Noted

Gregory Nemec

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Dollar General stores are often criticized for driving essential businesses out of low-income areas. But they could deliver a service by providing COVID-19 vaccinations. Yale researchers analyzed the effect of adding Dollar General to the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, which distributes free vaccines. The number of Black Americans and Hispanics/Latinos within a mile of a vaccination site would rise by 23.3 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively.

A Yale alumnus was curious: could chemistry professor Hailiang Wang apply his research to the problem of hazardous algal blooms in ponds and lakes? Wang decided to try. Algal blooms and red tide are caused by chemical species like nitrate found in wastewater. Wang and colleagues at Yale and China’s Southern University of Science and Technology developed a method for converting CO2 and nitrates into methylamine, a chemical that’s used in pharmaceutical and agricultural products. Methylamine is now produced with fossil fuels—but Wang’s method is sustainable.

“Swing” voters mattered more than turnout to Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, say Yale researchers. Using data from six states, they examined the relative roles of conversion (voters switching parties) and changes in electorate composition, 2012 to 2016. They concluded that voters switching from Democrat to Republican explained the 2016 success better than a relative increase in GOP turnout: mobilizing one voter adds to a candidate’s margin, but, says political scientist Gregory Huber, converting a swing voter also subtracts a vote from their opponent.