Eco Residence ? five Techniques to Green Your House
Everybody is buzzing about going green these days and the House is 1 of the greatest locations to begin. Because we invest so a lot time inside our houses, it just tends to make sense to start off becoming much more eco-friendly there. Here, we?ll appear at 5 Strategies you and your loved ones can start out going green with an eco House.
a single. Clean green. The majority of commercial cleaners that you discover on supermarket shelves are complete of harmful toxins and nasty chemical substances that might leave your Residence shiny however can wreak havoc on your lungs and skin, not to mention they are very toxic to little kids and pets. Rather of reaching for that vibrant blue window cleaner subsequent time, why not attempt vinegar and water to leave your windows sparkling clean. Vinegar is an exceptional cleanser and when mixed with baking soda, it also functions as a all-natural abrasive. And, if you favor some thing a tiny a lot more commercial, there are a lot of eco-friendly cleaners on the market these days, as effectively.
two. Begin conserving water. You do not have to remodel your bathroom to use much less water. Going green is as effortless as putting in new shower heads that use much less water, taking showers Rather of baths and washing dishes in a sink complete of water As an alternative than operating the faucet continually. A specific dam can be dropped into your toilet tank to lessen the quantity of water utilised with each flush, producing your Property an eco Residence.
three. Adjust your lights. There are 2 Methods to go here in order to lessen the quantity of electrical power that you use in your Property. The very first is to replace all ceiling lights with fluorescent bulbs. These are now readily available in warm light, so you will not even miss the softer yellow appear of tungsten, but the quantity of power saved is absolutely going to make a distinction in your electric bill. The other way to save additional income and power is to use LED lights in your lamps. These do not perform as properly for overhead lights, yet they are very vibrant and best for much more concentrated illumination and expense pennies a year to run.
four. Switch to glass and metal. When it comes to the kitchen, you are going to locate significantly of waste here. Instead than use plastics and other related compounds that may be leaching chemical substances into your food or that are disposable, pick glass and metal containers. They are less complicated to clean, can be re-utilised and if you prefer the appropriate sort, you are going to be able to use them in the freezer or in the oven. The very best element? You will not be contributing to the landfill dilemma with plastic bags and disposable containers.
five. Use eco Residence furniture. By selecting to purchase products for your Household that are produced out of supplies that are effortlessly replenished, you are contributing to a far more eco-friendly globe. Teak, oak and other fine woods take a lot of, numerous years to develop, yet supplies like cork and bamboo, whilst nonetheless fashionable, can be replaced quickly. Selecting bamboo chairs and natural cotton or flax fabrics to cover your furnishings is a great way to commence going green.
FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama shaking hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the ?fiscal cliff? even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide. The stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card in the political showdown over the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama shaking hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, during a meeting to discuss the deficit and economy. Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the ?fiscal cliff? even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide. The stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card in the political showdown over the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the "fiscal cliff" even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide.
The stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card in the political showdown over the fiscal cliff.
President Barack Obama's re-election gives him a strong negotiating hand, as Republicans are increasingly acknowledging. And some Democrats are willing to let the Dec. 31 deadline pass, because a rash of broad-based tax hikes would pressure Republicans to give more ground in renewed deficit-reduction negotiations.
A chief fear for Obama's supporters, however, is that Wall Street would be so disgusted or dismayed that stocks would plummet before lawmakers could prove their newfound willingness to mitigate the fiscal cliff's harshest measures, including deep, across-the-board spending cuts that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says could significantly damage the nation's military posture. Some Republicans believe that fear will temper the president's insistence on a hard bargain this month. Obama and GOP House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday held their first meeting between just the two of them since the election, and spokesmen for both emphasized afterward their lines of communication remain open.
The so-called cliff's recipe of major tax hikes and spending cuts can actually be a gentle slope, because the policy changes would be phased in over time. Washington insiders say Congress and the White House would move quickly in January or February to undo many, but not all, of the tax hikes and spending cuts.
Financial markets, however, respond to emotion as well as to research, reason and promises. If New Year's headlines scream "Negotiations Collapse," an emotional sell-off could threaten the president's hopes for continued economic recovery in his second term, even if Republicans receive most of the blame for the impasse.
"Nobody can predict the markets' reaction," said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.
Some Republicans are surprised that the White House has not made clearer efforts to reassure Wall Street that if the Dec. 31 deadline is breached, the worrisome pile of tax increases and spending cuts would not hit all at once.
A few liberal commentators are making just that case.
"If we go past the so-called fiscal cliff deadlines and all the resulting budget cuts and tax increases come into force, the administration can minimize the damage," Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote last week. "Obama can publicly announce he is delaying any cuts, on the theory that Congress will eventually vitiate some of them. And he can make sure the bond markets know of his plans well in advance. ... Everyone (especially Wall Street) should calm down."
