This report highlights gaps and anomalies in labor protection, while recognizing that U.S. law sets significant standards for minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, safe and healthy workplaces, antidiscrimination, labor organizing, and collective bargaining.

This Migration Policy Institute webinar discusses labor enforcement laws during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations and chronicles gaps in labor protection.

This webinar discusses labor enforcement laws during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations and chronicles gaps in labor protection, while also discussing the elements necessary for an effective labor standards enforcement system and why labor standards enforcement should become a pillar of immigration policymaking.

This volume, which brings together research by leading economists and labor market specialists, examines the role immigrants play in the U.S. workforce, how they fare in good and bad economic times, and the effects they have on native-born workers and the labor sectors in which they are engaged. The book traces the powerful economic forces at play in today’s globalized world and includes policy prescriptions for making the American immigration system more responsive to labor market needs.

With the prospects for immigration reform greater than they have been in more than a decade and the U.S. economy slowly shrugging off the effects of the recession, the United States may be on the cusp of historic changes that make the immigration system a more effective tool for innovation, economic growth and the competitiveness of its firms—large and small. 

The release of MPI's book Immigrants in a Changing Labor Market and discussion with Jason Furman, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council; Harry Holzer, Georgetown University Professor of Public Policy; and MPI's Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Michael Fix.

New research suggests that neurons which track our movements are also involved in imaginary navigation

Brain cells involved in spatial navigation and mapping the environment also fire when we merely imagine moving through familiar surroundings, according to a new study by researchers at University College London. The research, published today in the journal Current Biology, shows that memory and imagination are intimately linked in the brain at the cellular level, and could help to explain some of the changes that occur in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Related: The fly's neural compass works just like a mammal's

Related: 3D compass cells found in the bat brain

“Badass” new method uses a magnetised protein to activate brain cells rapidly, reversibly, and non-invasively

Researchers in the United States have developed a new method for controlling the brain circuits associated with complex animal behaviours, using genetic engineering to create a magnetised protein that activates specific groups of nerve cells from a distance.

Understanding how the brain generates behaviour is one of the ultimate goals of neuroscience – and one of its most difficult questions. In recent years, researchers have developed a number of methods that enable them to remotely control specified groups of neurons and to probe the workings of neuronal circuits.

Related: Remote control of brain activity with heated nanoparticles

Related: Researchers read and write brain activity with light

State-of-the-art electron microscopy reveals the large-scale organization of the proteins that regulate neurotransmitter release

This spectacular image – which took the best part of a year to create – shows the fine structure of a nerve terminal at high resolution, revealing, for the very first time, an intricate network of fine filaments that controls the movements of synaptic vesicles.

The brain is soft and wet, with the consistency of a lump of jelly. Yet, it is the most complex and highly organized structure that we know of, containing hundreds of billions of neurons and glial cells, and something on the order of one quadrillion synaptic connections, all of which are arranged in a very specific manner.

Related: 3D model of a nerve terminal in atomic detail | Mo Costandi

Related: Blowing up the brain to reveal its finer details

Research suggests that gut bacteria may directly affect brain structure and function, offering new ways to treat multiple sclerosis and psychiatric conditions

Far from being silent partners that merely help to digest food, the bacteria in your gut may also be exerting subtle influences on your thoughts, moods, and behaviour. And according to a new study from researchers at University College Cork, your gut microbes might affect the structure and function of the brain in a more direct way, by regulating myelination, the process by which nerve fibres are insulated so that they can conduct impulses properly.

The surprising new findings, published today in the journal Translational Psychiatry, provide what is perhaps the strongest evidence yet that gut bacteria can have a direct physical effect on the brain, and suggest that it may one day be possible to treat debilitating demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and even psychiatric disorders, by altering the composition of the gut’s microbial menagerie in some way or another.

Related: Brain’s immune cells hyperactive in schizophrenia

Related: White matter might matter much more than we thought | Mo Costandi

A toxin isolated from the Togo starburst tarantula provides new insights into pain mechanisms and could lead to new treatments for irritable bowel syndrome

With their large, hairy bodies and long legs, tarantulas are an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare. For pain researchers, however, these outsized spiders are a dream come true: Their venom contains a cocktail of toxins, each of which activates pain-sensing nerve fibres in different ways, and researchers in the United States have now identified one such toxin that will help them to better understand pain, and could also lead to treatments for the chronic pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome.

Physical pain signals are transmitted from the body to the brain by specialised sensory neurons called nociceptors. These pain-sensing neurons have cell bodies located just outside the spinal cord, and possess a single conductive fibre that splits in two, with one branch extending out towards the skin surface, and the shorter one entering the back of the cord.

Related: Uncomfortably numb: The people who feel no pain

Related: Researchers identify gatekeeper neurons that control pain and itch

New research reveals the secret behind the remarkable intelligence of some bird species

Related: Blind cave fish evolved a shrunken brain to save energy

Calling someone “bird brain” used to be considered as an insult. Birds’ brains are very small compared to those of mammals, and what’s more, they lack the heavily wrinkled cerebral cortex, which is characteristic of the human brain, and widely believed to the seat of intelligence. It was, therefore, widely assumed that birds aren’t very clever creatures, but recently this has started to change.

