See moving photos of the last days of Arecibo
Parental leave at universities: a survey of Canadian institutions and US universities from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (CINSHE)
For our database, we focused on around 30 Canadian institutions and 146 US universities classified as R1, or research-intensive, by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. We recorded data on the length of paid parental length across institutions, the academic job (such as graduate student, postdoc, faculty member or staff member), parent type (such as ‘birthing’ or ‘non-birthing’, adoptive parent or foster parent), and whether the institution was public or private. We examined restrictions on parental-leave policies, such as requiring a certain number of hours worked before being eligible or requiring the use of vacation or sick leave.
For her second child, A.G. was able to take 20 weeks of parental leave. Hers is an excellent example of the patchwork of policies that must be applied in some cases: she used short-term disability, six weeks of paid parental leave, unpaid leave and vacation and sick days.
Compiling this database required scouring universities’ websites and contacting human-resources representatives. With our busy lives, we didn’t have time to collect the data. We were fortunate to find, through Twitter, two undergraduate research assistants to help us, who were paid by their university: Yerin Lee and Gwendolyn Clark, based in evolutionary biologist John Stinchcombe’s laboratory at the University of Toronto, Canada.
The first determinant of the amount of paid leave that jumped out at universities is country, and was the first thing that we looked at when looking at the policies. Canada has a law that requires parents to get at least 60 percent of their salaries for up to 50 weeks for the parent who is giving birth and 35 weeks for the other parent. These rates are flexible; parents can reduce their salary further to acquire more weeks’ leave. A couple can take a maximum of 40 weeks paid at 55% or 69 weeks paid at 33%. These rates can be topped up by the employer for only part of the leave period.
undergrad and graduate students that do not accrue enough eligible work hours are not eligible for federal leave. Individual universities can have policies in place that will allow the groups to take paid leave.
A high-resolution, fast microscopy system for studying the brain: Arecibo’s Last Days (with an excerpt from Oscar Boyd Granville)
We have only scratched the surface of analysing these data, so we are looking for collaborators interested in conducting more in-depth analyses, expanding the database beyond North America, and publishing findings.
Trailblazing mathematician and computer scientist Evelyn Boyd Granville says that Black role models helped to inspire her ground-breaking career in the US space programme, early IBM software development and senior roles in academia. He died at the age of 99. (Nature | 6 min read)
Scientists can see the brain without having to rebuild it from individual slices. The tissue is made transparent before it becomes embedded in a material that expands when water is added. At the heart of the method is a type of lens that is usually used to identify pixel-sized defects in flat-panel displays. The prototype microscope’s resolution is comparable to that of high-resolution imaging using standard confocal microscopy. It’s also fast: it can image an entire mouse brain in less than a day.
Source: Daily briefing: See moving photos of the last days of Arecibo
Global perspectives on humanitarian crises: A case study of the last days of the Arecibo Observatory: the impact of human rights and parental leaves on the United States and Canada
The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was destroyed in a devastating collapse three years ago. Plus, what Russia’s Moon mission means for science and a useful database of parental-leave policies in US and Canadian academia.
People in Europe are as supportive of refugees now as they were seven years ago, found researchers who explored the effects of repeated humanitarian crises and possible biases towards Ukrainians over others. The data show that most people do not have the extreme negative views expressed by “the loudest voices” in the political arena, says public-policy researcher and co-author Dominik Hangartner. Respondents did favour certain demographics over others: in both 2016 and 2022, they were more likely to favour younger refugees over older ones, women over men, and Christians over agnostics and Muslims. Critics highlight that the findings deal with personal perceptions and might not reflect national attitudes or refugees’ own experiences.
ProMED, an alert system that allowed you to report the COVID-19 outbreak, is in crisis. The staff members went on strike after they were made aware of the paid subscription model. ISID also told ProMED moderators that their pay would be delayed by several months. Although ProMED continues to operate “in a limited capacity”, staff members are calling on ISID to share the system’s operation and financing with another entity and to ensure transparency and independent leadership.
Source: Daily briefing: See moving photos of the last days of Arecibo
The giant panda but not so much about the megafauna in China: An uncrewed lunar mission to the Moon’s south pole
Almost half of more than 200 large species of fish, mammals, birds, reptiles and cephalopods identified by researchers in China’s coastal habitats are on the international Red List of endangered or vulnerable animals. China’s Red List doesn’t include a lot of them. Out of 50 large coastal animals, only 17 are protected in the country. The co-author of the study says that you can see a lot of news about the giant panda but not as much about the megafauna in China.
Russia has launched an uncrewed spacecraft to the Moon’s south pole — its first lunar mission in 47 years. It would be the first landing in the region, which is expected to see a flurry of activity in coming years because it might contain large amounts of water ice. The Luna 25 mission has a 70% chance of success, according to the head of the Russian government’s space agency.
A new study conducted by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education has found that Canadian institutions and US universities have some of the most flexible policies on paid parental leaves in the world. Researchers recorded data on the length of paid parental leave across institutions, the academic job and the parent type. The study analysed parental leave policies in both countries.