PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Scientists eager to participate in public discourse on environment

2014-04-02
(Press-News.org) A survey of more than 500 researchers indicates that scientists have the desire to get more involved in public discussion and policy decisions regarding environmental issues, but have concerns about how their efforts might be perceived.

"Scientists debate whether they have a role in advocacy," says Gerald Singh, a PhD student in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC, who conducted the survey with his colleagues. "Some feel they need to remain objective and can't engage. Others feel they have a duty to get involved so that decisions are made with the environment in mind."

The results show that scientists overwhelmingly support outreach efforts. Ninety-eight per cent of participants said they would be willing to advocate for a policy if they felt there was sufficient scientific evidence to support their position. However, many participants also indicated they were concerned that their peers would disapprove of this type of activity.

"We wanted to push our colleagues beyond this polarized debate. Our research demonstrates that if scientists choose to engage with the public, their choice is well supported by the larger scientific community," says Singh.

The results also found that confidence played a big role in whether researchers were willing to get involved. Those who felt they were good at reaching out did so more often while negative experiences turned people off.

"We identified some of the barriers that prevent scientists from engaging," says Singh. "It turns out that one of the biggest barriers is whether they perceive themselves as competent."

Singh suggests that researchers take part in communication training early in their career to boost confidence and to avoid the likelihood of a negative experience.

INFORMATION: The results of the survey were published this week in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Eyes in the cereal aisle -- how Cap'n Crunch's gaze is influencing your purchasing

Eyes in the cereal aisle -- how Capn Crunchs gaze is influencing your purchasing
2014-04-02
Director of Cornell's Food and Brand Lab Brian Wansink and post-doctoral lab researcher Aner Tal, are releasing a new study today published in the Journal of Environment and Behavior that discovered consumers are 16 percent more likely to trust a brand of cereal when the characters on the boxes on the supermarket shelves look them straight in the eye. Not surprisingly, the study also found that the gaze of characters on children's cereal boxes is at a downward, 9.6-degree angle, while characters on adult cereal boxes look almost straight ahead. Wansink says: "If you ...

Positive, negative thinkers' brains revealed

Positive, negative thinkers brains revealed
2014-04-02
EAST LANSING, Mich. --- The ability to stay positive when times get tough -- and, conversely, of being negative -- may be hardwired in the brain, finds new research led by a Michigan State University psychologist. The study, which appears in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, is the first to provide biological evidence validating the idea that there are, in fact, positive and negative people in the world. "It's the first time we've been able to find a brain marker that really distinguishes negative thinkers from positive thinkers," said Jason Moser, lead investigator ...

Cereal box psychology

Cereal box psychology
2014-04-02
Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids! In a study of 65 cereals in 10 different grocery stores, Cornell researchers found that cereals marketed to kids are placed half as high on supermarket shelves as adult cereals—the average height for children's cereal boxes is 23 inches verses 48 inches for adult cereal. A second key finding from the same study is that the average angle of the gaze of cereal spokes-characters on cereal boxes marketed to kids is downward at a 9.6 degree angle whereas spokes-characters on adult cereal look almost straight ahead. To examine the influence ...

An easier, safer, and more accurate treatment for pancreatic cancer

An easier, safer, and more accurate treatment for pancreatic cancer
2014-04-02
(Lebanon, NH, 4/2/14) — Using CT scans with contrast enhancement, Dartmouth researchers measured treatment response to pancreatic cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT) according to a paper published in Physics in Medicine and Biology. The research team at Dartmouth set out to reduce the imaging obstacles for PDT, a minimally invasive and nontoxic treatment for cancer. "This study implies that treatment response can be reliably predicted using contrast CT. This would represent a major breakthrough in PDT for pancreas cancer that allows for easier, faster treatment tailored ...

Galactic serial killer

Galactic serial killer
2014-04-02
Several clues in the structure of NGC 1316 reveal that its past was turbulent. For instance, it has some unusual dust lanes [1] embedded within a much larger envelope of stars, and a population of unusually small globular star clusters. These suggest that it may have already swallowed a dust-rich spiral galaxy about three billion years ago. Also seen around the galaxy are very faint tidal tails — wisps and shells of stars that have been torn from their original locations and flung into intergalactic space. These features are produced by complex gravitational effects on ...

Colorado grandparents may be able to seek visitation or custody

2014-04-02
Colorado grandparents may be able to seek visitation or custody Article provided by Littman Family Law Visit us at http://www.davidlittmanpc.com The relationship between a child and his or her grandparents can be a huge factor in that child's happiness. Grandparents spoil us, teach us about our family's history, give us practical skills and shower us with love. In spite of the importance of the grandparent/grandchild relationship, in some circumstances, a grandparent is cut off from his or her grandchild because of a dispute or disagreement with the child's parent ...