Some financial bloggers agree. "Although it would be bad to let the spending cuts and tax hikes fully go into effect, if this thing is addressed in early January, things will be okay," wrote Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal.
So far, the stock markets have stayed calm. The S&P 500 index is up 12 percent for the year.
That might be because investors agree that a temporary trip over the cliff wouldn't be too harmful. Chastened lawmakers, the thinking goes, would quickly minimize the economic damage with a deficit-reduction compromise that eluded them in December.
Or, it's possible that investors view the most pessimistic tones surrounding the fiscal cliff talks as posturing that will give way to a last-minute deal. If that is the thinking ? and if the Dec. 31 deadline instead is breached ? Obama's fear might come to pass: The expectation of a deal might produce a significant decline in stock prices if it doesn't occur.
As bad as that sounds, some liberals think it will be necessary to force many Republicans to drop their opposition to higher tax rates on the wealthy that Obama says are crucial to trimming the deficit.
Rep. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat who says temporarily going over the cliff wouldn't be so bad, noted what happened on Sept. 29, 2008. The House surprised investors by rejecting a proposed bailout of the crisis-stricken financial sector. Republicans strongly opposed the plan despite then-President George W. Bush's support. The Dow plunged 777 points, its largest one-day point drop ever.
Four days later the House, shaken by the market reaction, passed a slightly modified bailout bill.
Welch said a similar market meltdown next month, in the event of a fiscal cliff impasse, "is what will force members of Congress eventually to act."
Few lawmakers in either party are eager to predict how the stocks and bonds markets would react to a failure to reach a fiscal cliff accord by year's end.
"Let's not pretend the markets fully understand the politicians, or the politicians fully understand the markets," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has served in Congress for 37 years.
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Follow Charles Babington on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cbabington
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ROME (Reuters) - Mario Monti, who announced on Saturday that he intended to resign after just over a year as Italy's prime minister, restored international credibility to his country and dragged it back from the brink of financial collapse.
The 69-year-old former European commissioner replaced the scandal-plagued Silvio Berlusconi in November last year as skyrocketing borrowing costs threatened to plunge Italy into a Greek-style debt crisis.
Now it is the withdrawal of Berlusconi's support in parliament that has prompted his decision to go once next year's budget is approved, a few months before polls expected in March.
Monti, who was known as the "Italian Prussian" in Brussels where he made his name as an effective and intransigent competition commissioner, quickly won the admiration of Italy's partners and financial markets.
When Berlusconi pulled his party's backing for Monti's technocrat government on December 6, the gap between Italy's benchmark bonds and safer German Bunds stood below 3.2 percentage points, little more than half the level when Monti took over.
With his economist's training and measured, sober manner Monti is often considered a very atypical Italian and was the perfect antidote to the discredited Berlusconi.
"We substituted the political model of the great salesman for the professor," said media expert Alessandro Amadori.
His rapport with German Chancellor Angela Merkel was particularly crucial as for the first time in years Italy's view began to be taken seriously in European decision-making.
In a heady first few months that saw him named European of the year in the French parliament and feted by the international media he acted decisively to convince investors that Italy could bring its finances under control.
Capitalizing on record approval ratings he rushed through 20 billion euros ($25.86 billion) of deficit cuts including a widely praised pension reform to raise the retirement age.
He lost much of that shine, at least domestically, as the months went on and the recession deepened while tax hikes piled up and subsequent reforms to deregulate services and the labor markets got bogged down and diluted by parliamentary and union opposition.
Lampooned as an emotionless robot on television, Italians may never have warmed to Monti as millions did to Berlusconi, but he was viewed as an austere professor who deserved respect.
"He was so good at school that he corrected his own homework because he didn't trust the teachers," was a joke that summed up the attitude of most of his countrymen towards him.
MARKETS' DARLING
Economists are divided over the quality of Monti's attempts to free up Italy's ossified economy and some say his austerity measures to restore investor confidence relied too much on tax hikes that hobbled an economy already in recession.
Yet he has undoubtedly begun to address deep-rooted problems that festered unattended for years and made Italy the most sluggish economy in Europe over the last decade.
Even though the recession has been far deeper than he forecast when he took office and unemployment has risen to record highs, Monti says he has administered painful medicine which will bring Italy benefits in the longer term.
And while his popularity has waned among ordinary Italians hit by higher taxes and spending cuts, he remains the darling of the international establishment and financial markets that want him to carry on after elections expected to be held in March.
Italian bond yields rose immediately when it became clear the government was in danger, a measure of Monti's standing with markets which probably has at least as much to do with his communication skills and credibility as his policies.
"In years to come, he'll be studied from a public relations point of view because he has had an extraordinarily sedative effect on international observers," a senior central banker told Reuters.
Monti has said he will not run at the election but that does not mean he will withdraw from politics.
He has made it clear that he will be willing to carry on if the vote produces no clear majority - a far from remote possibility - or he could become head of state when Giorgio Napolitano's term of office ends next year.