Related: Ravens cooperate with friends not foes

New research demonstrates an extreme form of inattentional blindness in which we fail to see the unexpected

There’s much more to visual perception than meets the eye. What we see is not merely a matter of patterns of light falling on the retina, but rather is heavily influenced by so-called ‘top-down’ brain mechanisms, which can alter the visual information, and other types of sensory information, that enters the brain before it even reaches our conscious awareness.

Related: Memory contaminates perception | Mo Costandi

Related: Language boosts invisible objects into visual awareness | Mo Costandi

New research shows that frigatebirds can sleep on the wing, with just one or both halves of their brain

When Charles Darwin arrived at the Galápagos Islands in 1839, he had the opportunity to observe the habits of frigatebirds, and marvelled at their graceful flight manoeuvres and their ability to soar up high. “When it sees any object on the surface of the water,” he wrote, “[it] descends from a great height… with the swiftness of an arrow; and at the instant of seizing with its long beak and outstretched neck, the floating morsel, it turns upwards, with extraordinary dexterity, by the aid of its forked tail, and its long, powerful wings.”

Related: Sleepy brains neglect half the world | Mo Costandi

Related: Birds pack more cells into their brains than mammals

A new imaging technique may give researchers fresh insights into brain development, function, and disease

The human brain is often said to be the most complex object in the known universe, and there’s good reason to believe that it is. That lump of jelly inside your head contains at least 80 billion nerve cells, or neurons, and even more of the non-neuronal cells called glia. Between them, they form hundreds of trillions of precise synaptic connections; but they all have moveable parts, and these connections can change. Neurons can extend and retract their delicate fibres; some types of glial cells can crawl through the brain; and neurons and glia routinely work together to create new connections and eliminate old ones.

These processes begin before we are born, and occur until we die, making the brain a highly dynamic organ that undergoes continuous change throughout life. At any given moment, many millions of them are being modified in one way or another, to reshape the brain’s circuitry in response to our daily experiences. Researchers at Yale University have now developed an imaging technique that enables them to visualise the density of synapses in the living human brain, and offers a promising new way of studying how the organ develops and functions, and also how it deteriorates in various neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Related: Brain’s immune cells hyperactive in schizophrenia

Related: 3D model of a nerve terminal in atomic detail | Mo Costandi

It’s not just your waistline that suffers as you put on weight. Researchers are beginning to find puzzling new links between obesity, memory loss and dementia

Lucy Cheke and her colleagues at the University of Cambridge recently invited a few participants into her lab for a kind of ‘treasure hunt’.

The participants navigated a virtual environment on a computer screen, dropping off various objects along their way. They then answered a series of questions to test their memory of the task, such as where they had hidden a particular object.

Related: How your eyes betray your thoughts

Related: How to optimise your brain's waste disposal system

Related: Gut bacteria regulate nerve fibre insulation

Related: Obesity linked to memory deficits

New research shows that the rhythm of breathing directly impacts neural activity in a network of brain areas involved in smell, memory and emotions

The rhythm of breathing co-ordinates electrical activity across a network of brain regions associated with smell, memory, and emotions, and can enhance their functioning, according to a new study by researchers at Northwestern University. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that breathing does not merely supply oxygen to the brain and body, but may also organise the activity of populations of cells within multiple brain regions to help orchestrate complex behaviours.

Related: Your nose knows death is imminent | Mo Costandi

Related: A cooler way to evaluate brain surgery patients

New findings challenge our understanding of how the brain matures

Faces are important to us. From the moment we are are born, we prefer to look at faces than at other, inanimate objects, and, being social animals, we encounter faces every day of our lives. The face is the first thing we look to when identifying other people; faces also convey emotions, informing us of peoples’ mood, and from them we can usually determine a person’s sex and, sometimes, roughly how old they are. Eye movements can also reveal to us something about another person’s intentions.

Related: How your eyes betray your thoughts

Related: Live imaging of synapse density in the human brain

New research provides evidence for the idea that sleep restores cellular homeostasis in the brain and helps us to forget irrelevant information

We spend one third of our lives sleeping, but we still do not know exactly why we sleep. Recent research shows that that the brain does its housekeeping while we sleep, and clears away its waste. According to another hypothesis, sleep plays the vital role of restoring the right balance of brain synapses to enhance learning, and two studies published in today’s issue of Science now provide the most direct evidence yet for this idea.

We do know that sleep is important for consolidating newly formed memories. During waking hours, we learn all kinds of new information, both consciously and unconsciously. To store it, the brain modifies large numbers of synaptic connections, making some of them stronger and larger, and it’s now thought that as we sleep other synapses are weakened or destroyed, so that the important new information is stored for later use, while irrelevant material, which could interfere with learning, is not.

Related: The Homer Simpson effect: forgetting to remember

Related: How to optimise your brain's waste disposal system

New research shows that we can train our brains to become memory champions

To many of us, having to memorize a long list of items feels like a chore. But for others, it is more like a sport. Every year, hundreds of these ‘memory athletes’ compete with one another in the World Memory Championships, memorising hundreds of words, numbers, or other pieces of information within minutes. The current world champion is Alex Mullen, who beat his competitors by memorizing a string of more than 550 digits in under 5 minutes.

