metastudy

After the 1957-58 influenza pandemic caused nearly 70,000 fatalities in the United States, the Surgeon General recommended that all high-risk citizens (those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women and the elderly) receive a yearly flu vaccine. But it has not been clear how effective annual flu shots really are, and which populations benefit from them the most.

Conventional wisdom suggests that human beings require seven to eight hours of sleep a night to rest sufficiently. Factors such as lifestyle and sleep disorders can negatively impact the duration of sleep, and such imbalances can have significant implications on health and mortality.

Earth is home to approximately 9 million species of plants, animals and fungi. Together they form complex ecosystems that undergird the stability of the natural world, and ultimately help to sustain human life. The study of ecosystem functioning is crucial to understanding how continuing loss of biodiversity could affect humanity’s future.

State and federal taxation of alcoholic beverages has long been a charged issue among voters. Claims of overly paternalistic policy on one side are met with arguments that alcohol taxes are a deterrent to antisocial behavior.