Infotrak

After two successive job losses, Kyle Austin Young, business strategy consultant, author of “Success Is a Numbers Game: Achieve Bigger Goals by Changing the Odds,” pivoted to consulting, realizing that all his clients shared a common goal: improving their odds of success. He emphasized that people often fall into an "averaging trap," evaluating individual task success separately rather than multiplying the probabilities together.

Mild traumatic brain injury affects millions of Americans each year, with many experiencing persistent problems with concentration, memory and information processing that can last months or years. John Shelley-Tremblay, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Director of the Experimental Event-related Potentials Laboratory at the University of South Alabama, shares eye-opening results from a program that significantly outperforms standard programs designed to treat cognitive problems following a concussion.

The daily beauty routine of many Americans might be quietly working against their health. Lariah Edwards, PhD, Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, found that black and Hispanic women in South Los Angeles face disproportionate chemical exposures from personal care products—not through choice, but because of societal beauty standards and limited access to safer alternatives

A twenty-year study has revealed something remarkable about arsenic exposure. Alexander F. Van Geen, PhD, Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of the Columbia Climate School, found that when people switched from arsenic-contaminated wells to safer water sources, their death risk falls--even after years of chronic exposure.

Here's something that might surprise you: when PTSD treatment is delivered weekly, dropout rates soar, but package those same therapies into intensive formats and retention improves dramatically. Elizabeth Penix-Smith, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Idaho State University, National Research Council fellow at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, explains the ABCs of PTSD.

Behavioral health care now consumes 40% of all pediatric medical spending—nearly double the 22% recorded in 2011. Kenneth Michelson, MD, MPH, emergency medicine physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, explains that without regulatory reforms and better reimbursement rates, untreated children will continue flooding emergency departments in crisis.

Remarkably, something as simple as going to bed at the same time each night could lower your blood pressure. Saurabh Thosar, PhD, Associate Professor at Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at Oregon Health & Science University, found that tightened your bedtime variability from 30 minutes to seven minutes could result clinically meaningful improvements.

What if understanding your teen's genetic wiring could prevent dangerous choices? Danielle Dick, PhD, Director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center based at Rutgers Brain Health Institute, says parents may have more influence than they realize when it comes to shaping their children’s behavior, especially for those at higher genetic risk for conduct problems.

Cannabis today packs 15-30% THC compared to just 3% in the 1980s. Mallar Chakravarty, PhD, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Brain Imaging Centre at the Douglas Research Centre at McGill University, outlines the facts that every pregnant woman needs to know.

Headlines often focus on the massive energy requirements that artificial intelligence data centers will require. Anthony R. Harding, PhD, Assistant Professor, environmental economist, at Georgia Tech, explains why AI has significant potential to improve energy efficiency across much of our economy.

Managing money for aging parents is a daunting task, affecting millions of American families. Beth Pinsker, Certified Financial Planner, financial-planning columnist at MarketWatch, author of “My Mother's Money: A Guide to Financial Caregiving,” shares her own surprising experiences and the lessons she learned in handling her mother's finances.

Could a single treatment permanently fix your cholesterol? Luke J. Laffin, MD, physician in the Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute and Co-Director, Center for Blood Pressure Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic, discusses his groundbreaking research on a gene-editing drug that might permanently eliminate your need for daily cholesterol pills.

Alice S.A. Johnston, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Data Science in the Cranfield Environment Centre at Cranfield University in Wharley End, England, shares her recent findings that nighttime illumination forces natural environments to release more carbon-—essentially making forests and other landscapes worse at their critical job of absorbing CO₂.

Aimee Donnellan, Reuters journalist, author of “Off the Scales: The Inside Story of Ozempic and the Race to Cure Obesity” discusses Ozempic's cultural significance, revealing troubling societal attitudes about body image and worth.

Amelie Pedneault, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University, shares startling new findings about college campuses: college-enrolled women ages 18-24 face a 74 percent higher risk of sexual violence compared to their non-enrolled peers. Even more concerning, students living on campus face three times the risk that commuters do.

Thanksgiving is the leading day of the year for home cooking fires. Director of Public Affairs at the National Fire Protection Association, outlines the most common mishaps, and offers advice to keep your family safe on Thanksgiving.

Parenting today often feels like an uphill battle, with technology invading every corner of kids’ lives. Jean M. Twenge, PhD, author of "10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World: How Parents Can Stop Smartphones, Social Media, and Gaming from Taking Over Their Children's Lives” shares practical advice for parents.

Four years after Congress required phone companies to start thwarting scam and telemarketing robocalls, American consumers are getting more of these annoying and sometimes costly calls. Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director of the Public Interest Research Group, offers advice for consumers to protect themselves from scams.

Can one person really change the world? John Studzinski, Managing Director of PIMCO, Founder/Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, author of “A Talent for Giving: Creating a More Generous Society That Benefits Everyone” believes the answer starts with you! He explains why meaningful change happens one person at a time.

When insurance companies fund only short-term addiction treatment, they're not just failing patients—they're actually increasing overdose deaths. That's just one of the stark revelations from Shoshana Walter, staff reporter at The Marshall Project, author of "Rehab: An American Scandal.”