Higher Alcohol Taxes May Lead to Less Binge Drinking
BU public health study finds strong correlation between price and alcohol consumption Study lead author Ziming Xuan of SPH says researchers’ findings are “really significant for public health,” because binge drinking causes more than half of nearly 90,000 alcohol-attributable deaths in the United States. In 2010, Tennessee, which has the country’s highest combined taxes on […]
The Search for Ancient Ice
Understanding what happened to the climate millions of years ago may tell us a lot about what will happen next Antarctica researcher studies past climate change to learn about the future. High in the Transantarctic Mountains, the McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest part of Antarctica not covered with ice. Instead, a seemingly endless carpet […]
Workshop: Introduction to Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
The Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Research hosted an informational workshop about the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) on January 29, 2015. Jean Slutsky, PA, MSPH, and Chief Engagement and Dissemination Officer at PCORI, introduced the Institute and its mission and research and discussed its proposal review and award processes. Watch the […]
Mission to Mars
BU physicist John Clarke looks to the red planet for clues about Earth’s future John T. Clarke, director of BU’s Center for Space Physics, was part of the team that proposed MAVEN and is now a scientific co-investigator on the mission. Photo by Rob Timko. At this moment, a NASA satellite called MAVEN is circling Mars, and it’s covered […]
Pass the Salt?
Researcher probes the link between salt and hypertension Richard Wainford studies the connection between salt and high blood pressure. Photo by Michael D. Spencer Let’s face it: salt is delicious. Sprinkle it on tomatoes and they pop with flavor; shake it over popcorn and it’s movie time. Even Nelson Mandela noted its worth in his […]
Unlocking Emily’s World
Cracking the code of silence in children with autism who barely speak Emily Browne is laughing, and nobody really knows why. The 14-year-old with a broad face and a mop of curly brown hair has autism. She drifts through her backyard in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, either staring into the distance or eyeballing a visitor chatting […]
Five Thousand Heads Are Better Than One
What ants teach us about the evolution, anatomy, and chemistry of social brain James Traniello doesn’t like to play favorites. For almost 40 years, Traniello, a professor of biology at Boston University, has devoted his life to the study of ants, investigating their extraordinary social lives. And like a father describing his children, he finds […]
Could Bird Brains Lead to Human Cures?
New technology lets BU researcher eavesdrop on avian brains Tim Gardner’s research into finch brains may unlock clues for treating crippling human diseases. Photo by Jackie Riccardi. The anaesthetized zebra finch slumbers peacefully on a lab table, a tiny feathered bundle save for the top of its head, which sports a fleshy oval from which […]
Turkey: Picturing a Long-Gone Citadel
Was a Bronze Age city in Turkey abandoned because of climate change or fire? In the Late Bronze Age, the walls of the citadel at Kaymakçı rose 10 feet above the jagged bedrock surrounding it. Behind the fortification was a community of homes, workshops, roads, plazas, and great halls. The neighboring residences and cemeteries surrounding […]
The Secret Life of Neutrinos
Physicist unravels secrets of an enigmatic tiny particle This story was originally published on the BU Research website. Every second, about 10 trillion neutrinos are zipping through your body. But because these ghostly particles have hardly any mass, no electric charge, and rarely interact with matter, you don’t feel a thing. Despite their tiny size—or […]