You may think that such prodigious mental feats are linked to having an unusual brain, or to being extraordinarily clever. But they are not. New research published in the journal Neuron shows that you, too, can be a super memorizer with just six weeks of intensive mnemonic training, and also reveals the long-lasting changes to brain structure and function that occur as a result of such training.

Related: The Homer Simpson effect: forgetting to remember

Related: A neural pathway that erases memories

Researchers at MIT have developed a new method of electrically stimulating deep brain tissues without opening the skull

Since 1997, more than 100,000 Parkinson’s Disease patients have been treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgical technique that involves the implantation of ultra-thin wire electrodes. The implanted device, sometimes referred to as a ‘brain pacemaker’, delivers electrical pulses to a structure called the subthalamic nucleus, located near the centre of the brain, and effectively alleviates many of the physical symptoms of the disease, such as tremor, muscle rigidity, and slowed movements.

DBS is generally safe but, like any surgical procedure, comes with some risks. First and foremost, it is highly invasive, requiring small holes to be drilled in the patient’s skull, through which the electrodes are inserted. Potential complications of this include infection, stroke, and bleeding on the brain. The electrodes, which are implanted for long periods of time, sometimes move out of place; they can also cause swelling at the implantation site; and the wire connecting them to the battery, typically placed under the skin of the chest, can erode, all of which require additional surgical procedures.

Related: Blowing up the brain to reveal its finer details

Related: Traces of memory in a dish | Mo Costandi

Or better yet go back to Africa, we don’t need any feminazis ruining our society

I say - Lock everything down, as we are, and keep everything locked down for years  This way, what every these people are complaining about will be long gone 

So once I went on a night out and I kissed a drunk girl and she was hinting she wanted to come home with me but I didn't let it happen. If this happens again will it be weird if I bring a girl home at like 3 in the morning and I live with my parents. Do I have to hide her? What if we have sex? In the morning my mum just come in and opens the door to get my washing. What if she does this and there is a girl in the bed? Will I get in trouble? I don't know anything about this stuff. I'm 21 do people this age even do this or is it only people in there 30s? It will be nice to spend the night with a girl. Is it a bad idea. I have no brothers or friends so I don't know what people do. I want to know for the next time?

First, I would love to try Casu marzu and for dessert I am curious about durian. or a drink such as wormwood absinthe.

He catches the fish, breathes on them, then throws them back. These infected fish will infect all bodies of water with Covid-19. He goes saltwater and fresh water fishing 

My friend the dumb joe will ask me for money and try and sell me his garbage because he needs money for a bus fare. He will talk to Asian girls because I think he is not good enough for white girls. He try's to many things. Let's go over some of them. The army the police an astronaut he worked at 5 different supermarkets he got a night job for about 3 weeks and never sleeper at all. He wanted to go to China but cancelled he wanted to go to Auckland but cancelled he wanted to go to Singapore but cancelled. He brought a moped and sold it a week later. He wanted a BMW but didn't get one after he told me he was getting it. He sold me a speaker for $20 and a month later he asked for it back for free and he did not get it. He was on his way to buy a computer and he runs in to a friend and asked him can I have your computer for $200 when the one he was going to buy was $180. He will never learn to drive when he drove into a lamppost. And meny more weird things as well. What is wrong with him?

I think The Rock is a combination of both but barely because when he made his debut in the WWF in late 1996, he wasn't even called The Rock yet he was Rocky Maivia at that time. By the time he started getting over with the fans as The Rock, the 90s were almost over because it was 1998 - 99 by then. He spent more time as The Rock in the 2000s but even though he was still in the WWF/E when the decade started, he was gone by 2004 (by then he was already doing movies and wrestling at the same time). Then The Rock stopped wrestling completely and spent the rest of the 00s decade making movies, he spent even less time wrestling in the 2010s which is his most recent run in the WWE he missed 2010, came back in 2011 and was gone by 2013 aside from one match in 2016. What do you guys think ?

I am a dog sitter for my sister, she pays me around $100 a week. I also do extra chores around the house such as cleaning as an exchange for not paying rent. The money she pays me is usually transferred through zelle or paid cash. Im not sure if I would be considered an independent contractor or an employee. Also does she have to report to the irs my income and what forms would she have to use? Ive always received w2s from employers, so I’m Clueless to what I should do this tax season.  Thank you in advance!  Sorry I forgot to mention that my income for this last year was approximately $5000

I’ve liked him for a year and I told him, but he told me to date someone else. I started to forget about him, but then he told me that he liked me too. We’re dating now but I don’t think that I feel the same was as when I first started liking him. What should I do?

I have an online gf it seems kind of serious but we've never really made attempts on meeting but i slept with someone irl,is that cheating? Should I tell her?

is she thicc af? I made this in the Sims 4 lol 

Feminism is a lie and useless in modern America, patriarchy is a good thing and natural order of society. Women be like I'm oppressed cause I don't always get my way and choose careers that pay less

????