Reality TV provides an education for self-help citizenship, author says

Many things have been said about reality TV, but "educational" has rarely been among them. Yet whether we realize it or not, shows from "Survivor" to "The Apprentice" to the more-recent "Oprah's Big Give" are imparting lessons for an age of scaled-down and reinvented government, says University of Illinois professor and author James Hay.

Published Date: May 13, 2008


Research shines spotlight on a key player in the dance of chromosomes

Cell division is essential to life, but the mechanism by which emerging daughter cells organize and divvy up their genetic endowments is little understood. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois and Columbia University report on how a key motor protein orchestrates chromosome movements at a critical stage of cell division.

Published Date: May 13, 2008


Female concave-eared frogs draw mates with ultrasonic calls

To draw their mates, female concave-eared torrent frogs emit a high-pitched chirp that to the human ear sounds like that of a bird. This is one of several unusual frog-related findings reported this week in the journal Nature.

Published Date: May 12, 2008


Justice in the brain: equity and efficiency are encoded differently

Which is better, giving more food to a few hungry people or letting some food go to waste so that everyone gets a share? A study appearing this week in Science finds that most people choose the latter, and that the brain responds in unique ways to inefficiency and inequity.

Published Date: May 08, 2008


U.S. no longer superpower, now a besieged global power, scholars say

The United States remains a formidable but besieged global power, according to the editors of "From Superpower to Besieged Global Power: Restoring World Order After the Failure of the Bush Doctrine" (University of Georgia Press).

Published Date: May 08, 2008