Another possibility is that he will return to Brussels to replace Jose Manuel Barroso as commission president or Herman Van Rompuy as head of the European Council of EU leaders.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Maputo ? Mozambican President Armando Guebuza declared in Dar es salaam on Saturday that it is through dialogue that consensus is sought, and that peace and stability are guaranteed between parties in conflict.
Guebuza, who is the current chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), was speaking at the opening of a one day SADC extraordinary summit held to discuss the peace and security issues facing the regional organization.
"It is through dialogue that we promote mutual trust between parties in conflict, which provides space for them to work together and make progress", Guebuza told heads of state and government or their representatives from all SADC's 15 member states (except Madagascar, which was suspended from the organization after the 2009 coup d'etat).
The summit was called to consider the crises, of varying levels of seriousness, in three countries ? the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe and Madagascar. But the opening speeches concentrated overwhelmingly on the rebellion by the M23 movement in the eastern DRC.
Guebuza said that the political and security situation in the eastern Congo, and the immense suffering of the Congolese people made it imperative for all the relevant regional and international players to work together to ensure a sustainable peace.
"Dialogue and cooperation between the interested parties are crucial elements for us to be able to advance", said Guebuza. "The DRC also has a crucial role to play in meeting its own internal challenges".
Guebuza was optimistic that the activities undertaken by SADC and by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in seeking solutions to the Congolese crisis would bear fruit.
In addition to the SADC heads of state and government, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the current ICGLR chairperson, is also attending the summit.
Speaking at the opening session, Museveni accused the regime of the late dictator of Congo (then Zaire), Mobutu Sese Seko of being the mentor of the Congolese crisis, because of his discrimination against certain ethnic groups, and because he followed a policy focused exclusively on Europe.
"This was the reason for Mobutu's downfall", declared Museveni.
"Fortunately the government of President Joseph Kabila does not have the same position".
Uganda and Rwanda have both been accused of involvement in the Congolese crisis, through alleged support for the M23 rebels.
After the summit, Guebuza will take part, on Sunday, in the celebrations of the 51st anniversary of Tanzanian independence.
'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.
Claudia Felser appointed Fellow of the American Physical SocietyPublic release date: 7-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Claudia Felser felser-office@uni-mainz.de 49-613-139-21284 Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
Chemist receives high distinction for her research into new materials
Professor Dr. Claudia Felser has been appointed a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). The fellowship represents a major accolade that is awarded for significant contributions to science. Through this appointment, the APS is honoring the German chemist's professional accomplishments in the field of Heusler compounds. These are new materials that are essential for the development of future technologies, such as spintronics. Claudia Felser has been a professor at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) since 2003 and in December 2011 was also appointed Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, where a new building to house the sputter system for her work group is currently being built. She is co-director of the Graduate School of Excellence "Materials Science in Mainz" (MAINZ) and has also been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of EUR 2.4 million, a form of sponsorship given by the European Research Council to individual excellent researchers.
The APS with its more than 50,000 members worldwide is the second largest scientific society for physics after the German Physics Society (DPG / Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft). The APS was founded in 1899 with the aim of promoting the physical sciences and making them more widely studied. The society awards fellowships to at most 0.5 percent of its total members in any one year, meaning that it has 250 fellows at present. It is considered a great honor to be selected for a fellowship, as those eligible are assessed by a peer review. Scientists who make major contributions to fundamental research or develop important scientific or technological applications are eligible for a fellowship. Professor Dr. Claudia Felser has been awarded her fellowship for "creating and understanding new Heusler materials with spintronic and energy functionalities", as her certificate of appointment states.
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Claudia Felser appointed Fellow of the American Physical SocietyPublic release date: 7-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Claudia Felser felser-office@uni-mainz.de 49-613-139-21284 Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
Chemist receives high distinction for her research into new materials
Professor Dr. Claudia Felser has been appointed a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). The fellowship represents a major accolade that is awarded for significant contributions to science. Through this appointment, the APS is honoring the German chemist's professional accomplishments in the field of Heusler compounds. These are new materials that are essential for the development of future technologies, such as spintronics. Claudia Felser has been a professor at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) since 2003 and in December 2011 was also appointed Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, where a new building to house the sputter system for her work group is currently being built. She is co-director of the Graduate School of Excellence "Materials Science in Mainz" (MAINZ) and has also been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of EUR 2.4 million, a form of sponsorship given by the European Research Council to individual excellent researchers.
