The late guitarist Jimi Hendrix is an icon of the 1960s counterculture, an energetic emblem of creative rebelliousness. A newly published paper suggests he also represents something else entirely: the imaginative power that is unleashed when the two hemispheres of the brain work together. Writing in the journal Laterality, University of Toledo psychologist Stephen Christman notes that Hendrix was “mixed-handed:” He wrote and ate with his right hand, but combed his hair and played the guitar with his left. Several previous studies — including one we reported on last fall — have ... Read More
Do Gerrymanders Come in Shades of Red and Blue?
February 23, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
The type of redistricting reform Miller-McCune examines in its March-April issue is founded on a pair of premises — that citizens would be better off wresting control of the highly political process from the politicians who manipulate it for their own gain, and that, in doing so, we might cut down on the partisanship in government. The first sentiment seems like common sense, and may be reason enough all by itself to adopt reforms nationwide that would give independent commissions the right to redraw congressional and legislative boundaries every 10 years. The second, from the point of ... Read More
Some Smart Solutions Going Forward
February 22, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the infernos themselves. Innovative computer mapping tools advance, as do airborne imaging techniques that can look straight through black smoke for views of emerging dangers no firefighter ever sees. However, some crews battle blazes on bulldozers older than they are, and funding is tight all around. Still, the breakthroughs keep coming. Part I: THE POWER OF ‘LOOK-DOWN’ TECHNOLOGY Part II: UNDERSTANDING WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR AND PREDICTING ITS SPREAD Part III: WHAT’S REALLY ... Read More
The True Cost of Tobacco
February 18, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
The World Health Organization estimates that almost 5 million people die each year from tobacco-related causes, a figure that is expected to double in the next 20 years, especially among the poor in the developing world. Smoking in the developing world is rising by 3.4 percent every year, and with aggressive marketing by tobacco companies there, that growth is likely to be sustained. By 2030, approximately 70 percent of smoking-related deaths worldwide will occur in developing countries. But the cost of smoking isn't only measured in mortality — it can be measured in dollars or yuan or ... Read More