Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment. In keeping with the theme of the past three months, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday is featuring science and other news from the major public research universities in the midwestern states where Republican governors and legislatures are threatening the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
This week's featured stories come from Purdue University and University of Michigan, respectively.
First the good news.
Purdue University: Purdue expert: Gasoline likely to stay below $4 this summer
May 24, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Drivers have something worth honking their horns over: Summer gasoline prices likely will remain below $4 a gallon, a Purdue University agricultural economist says.Now the bad news.Market conditions that caused oil prices to shoot past $110 a barrel have improved in recent weeks, pushing oil back under $100 a barrel, said Wally Tyner, an energy policy specialist. He cautioned that pump prices could rise again if oil production is interrupted.
Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of the summer driving season.
"If crude oil stays below $100 - meaning that there are no further production disruptions in the Middle East or elsewhere and we have no further weather conditions or other factors that cause refining outages - we have seen the worst," Tyner said. "We can hope for steady or even somewhat falling prices over the next few months."
University of Michigan: Out-of-state drivers involved in high rate of crashes out West
May 26, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—With the summer tourist season upon us, out-of-state drivers may want to be extra careful if they're planning to vacation in the American West, say University of Michigan researchers.Drive carefully!A new study by the U-M Transportation Research Institute appearing in the June issue of Traffic Injury Prevention shows that a larger percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes in several Rocky Mountain and Great Plains states are from out of state compared to other areas of the United States.
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Wyoming has far and away the highest proportion of drivers involved in fatal crashes who are from out of state—41 percent. South Dakota (27 percent) and New Mexico (24 percent) rank second and third, respectively. Montana (23 percent), Nevada (21 percent), Idaho (20 percent), Nebraska (17 percent) and Kansas (16 percent) also rank among the top dozen or so states with the highest percentage of fatal crashes involving drivers from other states.
More stories after the jump.