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Will I ever need math? A mathematician explains how math is everywhere – from soap bubbles to Pixar movies

Retrieved on:

Monday, July 24, 2023

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Will I ever need math besides for school or work?

Key Points:

Will I ever need math besides for school or work?
– Hadassah G., age 9, New Jersey
Will I ever need math besides for school or work?
But, in fact, math pops up everywhere – even in the soap bubbles in your kitchen sink.
Now, as a professor of mathematics who studies how people learn math through play, I understand why bubbles are naturally lazy.

Math in everyday life

Many topics you learn in elementary school – like fractions, percentages and measurements – are useful in everyday life.
Percentages – which are special kinds of fractions – are especially important to understand when managing money.

Your favorite technology needs math

With an understanding of geometric transformations like reflections, rotations and translations, you can use your computer to make your own animations.
Middle and high school teachers can even use Minecraft to help students learn math concepts.
Many high-paying jobs use math, especially probability – again, fractions.

Math helps your brain

You can use math activities to train your brain the same way you would train your body for a sport.
Doing math helps your brain become flexible so you can better handle new tasks and ideas of all kinds.
Even doing things that don’t look like your math homework, such as crossword puzzles, word searches and board games like Set and Blokus, are deeply mathematical activities that help your brain get stronger.
This kind of mental training helps the brain pay attention and solve problems and improves memory.

FDA approves first daily over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill – a pharmacist and public health expert explain this new era in contraception

Retrieved on:

Friday, July 14, 2023

Its approval for nonprescription use may spark other manufacturers of prescription-only birth control to follow.

Key Points:

Its approval for nonprescription use may spark other manufacturers of prescription-only birth control to follow.
This highlights the importance of pharmacies as destinations for health care and pharmacists as facilitators of contraceptive care.
The process begins with a pharmacist consultation to screen patients for eligibility, collect a medical history and measure blood pressure.
We see the move toward over-the-counter birth control as an important step toward accessible and equitable reproductive health care for all Americans.

Making birth control more accessible

Traditionally, hormonal contraception – also known as birth control, or when taken orally, “the pill” – has only been accessible after a comprehensive medical evaluation by a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner.
But in 2016, California and Oregon changed their legislation to allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control.
However, the move toward over-the-counter birth control is important because it will lessen some of the known barriers to birth control, especially if the products are offered at an affordable price point.
Over-the-counter birth control can also reduce access barriers by preventing the need for a scheduled appointment with a primary care physician during work hours, the need for a pharmacist to be present to dispense prescription birth control or the need to travel long distances to access these professionals.

Addressing remaining barriers

Even in states where pharmacists are currently allowed to prescribe birth control, over-the-counter hormonal birth control can make a difference.
For example, if state policies do not create payment pathways to reimburse pharmacists for their time to counsel and prescribe, pharmacists may choose not to participate in prescribing birth control.
Ultimately, a jury found that the pharmacist did not discriminate against the woman by denying to fill her prescription.

Pharmacist ‘conscience clauses’

In addition, company policies may require pharmacists with objections to arrange for another pharmacist – who does not have objections – to provide the medication and care requested by the patient.
However, some states do not require a system to ensure this patient access as the American Pharmacists Association suggests.
Pharmacist conscience clauses are unlikely to interfere with over-the-counter birth control availability at large pharmacy chains, supermarkets and mass merchandisers due to top-down decision-making structures of these organizations.
These contraception deserts could be reduced or eliminated altogether now that retailers may sell over-the-counter hormonal birth control at an affordable price.

Pharmacists’ role in providing contraceptive

Pharmacists are trained as medication experts and acquire unique knowledge and skills of self-care products and nonprescription medications.
In our view, pharmacists can positively contribute to the safe, effective and accessible use of contraception across the country.

How the shooting of Ralph Yarl demonstrates the fiction of a colorblind society in America

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Less than a month earlier, on April 13, Yarl had gone to pick up his twin younger brothers from a play date in the Northland section of Kansas City, Kansas.

Key Points:

Less than a month earlier, on April 13, Yarl had gone to pick up his twin younger brothers from a play date in the Northland section of Kansas City, Kansas.
Instead of going to NE 115 Terrace, Yarl went a block away to NE 115 Street Place, where he rang the doorbell.
Within a few seconds after seeing Yarl at his door, the homeowner, Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man, fired his .32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and struck Yarl twice, once in his forehead and once in his arm.
Weeks after Yarl’s shooting, another incident involving neighbors occurred in Ocala, Florida, on June 3.

