Montreal, Quebec, CAN. We often see it happen. A sensational news story contains uncorrected scientific and medical errors, but it propagates around the world. The combination of declining scientific literacy, political opportunism, commercial self-interest, and proliferating special interest lobbies poses serious public policy questions.

The medical accuracy of media reports can be a problem for many people, not least those with any degree of involvement with Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS). There have been no focused research studies that examine HBS medical reporting; however, there are parallel cases well worth study.

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Washington, DC, USA. The respected World Values Survey (WVS) shows happiness increased worldwide from 1981 to 2007.

Did you know that USA ranks number 16 in world happiness? In fact, the United States ranks ahead of more than 80 countries, but below 15 others in happiness levels.

The World Values Survey (WVS) is the work of a global network of social scientists who perform periodic surveys addressing a number of issues. The latest surveys, taken in the United States and in several developing countries, showed increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries for which substantial time series data was available.

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Santa Monica, CA, USA. Information theory is devoted to the discovery and exploration of mathematical laws that govern the behavior of data as it is transferred, stored, or retrieved. Human language is subject to the vagaries of contextual nuance. When applied to the language of interpersonal communication, the theory becomes more approximate in its results but can be a useful way to structure discussion of such issues as relevance, sincerity, influence, and manipulation.

The classic economic model of information manipulation figures that the key to influence is based on knowing more than anybody else. As a challenge to these assumptions, economists have presented a situation — commonly observed in real life —

Louisville, KY, USA. Decades of research point to the need for a universal preschool education program in the U.S. to help give our nation's children a sound cognitive and social foundation on which to build future educational and life successes.

Making preschool available to all children age three and older in the United States would carry great benefits, say three Yale scholars who have won the 2008 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Education.

The change would improve the school-readiness of the nation’s young children, fill a gap for working families, lower the high school dropout rate, reduce crime and boost the economy. The award winners — Edward Zigler, Walter Gilliam and Stephanie Jones —