For those fleeing active conflict zones, natural disasters, or the gradual devastation of climate change, a host of humanitarian relief agencies is standing by. A symposium of leaders from the United Nations, nonprofit organizations, academia, and industry gathered last month at CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society) and the Banatao … Continue reading »
international development
Remembering Ravi
In the wake of the recent attacks in Paris, Beirut, Iraq, Nigeria and so many other corners of the world, it’s difficult to picture ourselves in a celebratory mood for the holidays. Yet it’s now, more than ever, that we must remind our loved ones, our family, our friends and even those we meet in passing that there is hope and light … Continue reading »
Good electricity grids make good neighbors
In the poem “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost asserted that “good fences make good neighbors.” World history is replete with foreign policy built around physical walls, from Emperor Hadrian, to the Great Wall of China, to the Berlin Wall, the wall between Palestine and Israeli, to the US-Mexico border. Containment and isolation have often been the cornerstones … Continue reading »
Cochrane’s incomplete and misleading summary of the evidence on deworming
The Cochrane Collaboration recently updated their review of the evidence on treating school-age children for soil-transmitted helminths (STH, i.e. intestinal worms which infect nearly a quarter of the world’s population). While many of the methodological flaws in the 2007 review have been addressed, the new review is still incomplete and provides a misleading summary of … Continue reading »