Pacific Standard July-August 2013 Cover

Battling World Hunger Through Innovative Technology

July 12, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Battling World Hunger Graphic

Topics like farm industrialization and genetic modification seem to dominate discussion of technology's role in addressing world hunger. Beyond them, however, are new and exciting frontiers. From mobile apps to interactive games, technology is reshaping our understanding of and approach to world hunger. To see the illustration of these innovations that appeared in the July-August 2011 issue of Miller-McCune magazine, click the image below. Robotics Whereas the plant breeder's pursuit of an ideal seed has traditionally been time-consuming and resource-intensive, new technology is vastly ... Read More

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Judges’ Decisions More Lenient After Lunch

April 13, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

In addition to showing up on time and not wearing loud ties, criminal defense attorneys would do well to think about the care and feeding of the judges who hear their clients' cases. A hungry, tired judge, it turns out, is much less likely to grant a defendant's request than one who has just eaten or taken a break. At least that's the finding of an ingenious new study looking at the rulings made by Israeli parole board judges in relation to when they had taken a meal break. Overall, prisoners saw a 65 percent success rate if their cases were heard early in the workday or immediately ... Read More

More like this: Findings, Legal Affairs
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Can We Avoid Devouring the Planet?

March 4, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

What's for dinner? Ever more people with ever increasing purchasing power, particularly in developing nations, means that a lot more food is going to be needed to feed humanity.  But where are the new farmlands going to go, in an already crowded planet?  Is it possible to feed the world without also plowing under every natural area? This question is especially pressing in the tropics, where the the majority of available land for agricultural expansion is located.  Dr. Holly Gibbs, a geographer and postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, has been tracking the growth of agriculture in ... Read More

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Hungry Men Love Larger Ladies

September 28, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment

A man's image of the perfect romantic partner varies depending upon whether he is feeling hungry. That's the conclusion of a newly published study, which finds peckish males prefer females who are heavier, taller and older. The research, published in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary and Cultural Psychology, confirms and expands upon two previous papers: a 2005 study that concluded heavier women are preferred in cultures with scarce resources, and a 2006 British study that found hunger influences judgments of female physical attractiveness. The latter report, in the British Journal of ... Read More

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