A long way from a colorblind society

In my book, Bodies out of Place: Theorizing Anti-
blackness in U.S. Society, I describe how racist attitudes persist in society.
One way this happens is through fixed social ideas about where Blacks belong, when, with whom and in what position.
It hints at a reality that is both unpleasant and often ignored: Most Black people in American society are forced to navigate increasingly segregated spaces.
For Black women, sociologist Patricia Hill Collins calls this consciousness an awareness of our status as “the outsider within.”

“Scared to death”

Through his attorney, Lester further said he was scared to death and thought Yarl was a burglar.
Because most would-be burglars do not ring doorbells, it’s fair to question on what he based his fear.
What is clear is that he is resolved – at least publicly – to not let it steal his joy.

Racism operates on a continuum

In its guidebook Race and Racism in the United States, the American Sociological Association describes how racism operates on the structural and individual level.
There are often expectations about who belongs in certain spaces.
As the
work of sociologist Nirmal Puwar demonstrates, physical spaces are gendered, raced and classed.
Some have called Yarl’s shooting the “wrong door” case.

Zebrafish share skin-deep similarities with people, making them helpful models to study skin conditions like vitiligo and melanoma

Retrieved on:

Monday, July 10, 2023

They do this by synthesizing melanins, which are pigments sent to other skin cells to shield them from harmful ultraviolet light.

Key Points:

They do this by synthesizing melanins, which are pigments sent to other skin cells to shield them from harmful ultraviolet light.
A lack of functioning melanocytes causes a wide range of skin conditions, including skin cancer and vitiligo, an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks melanocytes and causes patches of depigmented skin.
Difficulties growing human melanocytes in cell cultures have led researchers like me to use alternative models to study them.

What zebrafish and people have in common

Melanocytes in zebrafish are similar in many ways to those in people.
Unlike melanocytes in mouse or human skin, zebrafish melanocytes are externally visible in their dark stripes and spotted scales.
Importantly, researchers can manipulate and perform experiments on zebrafish melanocytes in ways that are unethical or not feasible to do with people.

Diversity of melanocyte stem cells

It’s also relevant to age-related conditions like hair graying, in which melanocyte stem cells either die or become dormant and no longer produce the mature melanocytes that give hair its color.
Since melanocyte stem cells in zebrafish are externally visible, we tracked these cells in real time to see how they divided and matured.
Additionally, we measured which genes were expressed in individual melanocyte stem cells and their descendants during regeneration.
We found that dying melanocytes trigger this regenerative process by sending the signal for melanocyte stem cells – cells that can give rise to new melanocytes – to activate.

From fish to people

When we examined cells taken from the fluid within a blister in human skin, we found cells that look remarkably similar to zebrafish melanocyte stem cells.
We are planning to see whether these human cells are activated in skin regeneration to make new melanocytes, which would confirm their identity as melanocyte stem cells.

Police treatment in black and white – report on Minneapolis policing is the latest reminder of systemic racial disparities

Retrieved on:

Thursday, July 6, 2023

The latest reminder that police officers around the country routinely deny Black people their constitutional rights comes from the Justice Department.

Key Points:

The latest reminder that police officers around the country routinely deny Black people their constitutional rights comes from the Justice Department.
This time, it’s about Minneapolis, the site of a police officer’s video-recorded murder of resident George Floyd.
And that led me to the enduring question: Why is racial discrimination by police so common in the United States?

Policing in black and white

Countless studies have shown that Black people are routinely stopped by police and live in racially segregated communities that police heavily monitor.
These conditions have led to Black people being overrepresented in arrests for violent crime that doesn’t involve a fatality.
Police body camera footage shows officers speak disrespectfully to Black people during traffic stops; about four of every 10 Black people say police have unfairly stopped them; and Black people are more than three times as likely to be killed by police during interactions.
These experiences explain why white Americans are more likely to give police high marks – 75% – for job performance.

Experiences shape people’s views

The fact that Black and white Americans have different views on the police are not accidents.
Indeed, policing in the United States was established on the practice of controlling specific populations.
In the 19th century, for example, policing in the South was designed to monitor the movement of enslaved Black people.

Policing the way it was intended

And it will be part of the mountain of studies, complaints and federal reports that show widespread racial discrimination.
It’s no wonder, then, that so many people believe racial discrimination is endemic to policing and is simply part of the way it works.
And while this most recent Justice Department report shows that, it also makes the case that Minneapolis police are working the way they were intended.

America's power disconnection crisis: In 31 states, utilities can shut off electricity for nonpayment in a heat wave

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

For people who struggle to afford air conditioning, the rising need for cooling is a growing crisis.

Key Points:

For people who struggle to afford air conditioning, the rising need for cooling is a growing crisis.
Energy utility providers shut off electricity to at least 3 million customers in 2022 who had missed a bill payment.
In our view, it is time government agencies and utilities start treating household energy security as a national priority.

