This week in Class Notes: California's shelter-in-place order was effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Asian Americans experience significant discrimination in the Harvard admissions process. The U.S. tax system is biased against labor in favor of capital, which has resulted in inefficiently high levels of automation. Our top chart shows that poor workers are much more likely to keep commuting in…

This week in Class Notes: California's shelter-in-place order was effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Asian Americans experience significant discrimination in the Harvard admissions process. The U.S. tax system is biased against labor in favor of capital, which has resulted in inefficiently high levels of automation. Our top chart shows that poor workers are much more likely to keep commuting in…

The Federal Reserve is the most second-guessed agency in the government. Congress regularly calls on the Fed Chairperson to explain its actions and part of Wall Street is always blaming the Fed for something it did or did not do. But suffering such scrutiny comes with being responsible for important policy making. A deeper issue,…

This week in Class Notes: California's shelter-in-place order was effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Asian Americans experience significant discrimination in the Harvard admissions process. The U.S. tax system is biased against labor in favor of capital, which has resulted in inefficiently high levels of automation. Our top chart shows that poor workers are much more likely to keep commuting in…

In 1968 Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson then signed into law the Fair Housing Act (FHA), which prohibits housing-related discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin. Administrative rulemaking and court cases in the decades since the FHA’s enactment have helped shape a framework that, for…

The high cost of prescription drugs has become an increasingly pressing concern for policymakers, insurers, and families. New drugs—like those now available for hepatitis C— offer tremendous medical benefits, but at a cost that puts them out of reach for many patients. In an effort to address the affordability dilemma, the Louisiana Department of Health…

With the Turkish incursion into Kurdish fighter-controlled northeastern Syria, the war has taken a new turn. It was long in the making, yet most stakeholders are reevaluating risks and losses rather than counting benefits. The damage to U.S. positions and influence is heavy, as my Brookings colleagues have carefully assessed. The hastily negotiated ceasefire deal…

When Jerry wrote about Vincent Callebaut's proposed vertical farm for New York City, he called it a Locavore Wet Dream; I called it one of the silliest, most overwrought jump-the-shark vertical farm ideas ever

Reducing CO2 emissions at the source, or better yet, not emitting them in the first place, is the better option.

A new report by Barclays Capital suggests a dark side to the building boom in places like China, India, and Turkey.

Oxybenzone may be effective at filtering UV light, but it comes at a dangerously high cost to human health.

These worrisome sunscreen chemicals provide potential risk to humans and are wreaking havoc on coral reefs.

We love natural skincare products, but when it comes to sun safety, choose a sunscreen that's approved by the EWG.

The Florida legislation will go into effect in 2021 in an effort to protect the world’s third-largest barrier reef ecosystem.

The island nation in the western Pacific wants to protect its coral reefs from toxic sunscreen runoff.

What appeals to me most about Article 22's Peace Bomb Bracelet is the collection's history and story: Each piece has been made by Lao artisans from

Peter Rickaby says he has "never been more optimistic about the possibility of change," but it will require some radical action.

Or is it a missed opportunity?

'Slow' games make a comeback, as stylish jewelry with a twist.

Featuring an interlocking system that's inspired by traditional Japanese joinery, this desk also has a swappable, modular system for organizing your stuff.

Margaret Wente trots out every 20-year-old trope spouted by tired old discredited climate change deniers.

Northern Arizona University student from a range of departments built the charging station piece-by-piece to educate fellow students on the energy used by their gadgets.

When sunscreen chemicals wash off beach-goers, they bleach coral, stunt its growth, and sometimes kill it outright.

Many sunscreens contain chemicals that are devastating to sensitive coral and other marine life.

The material could also one day charge our devices.

Sunshine is wonderful, but you can have too much of a good thing. This device measures it.

This flexible line of furniture is made for people who are on the move a lot, and need furniture that's easy to assemble and customize.

They are always fun to look at but do they make sense?

Another interesting find from Buenos Aires design fair, Feria Puro Diseno (FPD), this is a modular system designed by local studio Disenaveral to build different kinds of shelving spaces that adapt to changing situations.

Researchers are poring over an important medieval medical text with 360 recipes, many of which might have successfully fought infection long before modern science.

Family doctors are acknowledging that there's only so much medicine can do, and sometimes a walk in the park is just what a person needs.

A year-long experiment in the Bronx proved it's possible to switch from overly processed to freshly prepared meals.

"If a touchscreen must be used, it should be embedded alongside a set of fixed, physical buttons that support muscle memory and single actions."

A coating made from copper nanowires could make those smartphone screens a lot tougher and help the gadgets to last longer.

Attend your own green film fest at home with filmmakers' live Q&A

Doctors from the University of Mississippi dissected two nuggets and were shocked by what they found.

They are everywhere, the full page ads with smiling people proud of how much money they saved and how they qualified for all those government grants. But what did they really save? Perhaps a bit of energy, but how much?

Do we need hyperloops? No, we need trains that work.

Studies show that taller buildings are simply less efficient, and don't even give you any more useable area. Why bother?

Opposition from the G77 Nations and the Vatican led to the removal of the words 'reproductive rights' from the Rio+20 text, leaving in 'acceptable modern methods of family planning'.

Who would have thought our canine companions could have allergies to a carnivorous diet?

Turn your bathroom into a spa with an exfoliating DIY body scrub. Here are 8 homemade scrubs made with ingredients already in your kitchen.

Or, how to get glowing skin with just a few simple ingredients.

Yes, it's actually possible!

Excessive screen time is known to be harmful, and tough times don't justify letting those concerns slip.

This might be a model for how to live lightly in a circular economy.

Archigram’s Plug-in City meets 3D Printing

Lots of great ideas for green building in this year's crop.

The 2019 rating by EWG finds that most sunscreens contain sketchy ingredients and/or don't offer adequate protection.

Scott Z. Burns explains why the villain of his blockbuster film is an anti-science blogger, while the heroes are government officials.