The APS with its more than 50,000 members worldwide is the second largest scientific society for physics after the German Physics Society (DPG / Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft). The APS was founded in 1899 with the aim of promoting the physical sciences and making them more widely studied. The society awards fellowships to at most 0.5 percent of its total members in any one year, meaning that it has 250 fellows at present. It is considered a great honor to be selected for a fellowship, as those eligible are assessed by a peer review. Scientists who make major contributions to fundamental research or develop important scientific or technological applications are eligible for a fellowship. Professor Dr. Claudia Felser has been awarded her fellowship for "creating and understanding new Heusler materials with spintronic and energy functionalities", as her certificate of appointment states.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
From CBS Sports? Danny Knobler comes word that the Rays and Marlins are close to a trade that will send shortstop Yunel Escobar to Tampa Bay in exchange for infield prospect Derek Dietrich.
Escobar was acquired by the Marlins as part of last month?s blockbuster trade with the Blue Jays, but Miami never really planned on opening the season with him on their active roster. The 30-year-old native of Cuba even told Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he did not feel wanted.
Escobar batted just .253/.300/.344 in 145 games this past season for Toronto, but he was much better in 2011 and had a fantastic 2009 season with the Braves. If the Rays can get him to focus, it could work out.
Dietrich, a former second-round draft selection out of Georgia Tech, hit .279/.338/.457 with 14 home runs and 75 RBI in 132 games this summer between High-A Charlottle and Double-A Montgomery. He?s 23 years old.
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UPDATE, 11:04 PM: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says the trade has been completed.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, file photo, Zynga general manager Erik Bethke speaks at a Zynga event in San Francisco, Online games company Zynga said Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, it has asked Nevada gambling regulators for a decision that could pave the way for it to enter the U.S. gambling market. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, file photo, Zynga general manager Erik Bethke speaks at a Zynga event in San Francisco, Online games company Zynga said Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, it has asked Nevada gambling regulators for a decision that could pave the way for it to enter the U.S. gambling market. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Online games company Zynga said it has asked Nevada gambling regulators for a decision that could pave the way for it to enter the U.S. gambling market.
This follows Zynga's October disclosure that it has signed a deal to offer online poker and casino games, played with real money, in the U.K. It plans to launch those games in the first half of 2013.
Zynga Inc. said in an email late Wednesday that it is seeking an "application for a preliminary finding of suitability" from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. This, the company says, is part of its plan to enter regulated "real-money gaming," that is, gambling markets.
Zynga has not said what it plans to do with a gaming license. But the company, whose games are played primarily on Facebook, has faltered in recent months and is looking for additional revenue sources beyond online games such as "FarmVille 2" and "Words With Friends."
The San Francisco-based company says the process with Nevada regulators should take 12 to 18 months. If Zynga passes the first regulatory hurdle, it can then apply for a gaming license in the state. That, the company said, takes two to three months.
Zynga's stock rose 17 cents, or 7.1 percent, to close Thursday at $2.49. The company went public about a year ago, when its stock priced at $10 per share.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - NASA plans to follow-up its Mars rover Curiosity mission with a duplicate rover that could collect and store samples for return to Earth, the agency's lead scientist said on Tuesday.
The new rover will use spare parts and engineering models developed for Curiosity, which is four months into a planned $2.5 billion, two-year mission on Mars to look for habitats that could have supported microbial life.
Replicating the rover's chassis, sky-crane landing system and other gear will enable NASA to cut the cost of the new mission to about $1.5 billion, John Grunsfeld, the U.S. space agency's associate administrator for science, said at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.
Budget shortfalls forced NASA to pull out of a series of joint missions with Europe, designed to return rock and soil samples from Mars in the 2020s. Europe instead will partner with Russia for the launch vehicle and other equipment that was to have been provided by NASA.
Grunsfeld said NASA will provide a key organics experiment for Europe's ExoMars rover, as well as engineering and mission support under the agency's proposed budget for the year beginning October 1, 2013.
Details about what science instruments would be included on the new rover, whether or not it would have a cache for samples, and the landing site have not yet been determined.
NASA plans to set up a team of scientists to refine plans for the rover and issue a solicitation next summer.
The National Academy of Sciences last year ranked a Mars sample return mission as its top priority in planetary science for the next decade.
"The (science) community already has come forward with a very clear message about what the content of the next Mars surface mission should be, and that is to cache the samples that will come back to Earth," said Steve Squyres with Cornell University.
"That's really a necessary part of having this mission," he said.
Facebook today announced that it's opening up Facebook Messenger to folks who don't actually use Facebook. Going forward, all you'll need to use the Messenger app is a name and phone number, and you'll be able to hit up your mobile contacts. The obvious play is to get non-Facebook users to stick a toe into the water -- and not into the pools of cross-platform competitors such as Whatsapp. Whether the Facebook name remains too much of a deterrent, we'll just have to see.
Facebook says an update to the Android client should be rolling out today (it's not live as of this writing).
VIENNA/DUBLIN (Reuters) - An Austrian student group plans to go to court in a bid to make Facebook Inc, the world's biggest social network, do more to protect the privacy of its hundreds of millions of members.
