a technological breakthrough, stem cells both inspire hope in patients and incite ethical controversy. Some see stem cells as a potentially game-changing cure for currently ... Read More

You’re Probably Not as Conservative as You Think
June 17, 2013 • By Tom Jacobs
Conservatism the brand seems to be faring better than conservatism the philosophy. That’s the conclusion of new research that finds a serious disconnect between the way people under 30 identify ... Read More

A Father’s Day Remembrance
June 16, 2013 • By Charles Ornstein
My sister and I took our positions in the funeral home's family room and greeted hundreds of mourners who had come to pay their respects. Everything seemed as it had four months earlier at our ... Read More














