Human behavior drives the evolution of biological organisms in ways that can profoundly adversely impact human welfare. Understanding people’s incentives when they do so is essential to identify policies and other strategies to improve evolutionary outcomes. In a new study, researchers bring the tools of economics and game theory to evolution management. From antibiotic-resistant bacteria…

In a new article, researchers provide an overview of sample preparation techniques and information on routine sample types that may be encountered in forensic toxicology cases. In an article in WIRES Forensic Science, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine’s (BUSM) Biomedical Forensic Sciences program, provide an overview of sample preparation techniques and information on…

A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to producing cleaner energy based on cost alone could create social inequalities, finds a new study. The Paris Agreement aims to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. One major route to achieving this is for countries to…

Fiber optic cables, it turns out, can be incredibly useful scientific sensors. Researchers have studied them for use in carbon sequestration, groundwater mapping, earthquake detection, and monitoring of Arctic permafrost thaw. Now they have been awarded new grants to develop fiber optics for two novel uses: monitoring offshore wind operations and underground natural gas storage.…

India’s transition to clean cooking fuels may be hampered by users’ belief that using firewood is better for their families’ wellbeing than switching to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), a new study reveals. Women are considered primary family cooks in rural India and those featured in the study feel that both fuels support wellbeing. Understanding these…

A new study finds that over their 40-year history, fuel economy standards in the United States have helped reduce reliance on foreign oil producers, saved $5 trillion in fuel costs and prevented 14 billion metric tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere. The standards (known as CAFE standards), first enacted to reduce foreign…

Amid population expansion and severe climate conditions threatening agricultural productivity, sustainable food production is a national priority. Simultaneously, advances in bioenergy agriculture are necessary to move our energy sector away from fossil fuels. Land enrolled in the CRP cannot currently be used for bioenergy crop production, wherein high-yielding plants (like miscanthus and switchgrass) are harvested…

CO2 emissions from electricity in the UK fell by two thirds in the last decade due to several factors working together, rather than a single panacea. This decline, faster than in any other large country, was driven by a complex interplay of policies and events, according to research from Imperial College London published today in…

‘Blue’ hydrogen — an energy source that involves a process for making hydrogen by using methane in natural gas — is being lauded as a clean, green energy to help reduce global warming. But authors of a new report believe it may harm the climate more than burning fossil fuel. The carbon footprint to create…

Like high-frequency traders on Wall Street, a growing army of bots exploit inefficiencies in decentralized exchanges, which are places where users buy, sell or trade cryptocurrency independent of a central authority, a new study found. The researchers also found that high fees paid to prioritize certain transactions pose a security threat to the entire blockchain.…