Campaign group europe-v-facebook, which has been lobbying for reforms at the U.S. company for more than a year, said it would appeal against decisions by the data protection regulator in Ireland, where Facebook has its international headquarters.
The group has filed 22 separate complaints against Facebook, winning some concessions including pushing the social network to switch off its facial recognition feature in Europe.
But it said on Tuesday the changes did not go far enough and it was disappointed with the results of an audit carried out by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) in response to its complaints, which it now plans to challenge in court.
"We'll be fighting Facebook via the DPC," the group's founder, Max Schrems, told Reuters.
The move is one of a number of campaigns against the giants of the internet, who are under pressure from investors to generate more revenue from their huge user bases but also face criticism for storing and sharing personal information.
Internet search engine Google, for example, has been told by the European Union to make changes to a new policy that pools data collected on users of its services including YouTube, gmail and Google+, from which users cannot opt out.
Facebook's shares have dropped 40 percent in value since the company's record-breaking $104 billion initial public offering in May as revenue growth has slowed.
Facebook, due to hold a conference call later on Tuesday to answer customer concerns about its privacy policy, said its data protection policies exceeded European requirements.
"The latest Data Protection report demonstrates not only how Facebook adheres to European data protection law but also how we go beyond it, in achieving best practice," a Facebook spokesman said in an emailed comment.
"Nonetheless we have some vocal critics who will never be happy whatever we do and whatever the DPC concludes."
TECHNOLOGY HUB
Last month, Facebook proposed to combine its user data with that of its recently acquired photo-sharing service Instagram, loosen restrictions on emails between its members and share data with other businesses and affiliates that it owns.
Late on Monday, it invited users to vote on the proposed changes to its policies, which have generated almost 90,000 user comments as well as concerns from some privacy-advocacy groups and a request for more information from the DPC.
Ian Maude, an analyst at London-based technology and media analysis firm Enders Analysis, said privacy concerns were not stopping more and more people from using social networks.
"Every time Facebook gets its wrist slapped, they make some adjustments to their privacy policy," he added.
Among its complaints, europe-v-facebook said more than 40,000 Facebook users who had requested a copy of the data Facebook was holding on them had not received anything several months after making a request.
Ireland has become a hub for the international operations of U.S. technology firms including Google and Microsoft, who are attracted by a generous tax regime and in return create employment for thousands.
Gary Davies, Ireland's deputy data protection commissioner, denied Facebook's investment in Ireland had influenced regulation of the company.
"We have handled this in a highly professional and focused way and we have brought about huge changes in the way Facebook handles personal data," he told Reuters.
Europe-v-facebook said it believed its Irish battle had the potential to become a test case for data protection law and had a good chance of landing up in the European Court of Justice.
Schrems said the case could cost the group around 100,000 euros ($130,000), which it hoped to raise via crowd-funding - money provided by a collection of individuals - on the Internet.
(Additional reporting by Stephen Mangan in Dublin; Editing by Mark Potter)
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Rewriting personal history by inventing racist roads not takenPublic release date: 4-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Betsy Berger b-berger@kellogg.northwestern.edu 847-467-3108 Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
Kellogg School of Management research finds that foregone racist behavior provides license to behave in questionable ways
Evanston, Ill. (December 4, 2012) In 2008, research showed that expressing support for Barack Obama increased people's comfort in subsequently saying or doing things that might be considered racist. Researchers argued that endorsing a black political figure made people feel as if they had "non-racist credentials" that reduced their concern about subsequently seeming prejudiced. Now this same research group has identified a mental trick that people play to convince themselves that they have these same non-racist credentials: convincing themselves that they were presented with but passed up opportunities to act in racially insensitive ways in the past.
In a series of new studies from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, researchers report two new findings. First, when people worry that their behavior could seem racist, they point to past opportunities for racism they had been faced with but passed upthe "racist road not taken"that ironically increases people's willingness to express less racially sensitive views. Second, people actually distort their memories and convince themselves that they previously passed up opportunities for racismopportunities that did not, in fact, exist.
"Our research suggests that people demonstrate remarkable flexibility when it comes to convincing themselves that they have proven their lack of prejudice," said Daniel A. Effron, lead author of the studies and visiting assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management. "The ability to point to blatantly racist behaviors that they didn't perform seems sufficient for people to feel that they have non-racist credentialseven if virtually no one would have chosen to perform those racist behaviors. People are essentially willing to make a mountain of proof out of a molehill of evidence.
"What's more, our results show that people are willing to go even farther and invent the molehill, convincing themselves that they passed up opportunities for racism that they didn't actually have," continued Effron.
The researchers conducted a series of six experiments. The first three established that participants are more likely to express less racially sensitive views such as saying they would prefer to hire white people instead of black people for a hypothetical job, or allocating funds to an organization serving a white community at the expense of one serving a black community if they have specific examples of racist behavior they have foregone.
The last three focused on the memory distortion of participantstheir invention of racist alternatives to their actions that they could have taken but did not.
