At a Sasol research facility in South Africa, Badie Morsi watches coal travel down a conveyor belt on its way to becoming diesel fuel and sees the future.

Morsi dreams of a day when the United States — and Western Pennsylvania — won’t have to import oil but can use reactors similar to the one at the Sasol facility to make it. More > (PDF p. 7)

Women are missing from boardrooms and executive positions worldwide. School of Arts and Sciences Mellon Associate Professor of Economics Lise Vesterlund is working to discover why—and what we might be able to do about it. More >

Extreme poverty—defined as lacking access to adequate nutrition, clean drinking water, safe shelter, and basic health care—kills 20,000 people every day, noted Siddharth Chandra during a GSPIA forum titled “Environmental Threats to Human Security: Problems and Policy.” Poverty, Chandra pointed out, is tied to environmental degradation. More >

A transplant is the only option for someone with end-stage liver disease, but such patients face difficult questions when choosing the best time to receive a transplant. In a panel discussion at the 2005 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., a Pitt researcher presented findings on how his mathematical models can help patients make the right decision. More >

In Aesop’s fable of the ant and the grasshopper, a hardworking ant spends its summer days storing food for the winter ahead, while the indolent grasshopper lazes in the sunshine. A Pitt professor and his colleagues have found evidence that supports what many of us know from experience: When we face a choice involving the future, our inner ant and inner grasshopper begin to tussle. More >

Automobiles as we know them are almost out of gas. Engines that burn gasoline emit pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, that cause global warming. And we’re running out of gasoline itself; Americans already import over half the oil they consume, weakening energy security. More >