social unrest

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have come up with a model for overtaking the majority leadership in any competitive field. But instead of studying psychology or sociology to derive his conclusion, Hai-Tao Zhang has used a model based entirely from physics.

The Financial Times is reporting that the Chinese government edited down a World Bank study detailing the effects of pollution on the health of its people. The reasoning was that it could promote social unrest. Basically, they thought it might make some folks a little angry to learn why 750,000 people are dying prematurely each year. Gee, you think so?

According to the research group, as many as 400,000 people die annually from air pollution in cities, and 300,000 pass away from breathing bad air indoors. A draft version of the report is available here.—Gregory Mone