1 in 4 households face energy insecurity

But for millions of U.S. households, the risk of losing power is a constant concern.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1 in 4 American households experience some form of energy insecurity each year, with no appreciable improvement over the past decade.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that Black and Hispanic households were three and four times, respectively, more likely to lose service than white households.
Some also face a history of redlining and poor city planning that has concentrated certain populations in less efficient homes.

Coping strategies can put health at risk

We have found that over half of all low-income households engage in some coping strategies, and most of them find they need multiple strategies at once.
In our research, we have found that the most common coping strategies are also the most risky.
Once people fall behind on their bills, they are at risk of being disconnected by their utility providers.

Where disconnection rates are highest

The data we do have reveals that disconnection rates soar during the summer months and are typically highest in the Southeast – the same states that were baking under a heat dome in June and July 2023.
Places with particularly high disconnection rates include Alabama, where the city of Dothan’s municipal utility has disconnected an average of 5% of its customers, and Florida, where the city of Tallahassee has a disconnection rate of over 4%.
Large investor-owned utilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana also top the charts in disconnections, with average rates near 1%.

Only 19 states restrict summer shut-offs

All but a handful of states limit utilities from shutting off customers during winter months or on extremely cold days.
Yet, the majority of states do not place any limits on utility disconnections during summer months or on very hot days.
Only 19 states have such summer protections, which typically take the form of designating time periods or temperatures when customers cannot be disconnected from their service.

Better rules and a new mindset on right to energy

Most of all, we believe Americans need a collective change in mindset about energy access.
The country cannot wait for deadly heat waves to prove how important it is to protect American households.
Sanya Carley has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for work related to the material discussed in this article.

America's disconnection crisis: In 31 states, utilities can shut off power for nonpayment in a heat wave

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

An alarming number of people risk losing access to utility service altogether because they can’t pay their bills.

Key Points:

An alarming number of people risk losing access to utility service altogether because they can’t pay their bills.
Energy utility providers shut off electricity to at least 3 million customers in 2022 who had missed a bill payment.
As researchers who study energy justice and energy insecurity, we believe the United States is in the midst of a disconnection crisis.

1 in 4 households face energy insecurity

But for millions of U.S. households, the risk of losing power is a constant concern.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1 in 4 American households experience some form of energy insecurity each year, with no appreciable improvement over the past decade.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that Black and Hispanic households were three and four times, respectively, more likely to lose service than white households.
Some also face a history of redlining and poor city planning that has concentrated certain populations in less efficient homes.

Coping strategies can put health at risk

We have found that over half of all low-income households engage in some coping strategies, and most of them find they need multiple strategies at once.
In our research, we have found that the most common coping strategies are also the most risky.
Once people fall behind on their bills, they are at risk of being disconnected by their utility providers.

Where disconnection rates are highest

The data we do have reveals that disconnection rates soar during the summer months and are typically highest in the Southeast – the same states that were baking under a heat dome in June and July 2023.
Places with particularly high disconnection rates include Alabama, where the city of Dothan’s municipal utility has disconnected an average of 5% of its customers, and Florida, where the city of Tallahassee has a disconnection rate of over 4%.
Large investor-owned utilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana also top the charts in disconnections, with average rates near 1%.

Only 19 states restrict summer shut-offs

All but a handful of states limit utilities from shutting off customers during winter months or on extremely cold days.
Yet, the majority of states do not place any limits on utility disconnections during summer months or on very hot days.
Only 19 states have such summer protections, which typically take the form of designating time periods or temperatures when customers cannot be disconnected from their service.

Better rules and a new mindset on right to energy

Most of all, we believe Americans need a collective change in mindset about energy access.
The country cannot wait for deadly heat waves to prove how important it is to protect American households.
Sanya Carley has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for work related to the material discussed in this article.

A business can decline service based on its beliefs, Supreme Court rules – but what will this look like in practice?

Retrieved on:

Saturday, July 1, 2023

At issue in one of this year’s most highly anticipated Supreme Court cases, 303 Creative v. Elenis, was what happens when someone’s free speech or beliefs conflict with others’ rights.

Key Points:

At issue in one of this year’s most highly anticipated Supreme Court cases, 303 Creative v. Elenis, was what happens when someone’s free speech or beliefs conflict with others’ rights.
Specifically, 303 Creative addressed whether a Colorado anti-discrimination law can require a designer who believes marriage is only between a man and a woman to create a wedding website for a same-sex couple.

Compelled speech?

