Over his career Thomas Edison garnered more U.S. patents than anyone in his time. Edison profited from his patents, but he was also exposed to the dark side of the patent system. He had to contend with lawsuits by other patentees who sought – and sometimes won – a piece of his success.
Testing for coronavirus is increasingly recognised as essential for getting life back to normal. Free rapid testing is now being offered to the families of all pupils in England under the government’s plan to reopen schools.
Although Swedes are apparently optimistic about their future alongside robots, other countries aren’t as hopeful.
- By Matt Shipman
"What effect does this combination of financial and health uncertainty have on people? And how do they deal with it? Our study suggests that the effect is profound," says Lynsey Romo. "The pandemic, and related expenses, may make it worse."
Shopping used to be hard work – wandering down multiple aisles in search of a desired item, dealing with crying and nagging kids, and waiting in long checkout lines.
Thanks to platforms that link online consumption to local interests, the desire to buy local is now giving rise to a new phenomenon known as “digital localism.”
Long before COVID-19, women made less money than men, had more child care responsibilities and were at increased risk of gender-based violence.
In the middle of the 20th century, when lotteries first started in the U.S., they were sold to states as a benefit to the American public. That suggests that bigger and bigger jackpots should mean more tax dollars to spend on public services like education.
The teachers are not alright. As families across Canada juggle a variety of states of lockdown due to COVID-19, many teachers continue to voice concerns that government plans to keep students and teachers safe in schools are inadequate.
Food banks have morphed from “emergency to industry” – lauded for reducing food insecurity and helping to solve the food waste problem by diverting tonnes of produce from landfill.
- By Tony Ward
In mid November 2020, South Dakota emergency room nurse Jodi Doering tweeted her experience of caring for dying patients.
The most COVID-19 lockdowns were accompanied by sobering news from the UK’s high streets. Many of the closures are concentrated in city centres. But beyond the city core, there remains the prospect that smaller town centres and suburban high streets might emerge stronger in 2021...
The widespread reliance on remote learning is harming students of color from low-income households more than kids who are from more affluent families.
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated America’s nursing homes, but the reasons aren’t as simple as people might think.
There is no doubt the COVID-19 crisis has incurred widespread economic costs. There is understandable concern that stronger measures against the virus, from social distancing to full lockdowns, worsen its impact on economies.
The notion that immigration impacts wages or employment is largely based on a simplistic analysis of supply and demand. The idea is that immigration increases the supply of labour and, if everything else holds constant, this results in lower wages. But the world is not this simple.
The phrase “the gold standard” means, in common parlance, the best available benchmark – as in double-blind randomized trials are the gold standard for determining the efficacy of a vaccine.
The outgoing Trump administration presided over one of the most dramatic tightenings in US immigration policy since the 1930s.
- By Tavneet Suri
The coronavirus pandemic is having devastating socio-economic effects on people in many parts of the world. Could distributing a universal basic income – a modest, unconditional stipend that gives individuals enough money to get by – help people weather crises like this?
Those turning to unconventional monetary policy include Japan, Switzerland and the European Union. Negative rates range from –0.1% to –0.8% for selected tiers of central bank deposits.
COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on retailers. Since tough new restrictions were introduced in parts of the UK during October 2020, footfall on high streets, shopping centres and out-of-town retail parks has fallen
On day one, a newly inaugurated President Joe Biden will have to address a devastated economy – much like he and former President Barack Obama did a decade ago.What can the country expect?
- By Ria Dunkley
While in class, children shouldn’t feel their time is wasted. Primary school teachers have an ethical responsibility to bring climate change into their classrooms and they’re well placed for the task.