Migrants and Refugees Are Good for Economies 3 NSF Invites
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Migrants and refugees are good for economies 3 NSF invites professional news media to submit proposals to report from Antarctica 7 HPV vaccine has almost wiped out infections in young women, figures show 11 OSTP and NSF to honor 140 individuals and organizations with highest US award for teachers 13 and mentors Researchers find two new antibiotics that offer promise in the fight against drug-resistant 21 bacteria. 'Everybody was telling me there was nothing wrong' 23 Newfound Alien Planet is a Metal-Heavy Cannonball 31 The huge benefits of working in your second language 35 On scientific co-authorship (& 3): Intelectual property rights and the individualization of items of 41 knowledge Huge trove of unknown viruses found in fish, frogs and reptiles 45 Human brains make new nerve cells — and lots of them — well into old age 50 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Massive Ancient Drawings Found in Peruvian Desert 53 The Missing Music of the Left 58 Cosmic 'Yardstick' Measures Distance to One of Universe's Oldest Objects 62 The size of atoms, uncertainty and relativity 64 Hundreds of Inherited Gene Variants Contribute to Cancer 66 Surviving ‘the early catastrophe’ 70 Moving Targets 74 At the Royal Academy 81 The forgotten fraction in semicrystalline semiconducting polymers 85 Where Lost Bodies Roam 88 The Tower 96 Through a Glass Darkly 197 2 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 449 august 2018 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Migrants and refugees are good for economies Analysis of 30 years of data from Western Europe refutes suggestions that asylum seekers pose a financial burden. Amy Maxmen A Syrian man works at a train-repair facility in Germany, where more than one million refugees and migrants arrived in 2015–16.Credit: Thomas Trutschel/Getty Refugees and migrants searching for safe havens and opportunities benefit their host nations’ economies within five years of arrival, suggests an analysis of 30 years of data from 15 countries in Western Europe. 3 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 449 august 2018 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila What the numbers say about refugees The study finds that soon after a spike in migration, the overall strength and sustainability of the country’s economy improves and unemployment rates drop. Its conclusions contradict the idea that refugees place an excessive financial burden on a country by sucking up public resources. The study was published1 in Science Advanceson 20 June. “Some people say they would like to welcome refugees, but that we cannot afford it,” says Hippolyte d’Albis, an economist at the Paris School of Economics, CNRS, who led the work. “But we have shown that historically it has not been a cost, and that if you do not welcome immigrants, the economy might be worse off.” D’Albis and his team relied on a mathematical model that uses yearly economic indicators to make predictions about the future following major shocks, such as natural disasters. In this case, the events were influxes of immigrants. The researchers looked separately at the effects of migrants — who are legally allowed to settle in a country — and asylum seekers who reside temporarily in a nation while their applications for refugee status are processed. Many of the asylum seekers included in the study were those who fled the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and those who have come more recently from Syria. The analysis examined conditions from 1985 to 2015 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and the United Kingdom. 4 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 449 august 2018 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila To assess nations’ economic well-being, the researchers measured average incomes over the years by dividing a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by the size of its population. They also calculated a variable called fiscal balance, which subtracts the amount of money a country spent on public programmes, such as welfare, from the amount of money raised through taxes. The model suggests that within two years of an influx of migrants, unemployment rates drop significantly and economic health increases (see ‘The economics of migration’). 5 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 449 august 2018 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Source: Ref. 1 Those effects are likely down to migrants increasing market demand, providing services, adding jobs and paying taxes. The study showed this economic activity far outweighs governmental costs of newcomers — that may be partly explained by the fact that immigrants tend to be young and middle-aged adults who are less reliant on state benefits than are older people, says d’Albis. Asylum seekers also benefit economies, but their effects take longer to transpire — from three to seven years — and the boon is less obvious. Unlike migrants, people seeking refuge often face restrictions on working, and must move to another country if their applications for permanent residency are denied. Overall effect Michael Clemens, an economist at the Center for Global Development, a think tank in Washington DC, says the analysis is a departure from some previous work because it focuses on big-picture impacts, rather than specific elements in an economy — such as the effect that immigrants have on local wages. “An analogy is that Peet’s coffee shop [a US chain] might have a negative effect on Starbucks, but the competition might be better for the economy overall,” Clemens says. He commends D’Albis’s team for using a mathematical model that substantially reduces the chance that the economic changes result from factors other than migration. “The method greatly limits confounding factors by eliminating those with long-term effects,” he says. What’s more, the number of nations assessed over 30 years makes such confounders unlikely. At a time when immigration policies are heated and in flux in the United States and Europe, studies such as this can help politicians to assess the consequences of their actions. “If you slash immigration for cultural or security reasons, you will pay an economic price,” says Clemens. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-05507-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05507-0 6 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 449 august 2018 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila NSF invites professional news media to submit proposals to report from Antarctica Opportunity also available to observe the Thwaites Glacier research cruise The NSF research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer. Credit and Larger Version June 26, 2018 The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting proposals from media professionals to visit Antarctica to report on research supported by NSF's Office of Polar Programs (OPP) through the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP). Those selected to deploy would visit Antarctica between early November and mid-December of 2018. SPECIAL NOTES: There is an additional opportunity in this announcement. Applicants may submit to join the first science cruise to the Thwaites Glacier. Please see the Thwaites Glacier section below. Reporters interested in covering only Operation Deep Freeze (ODF), the U.S. military's support to the NSF- managed USAP, should see the section below, headed Deep Freeze. For applications unrelated to the Thwaites Glacier or ODF, NSF will select journalists whose reporting would help make the broadest possible segment of the U.S. public aware of the importance of NSF-supported science conducted in Antarctica. In addition, competitive proposals would contain both of the following attributes: A documented ability to reach the widest possible U.S. audience across a variety of platforms (broadcast, web and social media). A solid reporting plan designed to report clearly and objectively on science supported by the USAP to this audience. Research areas that might be part of a media visit, subject to logistical restrictions, include: 7 Infoteca’s E-Journal No. 449 august 2018 Sistema de Infotecas Centrales Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila Research related to ice-mass change of the Antarctic ice sheet. The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, an ice-free region of the continent. Studies of organisms or ecosystems and their response to environmental changes occurring in the vicinity of Palmer Station. Studies of population dynamics of penguins and seals in McMurdo Sound. The study of life in extreme environments under Antarctic ice sheets. Applicants must be aware of and adhere to the following conditions: All proposals must include a separate, written commitment from the applicant's publisher, network or internet outlet -- on official letterhead -- to air or publish the stories that are described in the application and to pay the costs of reaching the embarkation point for travel to U.S. Antarctic research stations (see sections on "Expenses" and "Medical" below). Proposals that fail to include this information will be returned without consideration. Freelancers are encouraged to apply, but must supply with their application evidence of a firm commitment from the outlet, on the media outlet's letterhead, that will air or publish their work and support their travel costs. General reporting about Antarctica, travel or logistics will not be given priority. The program does not support feature-film proposals. Applications to employ unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, as part of a submission to either NSF or Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica (JTF-SFA) will require a separate review of that portion of the application to ensure that the proposed use meets NSF's safety and environmental guidelines. Any request to use drones as part of a media deployment should, at minimum, clearly indicate why this is integral to completing proposed work about Antarctic science and contain documentation of the training and experience of the person or persons who will be designated as the operator of the aircraft.