The underlying dispute involves graphic artist Lorie Smith, the founder and owner of a studio called 303 Creative.
According to court documents, Smith will work with clients of any sexual orientation.
The federal trial court in Colorado rejected Smith’s attempt to block enforcement of the anti-discrimination law in 2019.
Protecting diverse viewpoints, in the court’s opinion, was a “good in and of itself,” but combating discrimination “is, like individual autonomy, ‘essential’ to our democratic ideals.” In a lengthy dissent, the chief judge of the 10th Circuit focused on compelled speech.

SCOTUS speaks

The Supreme Court agreed to hear Smith’s case but limited the issue to free speech, sidestepping the dispute over the free exercise of religion.
In 1943’s West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, for example, the court declared that public officials could not compel students who were Jehovah’s Witnesses to salute the flag, because doing so violated their religious beliefs.
Sotomayor went on to decry the ruling for symbolically “mark(ing) gays and lesbians for second-class status.” Denying services to same-sex couples “reminds LGBT people of a painful feeling that they know all too well,” she wrote.
“There are some public places where they can be themselves, and some where they cannot.”

Questions ahead

I believe 303 Creative presents a challenge for society to come to grips with the tension between two fundamental interests.
Ensuring both freedom of speech and civil rights requires good-faith efforts at respect – and respect is a two-way street.
However, exactly what this looks like will likely be the cause of more litigation to come.

A subtle symphony of ripples in spacetime – astronomers use dead stars to measure gravitational waves produced by ancient black holes

Retrieved on:

Friday, June 30, 2023

An international team of astronomers has detected a faint signal of gravitational waves reverberating through the universe.

Key Points:

An international team of astronomers has detected a faint signal of gravitational waves reverberating through the universe.
By using dead stars as a giant network of gravitational wave detectors, the collaboration – called NANOGrav – was able to measure a low-frequency hum from a chorus of ripples of spacetime.

Using dead stars for cosmology

The team used pulsars, rapidly spinning dead stars that emit a beam of radio emissions.
Pulsars are such accurate clocks that it is possible to measure their ticking with an accuracy to within 100 nanoseconds.
Gravitational waves change the distance between these pulsars and Earth by tens of miles, making pulsars easily sensitive enough to detect this effect.

Finding a hum within cacophony

Even accounting for these effects, the team’s approach was not sensitive enough to detect gravitational waves from individual supermassive black hole binaries.
You can’t pick out a single instrument because of the noise of the cars and the people around you, but you can hear the hum of a hundred instruments.
The hum the NANOGrav collaboration found is produced from the merging of black holes that are billions of times more massive than the Sun.
The black hole mergers the NANOGrav team has found “ring” with a frequency billions of times too low to hear.

Giant black holes in the early universe

To do this, James Webb was designed to detect the faint light from incredibly distant stars and galaxies.
The telescope has also detected the oldest black hole in the universe, located at the center of a galaxy that formed just 500 million years after the Big Bang.
Astronomers know that supermassive black holes lie at the center of every galaxy and have mass proportional to their host galaxies.
These new results from the NANOGrav team emerged from astronomers’ first opportunity to listen to the gravitational waves of the ancient universe.

From Stonewall to Pride, the fight for equal rights has been rooted in resistance led by Black transwomen

Retrieved on:

Friday, June 30, 2023

Its unclear who threw the first brick at Stonewall Inn on that night in New York City that arguably launched the gay rights liberation movement.

Key Points:

Its unclear who threw the first brick at Stonewall Inn on that night in New York City that arguably launched the gay rights liberation movement.
As part of queer lore, Marsha P. Johnson, a Black transwoman at the forefront of gay liberation, or Sylvia Rivera, a Latina transwoman, was the first.
But based on their accounts of that night of June 28, 1969, neither threw that first brick.
Despite some social progress, Black transwomen continue to pay the price, sometimes with their lives.

Misperceptions of the Stonewall Riots

I have learned that the story of Stonewall became popularized when a movie was released in 2015.
But the “Stonewall” movie was met with harsh criticism for whitewashing the story and omitting the role of Black and Latina queer people.

An overlooked act of defiance

Stonewall was not the first act of public defiance by a gay community.
The Compton’s Cafeteria riot took place about three years before Stonewall and nearly 3,000 miles away in San Francisco.
Compton’s Cafeteria, located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, was a popular late-night gathering spot in the 1960s for transgender people, particularly transwomen.
This act of resistance ignited a spontaneous uprising within the cafeteria and on the streets.

Hate still runs rampant

In addition, the murder of transpeople nearly doubled from 29 deaths in 2017 to 56 in 2021, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.
So far in 2023, the murders of Cashay Henderson, a Black transwoman and KoKo Da Doll, the lead actor in “Kokomo City,” a Sundance Award-winning documentary, serve as tragic reminders of the ongoing violence and discrimination targeting queer people.