One such experiment asked participants to identify a criminal from a lineup of suspects. The evidence clearly pointed to one particular suspect who was white. All participants accused this suspect, but one participant group was also given the opportunity to accuse a clearly innocent black suspect instead. This group later felt more comfortable expressing less racial sensitivity in response to additional scenarios since they had been faced with, but not taken, a racist viewpoint.
In a follow-up study, participants all passed up five opportunities to accuse a clearly innocent black suspect of a crimethat is, they could point to five racist roads not taken. But when participants were later made to worry about feeling prejudiced, they "remembered," on average, that they had passed up nine opportunities for racismin effect claiming that their past contained nearly twice as many racists roads not taken than it actually did.
"Inventing racist roads not taken seems to be a strategy for convincing yourself that you're not prejudiced," said Effron. "Thinking about these roads not taken can subsequently make people feel licensed to relax their vigilance in trying to avoid future prejudiced actions. There is concern that this may allow people to express truly prejudiced views. On a more optimistic note, though, there may be some cases where this ability allows people to have frank, constructive conversations about race without worrying about being misinterpreted as prejudiced."
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The paper, "Inventing Racist Roads Not Taken: The Licensing Effect of Immoral Counterfactual Behaviors," was co-authored by Dale T. Miller of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and Benot Monin, a professor in the business school and the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford, along with Effron of Kellogg. The research is featured in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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Rewriting personal history by inventing racist roads not takenPublic release date: 4-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Betsy Berger b-berger@kellogg.northwestern.edu 847-467-3108 Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
Kellogg School of Management research finds that foregone racist behavior provides license to behave in questionable ways
Evanston, Ill. (December 4, 2012) In 2008, research showed that expressing support for Barack Obama increased people's comfort in subsequently saying or doing things that might be considered racist. Researchers argued that endorsing a black political figure made people feel as if they had "non-racist credentials" that reduced their concern about subsequently seeming prejudiced. Now this same research group has identified a mental trick that people play to convince themselves that they have these same non-racist credentials: convincing themselves that they were presented with but passed up opportunities to act in racially insensitive ways in the past.
In a series of new studies from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, researchers report two new findings. First, when people worry that their behavior could seem racist, they point to past opportunities for racism they had been faced with but passed upthe "racist road not taken"that ironically increases people's willingness to express less racially sensitive views. Second, people actually distort their memories and convince themselves that they previously passed up opportunities for racismopportunities that did not, in fact, exist.
"Our research suggests that people demonstrate remarkable flexibility when it comes to convincing themselves that they have proven their lack of prejudice," said Daniel A. Effron, lead author of the studies and visiting assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management. "The ability to point to blatantly racist behaviors that they didn't perform seems sufficient for people to feel that they have non-racist credentialseven if virtually no one would have chosen to perform those racist behaviors. People are essentially willing to make a mountain of proof out of a molehill of evidence.
"What's more, our results show that people are willing to go even farther and invent the molehill, convincing themselves that they passed up opportunities for racism that they didn't actually have," continued Effron.
The researchers conducted a series of six experiments. The first three established that participants are more likely to express less racially sensitive views such as saying they would prefer to hire white people instead of black people for a hypothetical job, or allocating funds to an organization serving a white community at the expense of one serving a black community if they have specific examples of racist behavior they have foregone.
The last three focused on the memory distortion of participantstheir invention of racist alternatives to their actions that they could have taken but did not.
One such experiment asked participants to identify a criminal from a lineup of suspects. The evidence clearly pointed to one particular suspect who was white. All participants accused this suspect, but one participant group was also given the opportunity to accuse a clearly innocent black suspect instead. This group later felt more comfortable expressing less racial sensitivity in response to additional scenarios since they had been faced with, but not taken, a racist viewpoint.
In a follow-up study, participants all passed up five opportunities to accuse a clearly innocent black suspect of a crimethat is, they could point to five racist roads not taken. But when participants were later made to worry about feeling prejudiced, they "remembered," on average, that they had passed up nine opportunities for racismin effect claiming that their past contained nearly twice as many racists roads not taken than it actually did.
"Inventing racist roads not taken seems to be a strategy for convincing yourself that you're not prejudiced," said Effron. "Thinking about these roads not taken can subsequently make people feel licensed to relax their vigilance in trying to avoid future prejudiced actions. There is concern that this may allow people to express truly prejudiced views. On a more optimistic note, though, there may be some cases where this ability allows people to have frank, constructive conversations about race without worrying about being misinterpreted as prejudiced."
