North America | United States | Career

Women in Science Receive Less Grant Money Than Their Male Peers

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A new study published in JAMA reveals a significant gender disparity between the size of research grants awarded to projects led by first-time investigators. As Andrew Jacobs writes for The New York Times, researchers from Northwestern University report that on average, the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) doles out an extra $41,000 in grant money to applications listing men as their principal authors. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Alison Bowen, the Northwestern team analyzed some 54,000 N.I.H. grants awarded between 2006 and 2017. Based on this data, the scientists found tha
Europe | Denmark | Science

WiFi Experiment Done By Five 9th Grade Girls Got Serious International Attention. THIS Is Why…

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Researchers from England, Holland and Sweden have shown great interest in the experiment done by 5 girls from northern Jutland in 9th grade. They did an experiment for a biology test, so brilliant, that it has attracted international attention among acknowledged biologists and radiation experts. The girls got really surprised by the sudden attention from all around the world. “It has been such a rollercoaster ride. I still cannot believe it”, says Lea Nielsen, one of the girls. “It’s totally overwhelming and exciting. It’s just not something you experience every day”. a
Latin America | Argentina | Science

Argentina Has More Women in Science—But It Hasn’t Fixed Sexism

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Argentina looks like the most female-friendly place in the world for astronomers. A full 39 percent of professional astronomers there are women, which, yes, passes for remarkable when the number hovers in the teens or below in most of the rest of the world. So what’s going on in Argentina, a country which female scientists there describe as still having “‘machismo’ in the air”? I first began asking this question to astronomers—Argentinian and otherwise—after news broke that renowned UC Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy had been sexually harassing female students for decades. The
North America | United States | Health

Diet Sodas Linked to Cardiovascular Disease in Women

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Scientists are looking into a link between women, diet sodas, and cardiovascular disease that is both problematic and shocking. The artificial sweeteners in diet sodas are causing people to gain weight. There is still a lot to be learned about how artificial sweeteners affect the human body. There have been some recent studies concerning women who drink diet drinks and how they affect their hearts as well as their weight. The University of Iowa has conducted the largest study so far, to determine if there is a link between diet soda and cardiovascular disease in women. Women who drank at
International | Science

Science Is Still Trying To Figure Out What Makes A Female Athlete

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In 2013, professional sprinter Dutee Chand was banned from competing as a female athlete. She wasn't accused of doping, and she wasn't accused of not being a woman—she was born and raised as a girl. Instead, her hormones were at fault. Chand's natural testosterone levels fall into a male range, and according to international regulations, she can't compete again until her testosterone lowers to a more ladylike level—a process that would require drugs or surgery. Chand refuses, and in March she challenged the ban. Switzerland's Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to come out with a
International | Science

Testosterone Rules for Women Athletes Are Unfair, Researchers Argue

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Elite women athletes are currently barred from competing in top-tier competitions, such as the Olympic Games and World Championships, if their testosterone levels are too high. But for women with naturally high levels, this regulation may be premature, as the only two large studies done on testosterone levels in professional athletes give conflicting results on how to define the normal levels for women, researchers argue in a new editorial. Despite the lack of data, the 2011 policy has already barred some women, such as Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, from competing on the world stage.
International | Environment

Sylvia Earle: There’s Still Time to Save the Oceans

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The legendary oceanographer talks about why she crisscrosses the globe to protect marine life Pioneering oceanographer Sylvia Earle’s lifelong affinity for the ocean began early. “When I was three years old I got knocked over by a wave, and the ocean got my attention,” she told me at DOER Marine, the ocean technology company in Alameda, California, that she founded. It’s held her attention ever since. A former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and current National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, Earle has led dozens of deep-sea missions
North America | Canada | Culture

Doctors warned not to encourage young women to freeze their eggs in new medical journal article

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Doctors are being warned not to encourage young women to freeze their eggs as a way to avoid “future regret,” says a just-published article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that argues it risks perpetuating expectations that being a mother is central to being a woman. “Social egg freezing uses medical technology to respond to a non-medical problem — natural aging,” the authors of the CMAJ analysis write in a paper published Monday, which was intended to help family doctors advise women contemplating egg banking. Growing numbers of Canadian women are seeking “social
North America | United States | Science

Report: Disturbing drop in women in computing field

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Almost all of the women on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list — including those not at tech firms — had majored in STEM studies. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, for instance, had a triple-major bachelor’s degree in physics, chemistry, and math. Mary Barra, chief executive of GM, was an electrical engineering major. A new American Association of University Women review of more than 380 studies from academic journals, corporations, and government sources shows a big employment gap in computing and engineering. In some fields, the gap is actually widening over the years — not shrinking.
North America | United States | Ethics

Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna, Inventor Genome-editing Technique, Seeks Ban Editing the Human Genome

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A group of leading biologists on Thursday called for a worldwide moratorium on use of a new genome-editing technique that would alter human DNA in a way that can be inherited. The biologists fear that the new technique is so effective and easy to use that some physicians may push ahead before its safety can be assessed. They also want the public to understand the ethical issues surrounding the technique, which could be used to cure genetic diseases, but also to enhance qualities like beauty or intelligence. The latter is a path that many ethicists believe should never be taken. The new genom