Immigrants to the U.S. are more likely to start businesses than native-born Americans are, according to a study that takes a wide-ranging look at registered businesses across the country. Co-authored by an MIT economist, the study finds that, per capita, immigrants are about 80 percent more likely to found a firm, compared to U.S.-born citizens. […]

Most things aren’t liquid, solid, or gas. They’re gel-like — and understanding how they work can improve our understanding of biology and human health. The vast majority of substances are neither liquid, solid, nor gas – but an alternative form that shares characteristics of liquids and gases. Among them are gels, glasses, and colloidal suspensions, […]

During the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of children and adolescents from low-income families with overweight or obesity increased markedly, according to new research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Maastricht, Netherlands (4-7 May). The study is by Ihuoma Eneli, MD, MS, FAAP, Director of the […]

New research shows that a rapidly-growing environmental science field—which measures nature’s effects on human well-being—has a diversity problem that threatens its ability to make universal scientific claims. The field—which combines psychology and environmental research—has produced numerous important studies detailing the benefits of nature, forests and parks on human well-being and mental health, including happiness, depression, […]

A research team from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health found that employee and company resiliency may be enhanced through the opportunity for employees to work remotely during natural disasters and other events that cause workplace displacement. The team, which was comprised of Kamrie Sarnosky, Mark Benden, Garett Sansom, Leslie Cizmas and Annette Regan, worked […]

Most Americans say they want a more equal society, yet policies aimed at increasing equality for disadvantaged groups in higher education, corporations, government, and elsewhere continue to generate backlash. This backlash has been blamed on a range of causes—including majority white Americans’ fears of losing their status, political partisanship, and overt prejudice. A study by Berkeley […]

In a new brain-wide circuit tracing study, scientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory focused selective attention on a circuit that governs, fittingly enough, selective attention. The comprehensive maps they produced illustrate how broadly the mammalian brain incorporates and integrates information to focus its sensory resources on its goals. Working in mice, the […]

The lecture theatre hums its tune,a thousand nascent dreamsgroping for space betweenthe dog-eared texts oflessons learnt and lapsed.Knowledge markedin double entryas loans extendlike unchecked books,seeping into thoughtsthat float with strings attached.A tightness of thoughtwrapping barbed branchesaround the satisfactionof future selves,schooling sold shortagainst the coronary riskof rain.The freedom of educationborne out to thosewho can affordto pay. […]

New research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Maastricht, the Netherlands (4-7 May), has found that toddlers eat more vegetables if they are rewarded for trying them. Healthy eating habits can lower the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. But, as many parents know, young children often don’t like […]

Asking people to stop using social media for just one week could lead to significant improvements in their wellbeing, depression and anxiety and could, in the future, be recommended as a way to help people manage their mental health say the authors of a new study. The study, carried out by a team of researchers […]