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The paper, "Inventing Racist Roads Not Taken: The Licensing Effect of Immoral Counterfactual Behaviors," was co-authored by Dale T. Miller of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and Benot Monin, a professor in the business school and the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford, along with Effron of Kellogg. The research is featured in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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Empirical evidence of gender bias in higher education ? and the sciences in particular ? continues to stack up. For scientists, that data cannot be ignored. One might like to think that more educated people are somehow above discrimination, but the evidence suggests the contrary. That poses a challenge to America?s universities and colleges that must be faced head-on, and the challenge is not simply an academic problem. It?s crucial to America?s future leadership in science and technology, and to generating the jobs that they have historically produced.
A peer-reviewed report, published in September by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that science professors at American research universities demonstrated bias against women in hiring. As the abstract explains: ?In a randomized double-blind study (n = 127), science faculty from research-intensive universities rated the application materials of a student?who was randomly assigned either a male or female name?for a laboratory manager position. Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant? The gender of the faculty participants did not affect responses, such that female and male faculty were equally likely to exhibit bias against the female student.?
A peer-reviewed study of top U.S. graduate programs in the sciences ? titled ?Gender Segregation in Elite Academic Science? ? was funded by the National Academy of Sciences and published in the October issue of Gender and Society. Rice University, where the study?s lead author and principal investigator, Elaine Howard Ecklund, is Associate Professor of Sociology, explained the research as follows: ?The study surveyed 2,500 biologists and physicists at elite institutions of higher education in the United States? The study?s key finding is that both male and female scientists view gender discrimination as a factor in women?s decision not to choose a science career at all or to choose biology over physics. However, the two sexes still have differences in opinion about when discrimination occurs.?
As Professor Ecklund elaborates, ?During interviews, men almost never mentioned present-day discrimination, believing that any discrimination in physical science classes likely took place early in the educational history (primary school), which they believe explains women?s predisposition to biological sciences. However, female scientists believe that discrimination is still occurring in present-day universities and departments.?
The study in Proceedings clearly supports that latter perspective, as does a look at faculty salaries by gender. According to a report by the American Association of University Professors ? titled ?Persistent Inequity: Gender and Academic Employment?? ?recent reports from the Modern Language Association (2009) and University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers (Misra, et al., 2011) confirm that women are less likely to be promoted than men, and when they are promoted, the process takes longer? Women earn less than men, on average, at each faculty rank and at all types of institutions? Because women are overrepresented at the lowest ranks and at the lowest-paying institutions, women?s overall average salary has remained at around 80 percent of the average for men since the mid-1970s.?
It?s easy for science faculty members, convinced of their own high ethical standards, to assume that gender discrimination lies outside of their actions: earlier in the pipeline; in other fields; at other types of institutions. I found myself, as a former dean of natural sciences at a liberal arts college, reacting to these studies in just that way. My initial reaction was: that may be true of universities, but it wasn?t my experience at a liberal arts college.
I asked some colleagues to analyze the percentage of women with professorships (assistant, associate, visiting, or full professors) at the 30 highest-ranked liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report. The analysis reveals great disparity in the percentage of women professors (of all ranks) among fields ? with biology at 45%, chemistry at 35%, astronomy at 33%, and physics at 25%.
The total for physics is interestingly below the national average (28%, according to the U.S. Department of Education) for full professors at all U.S. postsecondary institutions across all fields ? not just the sciences. And the physics percentage reflects all ranks ? not just full professors.
Gender bias must be ended, and the disparities across fields offer a clue to how to do it. Those disparities are quite pronounced in some cases and more subtle in others. As The Chronicle of Higher Education reports, ?Engineering and teaching are among the most lopsided disciplines in academe?s gender split. In 2010, women received 80 percent of the undergraduate degrees awarded in education, the U.S. Education Department reports. And they earned 77 percent of the master?s and 67 percent of the doctoral degrees in that field. In engineering, by contrast, women earned just 18 percent of undergraduate, 22 percent of master?s, and 23 percent of doctoral degrees? Perhaps nowhere has the gender gap been more pronounced ? than in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics?the STEM fields. Women are still a minority in those fields? Not surprisingly, the gender distribution of professors in the STEM disciplines is similarly skewed.?
Gender bias should be tackled not only by institutions of higher education but by fields, and within those fields by individual departments. Every department chair should assess the department?s role in gender bias and how it can be changed ? in hiring, salary, and promotion decisions for the faculty but also in numbers of students, summer job opportunities, and scholarships. Department chairs are key to solving the problem, and they should lead the effort within their own departments, while also working with deans and provosts to ensure that this persistent problem is discussed on campuses with faculty and students.
In the 21st century, America will not compete successfully with the rest of the world in the STEM fields if we do not take full advantage of the intellectual powers of more than half of our population.
Heart-warming memories: Nostalgia can make you feel warmerPublic release date: 3-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Becky Attwood r.attwood@soton.ac.uk 44-023-805-95457 University of Southampton
As the nights draw in and the temperature begins to drop, many of us will be thinking of ways to warm up on the dark winter nights. However, few would think that remembering days gone by would be an effective way of keeping warm.
