Moral Rights and Wrongs May Depend on Your Geographic Location

A Pew study reveals that people in disparate parts of the world responded differently to moral issues; an essential vitamin is found in meteorites; meanwhile, scientists have succeeded in cloning adult stem cells. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

What’s Morally Acceptable? It Depends on Where in the World You Live
The Pew Research Center asked people in 40 countries about what is morally unacceptable, morally acceptable or not a moral issue.

This Is How the Vatican Will Digitize Millions of Its Documents
Digitizing the Vatican’s 40 million pages of library archives will take 50 experts, five scanners and many, many years before the process comes to a close.

The Secret Cost of a Surveillance Society
Fear of the criminal justice system can lead to negative health, financial, and educational outcomes.

People Don’t Like Google Glass Because It Makes Them Seem Weak
A blind writer reflects on the persistent stigma attached to assistive technologies, even advanced ones.

Stop Capitulating, Start Converging: The Global Climate Convergence and the Independent Political Imperative
In early April, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim issued a dire warning about the consequences of global climate change and increasing economic inequality.

Is Tourism Ruining Barcelona?
Spain’s second city is so effortlessly attractive that it’s hard to believe anyone could fall out of love with it.

Vitamins from Space! B3 Found in Meteorites
An essential nutrient for life on Earth also cooks up in space, a new study finds.

This Generation Of Med Students Wants a Truly Just Healthcare System For All
While much has been made of the 7.1 million people who bought new private health insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act, and the additional millions who newly signed up for Medicaid, two big questions hover over these figures.

Talking with Poland’s Foreign Minister About the Ukraine Crisis and Russia’s Next Moves
Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw “Radek” Sikorski, has been intimately involved in the Ukraine crisis, including in the negotiation of an agreement in February that then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych walked away from, further fueling the Maidan protest.

In a Cloning First, Scientists Create Stem Cells from Adults
Scientists have moved a step closer to the goal of creating stem cells perfectly matched to a patient’s DNA in order to treat diseases, they recently announced, creating patient-specific cell lines out of the skin cells of two adult men.

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• October 15, 2013 Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Slogan Is a Load of Hooey—or Is It?