The complex connections between genes, environment, and society will be the focus of the AAAS Caribbean Division’s annual conference, which convenes on 1 October on the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayagüez campus.

The 2011 conference is dedicated to Juan Carlos Martínez Cruzado, a researcher in the biology department at UPR-Mayagüez and a pioneer in mitochondrial DNA studies that link Puerto Rico’s original indigenous population to its current population. Cruzado will deliver the conference’s plenary lecture on indigenous genetic heredity in Puerto Rico.

Chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years. Gelatin comes from animal hooves. Vitamin C prevents colds.

We’ve all heard them before. But how much truth lay behind claims that, say, reading in low light or sitting too close to the television will cause us to need glasses?

According to “Reality Check,” a recently launched feature by AAAS’s award-winning, nationally syndicated radio program Science Update, not too much.