Tag: economics
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Hydrogen Fuel Cells Found Feasible for Ships Docked in Port
An analysis by Sandia National Lab in Livermore, California indicates hydrogen fuel cells offer an economical and environmentally feasible alternative for powering commercial ships docked in seaports. Sandia Lab, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, published the study, conducted for the department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, earlier this year. Ships docked…
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Simplified Medicare Could Save Money, Improve Senior Health
Public health researchers found combining into one program Medicare’s separate hospital, doctor, and drug plans with supplemental insurance could save $180 billion over a decade while improving care for older Americans. The study, led by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health professor Karen Davis and conducted for the Commonwealth Fund, appears in the May 2013 issue…
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Consortium to Examine Digital Games Social, Health Benefits
A consortium of academic researchers and digital game developers in the U.K. are studying ways to harness the creative energy in digital games for social and health goals. The £1.2 million ($US 1.86 million) project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council, both science funding agencies…
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Emergency Care Costs Likely Higher than Current Estimates
An analysis of emergency care costs in the U.S. suggests the actual price tag for visiting hospital emergency rooms may be more than earlier thought. A study by economist turned emergency room physician Michael Lee at Brown University, with colleagues from Brown and Harvard Medical School, appears online in Friday’s issue of the journal Annals…
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Study: Solar Panel Industry Now a Net Energy Producer
The global photovoltaic industry has reached a point where solar panels are now likely generating more energy than needed to produce the panels, concludes a new study by Stanford University’s Global Climate and Energy Project. The findings of postdoctoral fellow Michael Dale and project director Sally Benson appear in the 2 April issue of the…
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Recommended Heart Failure Meds Save Lives, and Maybe Money
Medical researchers at University of California in Los Angeles found medications recommended in national guidelines for heart failure are cost-effective in saving patient lives and could also provide financial savings for the national health care system. The findings of the team led by Gregg Fonarow, director of the cardiomyopathy center at UCLA, appear in the…
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Symbols and Calorie Labels Influence Restaurant Choices
Economists at University of Illinois in Urbana and Oklahoma State University in Stillwater found the combination of calorie counts and stoplight symbols had the most influence on choices made by restaurant diners. The team led by Illinois’s Brenna Ellison (pictured right) published its findings in a recent issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition…
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Industry Technology Formulas Given Real-World Tests
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico found two formulas for predicting technological change, including Moore’s Law, produce reasonably accurate forecasts. The team led by MIT engineering systems professor Jessika Trancik (pictured right), formerly a postdoctoral fellow at Santa Fe Institute, published its findings last week in the online…
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Disease, Queen Identified as Main Bee Colony Risk Factors
Researchers at North Carolina State University, University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University, and U.S. Department of Agriculture found a mysterious disease and aberrant queen behavior highly associated with the recent widespread death of bee colonies. The authors published their findings in a recent issue of the journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine. The team led by University…
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Floor Layout Analysis Can Boost Nursing Work Improvements
Architects at Cornell and Texas A&M universities and in private practice developed an analytic technique to find ways of improving the work of nurses by improving the layout of medical and surgical facilities. The team led by Cornell’s Rana Zadeh published its findings in the current (December 2012) issue of the Health Environments Research and…