Ohio employer charged in a payroll tax dispute

2014-04-02
Ohio employer charged in a payroll tax dispute Article provided by Terrence A. Grady & Associates Co., L.P.A. Visit us at http://www.tgradylaw.com When one thinks of tax liability or tax evasion, he or she may first imagine an employee who failed to report earned income. However, legal responsibility comes in varied forms. For example, employers or managers responsible for deducting pay roll taxes could be under the microscope, too. It is the duty of such person to forward deducted taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If one fails to do so, he or she ...

Fatalities from stroller accidents trigger new regulations

2014-04-02
Fatalities from stroller accidents trigger new regulations Article provided by The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. Visit us at http://www.theepsteinlawfirm.com The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a new safety standard for strollers in the United States. The changes were prompted by multiple reported amputations, lacerations and four fatalities since 2008. Key changes aimed at reducing the risk of releasing a defective or dangerous product that could injure a child include: -Braking systems. One of the reported lacerations occurred when a stroller rolled off ...

TrackResults Software is selected by Club Leisure Group

2014-04-02
Club Leisure Group, the largest timeshare sales and property management company in South Africa, has contracted to use TrackResults Software sales management analysis tools to keep track of its growing business. Leadership at Club Leisure wanted more flexible reporting, plus the ability to run instant analytics on their data without an additional burden to the IT Department. Award-winning TrackResults Software, known around sales and marketing circles in the vacation ownership industry as being easy and ready-to-use with precise sales management analysis tools is used ...

Walter Strapps of Idera to speak at Nucleic Acid R & D Meeting, June 19&20, 2014, San Diego, CA.

2014-04-02
Walter R. Strapps, Executive Director of RNA Therapeutics at Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to give a presentation titled "Gene Silencing Oligos: The Next Generation in Gene Silencing" at the Inaugural Nucleic Acid Research and Development Conference, June 29 & 20, 2014 in San Diego, CA. Dr. Strapps leads the RNA Discovery unit at Idera and is responsible for research and development of Idera's gene silencing oligo (GSO) platform. Dr. Strapps joined Idera in 2014. Prior to Idera, Dr. Strapps was Director, RNAi Therapeutics at Merck & Co., Inc. where he led siRNA ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Long COVID brain fog linked to lung function

Concussions slow brain activity of high school football players

Study details how cancer cells fend off starvation and death from chemotherapy

Transformation of UN SDGs only way forward for sustainable development 

New study reveals genetic drivers of early onset type 2 diabetes in South Asians 

Delay and pay: Tipping point costs quadruple after waiting

Magnetic tornado is stirring up the haze at Jupiter's poles

Cancers grow uniformly throughout their mass

Researchers show complex relationship between Arctic warming and Arctic dust

Brain test shows that crabs process pain

Social fish with low status are so stressed out it impacts their brains

Predicting the weather: New meteorology estimation method aids building efficiency

Inside the ‘swat team’ – how insects react to virtual reality gaming 

Oil spill still contaminating sensitive Mauritius mangroves three years on

Unmasking the voices of experience in healthcare studies

Pandemic raised food, housing insecurity in Oregon despite surge in spending

OU College of Medicine professor earns prestigious pancreatology award

Sub-Saharan Africa leads global HIV decline: Progress made but UNAIDS 2030 goals hang in balance, new IHME study finds

Popular diabetes and obesity drugs also protect kidneys, study shows

Stevens INI receives funding to expand research on the neural underpinnings of bipolar disorder

Protecting nature can safeguard cities from floods

NCSA receives honors in 2024 HPCwire Readers’ and Editors’ Choice Awards

Warning: Don’t miss Thanksgiving dinner, it’s more meaningful than you think

Expanding HPV vaccination to all adults aged 27-45 years unlikely to be cost-effective or efficient for HPV-related cancer prevention

Trauma care and mental health interventions training help family physicians prepare for times of war

Adapted nominal group technique effectively builds consensus on health care priorities for older adults

Single-visit first-trimester care with point-of-care ultrasound cuts emergency visits by 81% for non-miscarrying patients

Study reveals impact of trauma on health care professionals in Israel following 2023 terror attack

Primary care settings face barriers to screening for early detection of cognitive impairment

November/December Annals of Family Medicine Tip Sheet

[Press-News.org] Scientists eager to participate in public discourse on environment