News by Subject Social & Behavior

A study of a stretch of highway in Quebec looks at the effect of road fencing and underground passages on the number of roadkill deaths of small and medium-sized mammals. The study found that roadkill numbers were higher at the ends of road fences, suggesting that they are not long enough to prevent animals from crossing busy roadways.

Each year, about 27 million tires end up in landfills, dumps and stockpiles, where they pose health and environmental hazards. These tires could get a second life as components of the roads they once traveled, but blends of ground tires and asphalt can be unstable. Now, researchers have identified polymer additives that increase the storage stability of asphalt rubber. They report their results in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels.

Development outcomes along streetcar corridors can't be entirely attributed to the presence of the streetcar, researchers found. Streetcar investment is commonly accompanied with a healthy incentive package, for example.

A new virtual tool could help planners choose the best places to install bikes lanes in cities. The data-based tool builds on previous research at the University of Waterloo that validated the safety benefits of bike lanes for cyclists and motorists.

The trucks and trains that transport goods across the United States emit gases and particles that threaten human health and the environment. A University of Illinois-led project developed a new model that predicts through 2050 the impact of different environmental policies on human mortality rates and short- and long-term climate change caused by particulate and greenhouse gas emissions.

A new study led by LSU Department of Sociology Assistant Professor Matthew Valasik is the first to show a statistical connection between homicide, blighted buildings and convenient stores.

Whether the presence of a college or hospital increases a home's value has to do with the institution's size and the ZIP code's population, says a new study by computer scientists at the University of California, Riverside. Colleges and hospitals do affect home prices and rents, but not always positively. Prices also rise and fall faster around these institutions, increasing the risk for investors.

Nearly 35 percent of rural counties in the United States are experiencing protracted and significant population loss, according to new research released by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Those counties are now home to 6.2 million residents, a third fewer than lived there in 1950.