But research from the University of Southampton has shown that feeling nostalgic can make us feel warmer.
The study, published in the journal Emotion, investigated the effects of nostalgic feelings on reaction to cold and the perception of warmth. The volunteers, from universities in China and the Netherlands, took part in one of five studies.
The first asked participants to keep an account of their nostalgic feelings over 30 days. Results showed they felt more nostalgic on colder days. The second study put participants in one of three rooms: cold (20?C), comfortable (24?C) and hot (28?C), and then measured how nostalgic they felt. Participants felt more nostalgic in the cold room than in the comfortable and hot rooms. The volunteers in the comfortable and hot rooms did not differ.
The third study, which was conducted online, used music to evoke nostalgia to see if it was linked to warmth. The participants who said the music made them feel nostalgic also tended to say that the music made them feel physically warmer.
The fourth study tested the effect of nostalgia on physical warmth by placing participants in a cold room and instructing them to recall either a nostalgic or ordinary event from their past. They were then asked to guess the temperature of the room. Those who recalled a nostalgic event perceived the room they were in to be warmer.
Study five again instructed participants to recall either a nostalgic or ordinary event from their past. They then placed their hand in ice-cold water to see how long they could stand it. Findings showed that the volunteers who indulged in nostalgia held their hand in the water for longer.
Dr Tim Wildschut, senior lecturer at the University of Southampton and co-author of the study, comments: "Nostalgia is experienced frequently and virtually by everyone and we know that it can maintain psychological comfort. For example, nostalgic reverie can combat loneliness. We wanted to take that a step further and assess whether it can also maintain physiological comfort.
"Our study has shown that nostalgia serves a homeostatic function, allowing the mental simulation of previously enjoyed states, including states of bodily comfort; in this case making us feel warmer or increasing our tolerance of cold. More research is now needed to see if nostalgia can combat other forms of physical discomfort, besides low temperature."
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The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University and Tilburg University. It was funded by grants from the Key Program and General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China, 985-3 Research Program of Sun Yat-Sen University and the Economic and Social Research Council.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Heart-warming memories: Nostalgia can make you feel warmerPublic release date: 3-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Becky Attwood r.attwood@soton.ac.uk 44-023-805-95457 University of Southampton
As the nights draw in and the temperature begins to drop, many of us will be thinking of ways to warm up on the dark winter nights. However, few would think that remembering days gone by would be an effective way of keeping warm.
But research from the University of Southampton has shown that feeling nostalgic can make us feel warmer.
The study, published in the journal Emotion, investigated the effects of nostalgic feelings on reaction to cold and the perception of warmth. The volunteers, from universities in China and the Netherlands, took part in one of five studies.
The first asked participants to keep an account of their nostalgic feelings over 30 days. Results showed they felt more nostalgic on colder days. The second study put participants in one of three rooms: cold (20?C), comfortable (24?C) and hot (28?C), and then measured how nostalgic they felt. Participants felt more nostalgic in the cold room than in the comfortable and hot rooms. The volunteers in the comfortable and hot rooms did not differ.
The third study, which was conducted online, used music to evoke nostalgia to see if it was linked to warmth. The participants who said the music made them feel nostalgic also tended to say that the music made them feel physically warmer.
The fourth study tested the effect of nostalgia on physical warmth by placing participants in a cold room and instructing them to recall either a nostalgic or ordinary event from their past. They were then asked to guess the temperature of the room. Those who recalled a nostalgic event perceived the room they were in to be warmer.
Study five again instructed participants to recall either a nostalgic or ordinary event from their past. They then placed their hand in ice-cold water to see how long they could stand it. Findings showed that the volunteers who indulged in nostalgia held their hand in the water for longer.
Dr Tim Wildschut, senior lecturer at the University of Southampton and co-author of the study, comments: "Nostalgia is experienced frequently and virtually by everyone and we know that it can maintain psychological comfort. For example, nostalgic reverie can combat loneliness. We wanted to take that a step further and assess whether it can also maintain physiological comfort.
"Our study has shown that nostalgia serves a homeostatic function, allowing the mental simulation of previously enjoyed states, including states of bodily comfort; in this case making us feel warmer or increasing our tolerance of cold. More research is now needed to see if nostalgia can combat other forms of physical discomfort, besides low temperature."
###
The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University and Tilburg University. It was funded by grants from the Key Program and General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China, 985-3 Research Program of Sun Yat-Sen University and the Economic and Social Research Council.
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Public release date: 7-Dec-2012
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A peer-reviewed report, published in September by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that science professors at American research universities demonstrated bias against women in hiring. As the abstract explains: ?In a randomized double-blind study (n = 127), science faculty from research-intensive universities rated the application materials of a student?who was randomly assigned either a male or female name?for a laboratory manager position. Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant? The gender of the faculty participants did not affect responses, such that female and male faculty were equally likely to exhibit bias against the female student.?