Bettany Hughes' The Hemlock Cup transcends a mere factual recounting of what we know about Socrates; the book makes the fifth century BC as accessible as possible to a modern reader. Train Dreams protagonist represents a tradition of American men in the as-yet-undeveloped great West who struggled through to their unnoticed deaths after surviving the first World War.

Prior to the 2002 election, women comprised approximately 30 percent of appointed senior-level positions in Massachusetts government. By 2004, 42 percent of the new appointments made by the Romney administration were women. Subsequently, however, from 2004-2006 the percentage of newly-appointed women in these senior appointed positions dropped to 25 percent

Raising womens' participation could provide an important boost to growth, but they face two hurdles in participating in the workforce in Japan. First, few working women start out in career-track positions, and second, many women drop out of the workforce following childbirth.     Summary: Japan's potential growth rate is steadily falling with the aging of its population. This paper explores the extent to which raising female labor participation can help slow this t…

"This raises the possibility that we can use gene expression profiles to develop simple tests that screen for women who may be sensitive to low-dose radiation versus women who are resistant.”

Brigid O'Farrell writes: Eleanor Roosevelt warned that when fear and prejudice are running high, “We may wake up to find that in trying to remedy certain wrongs, we have shorn ourselves of certain very precious freedoms.” In 1958, Mrs. Roosevelt called the right-to-work effort a “predatory and misleading campaign”.

Wild mushrooms can be dangerous to eat. Some have toxins that can cause digestive or respiratory problems that are uncomfortable, while others are downright life-threatening. But the right kind of mushroom is delicious. As to squash, botanically speaking, it is a fruit! Like a tomato, it has seeds, the telltale marking. Yet, in the culinary sense, the way we prepare and eat it, it is a vegetable. So it is both. And what does that mean?

"The mob quickly fanned across the 27-acre [American Embassy] compound, waving posters of the Ayatollah Khomeini. They took the ambassador’s residence, then set upon the chancery, the citadel of the embassy where most of the staff was stationed." The magazine article that provides a basis for the new movie, Argo, details the true story of the five who escaped in the Iranian hostage crisis.

Roberta McReynolds writes: Mike decided that it is time to redo his model railroad. The ‘deconstruction’ phase is messy; I need to vacuum hourly to keep up. We've discovered the fact that most cats don’t appreciate vacuum cleaners to varying degrees but now we have one who has learned how to silence the vacuum.

When people view objects highly associated with one gender, like high heels for women or electric shavers for men, for a short period of time and are then asked to identify the gender of an androgynous face, they are more likely to identify it as being of the gender opposite to that associated with the stimuli.

The Nobel Prize recognizes two scientists who discovered that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop. John B. Gurdon discovered in 1962 that the specialisation of cells is reversible. Shinya Yamanaka discovered more than 40 years later, in 2006, how intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells.

In the late '90s, we called NPR's Car Talk for Time Magazine's Notebook section to ask Tom and Ray which 'retired' car would they like to see revived. Their producer, Dougie Berman, asked and they replied. But Car Talk was a fixture of our lives, an eagerly-looked- forward-to bright spot on the Saturday morning routine. It still is — but in edited past versions. Sigh.

In calendar year 2010, for the first time since the enactment of the Social Security Amendments of 1983, spending for the program exceeded its dedicated tax revenues. In 2011, spending exceeded dedicated tax revenues by 4 percent, and that gap is growing. CBO projects that over the next decade, spending will exceed dedicated tax revenues, on average, by about 10 percent.

Manufacturers must have competent and reliable scientific evidence to show that [Dietary Supplement} claims are truthful and not misleading, but they do not have to submit the substantiation to FDA, and FDA has only voluntary standards for it... a product label must include that the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

It's easy enough to identify the Public Broadcasting Company as an elimination for government funding, but those monies represent 15% of their entire funding, enough to cripple the organization's ability to not only produce new award-winning programs but to purchase others from producers and networks here and abroad.

Artful Dodgers: Responding But Not Answering Often Undetected Seeing questions can help voters detect dodges and be better informed, new study says WASHINGTON—How can some people respond to a question without answering the question, yet satisfy th…

The Paris exhibition, a display of around fifty dresses and accessories, including ten hats, presents an overview of women’s fashion at the time of the Impressionists, a fashion that was mainly characterized by the gradual abandonment of the crinoline in favour of the bustle.

The level to which survivors are uncertain about the outcome of their illness is strongly linked to depression. The relationship is more pronounced for men than for women. “Male stroke survivors in the US who subscribe to traditional health-related beliefs may be accustomed to, and value highly, being in control of their health.

We keep lots of toys for grandchildren, things that can be picked up and played with quickly, hopefully to desired conclusions. Some are absolutely classic, some new, but all engage fingers and eyes, puzzles to intrigue and keep a child or an adult absorbed. Here are some to be considered for the holidays.

Adrienne G. Cannon writes: I continue to envision him here, near me in his chair, in his place in our bed. I look for a sign in some lucky breaks I have gotten — convenient parking spots, a good hotel room. But the smile that comes to my lips when I think of these happenstance scenes fades, as I know I am creating a fantasy in his honor.

Jake Grovum of Stateline writes: “Ham-handed cuts” nobody thought would actually happen. “The big, dumb spending cuts that no one wants,” - descriptions given to the looming federal budget reductions that are scheduled to take effect Jan. 2, 2013, unless Congress stops them. If they are enacted, more than $1.2 trillion would be cut from federal spending in the next ten years, including nearly $110 billion next year alone.

Rose Mula writes: I have no concrete evidence that God exists, but I now know for sure that there's a heaven. Cindy and I entered it that day. No pearly gates, but gazillions of deeply-discounted designer shoes. The proverbial kid in a candy store couldn't possibly be happier than we were ... until the next morning when we went to church.

Bumblebees are remarkable navigators. While their flight paths may look scattered to the casual eye, all that buzzing about is anything but random. Like the travelling salesman in the famous mathematical problem of how to take the shortest path along multiple stops, bumblebees quickly find efficient routes among flowers. And once they find a good route, they stick to it.

Formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen, is sometimes used as a preservative or may be released when terpenes, found in citrus and pine oil cleaners and in some essential oils used as scents, react with ozone in the air. Chloroform, a suspected human carcinogen, sometimes escapes in fumes released by products containing chlorine bleach.