Edition: US - Today's top story: For China, climate change is no hoax – it's a business and political opportunity [Click here to view this message in your browser].
Edition: US
6 December 2016
[[The Conversation]Academic rigor, journalistic flair]
Editor's note
More than 800 scientists and energy experts yesterday called on Donald Trump to maintain U.S. leadership in the fight to slow global climate change. Whether they will have an impact remains to be seen, but another leader may be emerging: China, the world’s top greenhouse gas emitter. As USC economist Matthew Kahn explains, Chinese leaders believe taking aggressive steps to cut carbon emissions [will pay off at home and abroad].
And counter to the impression you might have gotten watching your favorite police procedurals, forensic evidence is not infallible. In fact, a new report out of the White House pinpoints [major validity problems with forensic science]. Georgia State law professor Jessica Gabel Cino describes how far some of these forensic disciplines are from reliable – and how this faulty evidence undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Jennifer Weeks
Editor, Environment and Energy
Top story
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shake hands during a joint ratification of the Paris climate change agreement in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Sept. 3, 2016. How Hwee Young/Pool Photo via AP
[For China, climate change is no hoax – it's a business and political opportunity]
Matthew Kahn, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Although Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax invented by China, Chinese leaders believe cutting carbon emissions will generate economic and political payoffs at home and abroad.
Education
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[How Standing Rock became a site of pilgrimage]
Rosalyn R. LaPier, Harvard University
Thousands of people, both those within Native American communities and their non-Native allies, felt called to go to Standing Rock. What was the motivation?
Economy + Business
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[Why President-elect Trump doesn't think he has a conflict of interest problem]
Elizabeth C. Tippett, University of Oregon
The president-elect doesn't think his extensive business and other conflicts will be a problem when he's president. Research suggests it's because of a behavioral bias that affects us all.
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[Sleep deprivation costs the economy billions – and sends workers to an early grave]
David Spencer, University of Leeds
Basically, we need to work less.
Politics + Society
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[America's role in the world 75 years after Pearl Harbor]
Peter Harris, Colorado State University
The Japanese attack on a US naval base on Dec. 7, 1941 set in motion a series of events that transformed the United States into a global superpower. Will Donald Trump bring that era to an end?
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[‘Hail Trump’ salute recalls a powerful message of hate]
Stephanie Schorow, Regis College
The reboot of the Nazi salute should not be taken lightly, given its history of hatred and genocide.
Science + Technology
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[Forensic evidence largely not supported by sound science – now what?]
Jessica Gabel Cino, Georgia State University
Is forensic science an oxymoron? A new White House report suggests there are major issues with many of the forensic disciplines used to convict defendants of crimes in the U.S.
Arts + Culture
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[Trump Tower, the skyscraper and the future of urban development]
Kevin D. Murphy, Vanderbilt University
George Washington had Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson had Monticello. Now Trump has his eponymous tower. Can it stimulate a more creative, sustainable approach to building skyscrapers?
Health + Medicine
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[Why it's wrong to blame Obamacare for health care ills]
Aravind Chandrasekaran, The Ohio State University; Daniel Martin, The Ohio State University
The Affordable Care Act gets blamed for many health care ills, but here's one condition that it should not be blamed for.
Rest of the World
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Australia
[Where are the women scientists, tech gurus and engineers in our films?]
Vivienne Glance, University of Western Australia
New research on gendered roles in top-grossing movies has found that 83% of characters in family films with a STEM career are men.
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Africa
[The Gambia keeps dream of deepening democracy in Africa alive]
David E Kiwuwa, Princeton University
A peaceful transition in the Gambia, taken together with hints of change in Angola and Zimbabwe, will portend hope that Africa’s democratic renewal is still alive.
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United Kingdom
[Smoking during pregnancy may lead to later substance use in the child]
Charlotte Cecil, King's College London
Epigenetics may explain why children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to use substances later in life.
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