FYI: Findings

Taxing out   Would a “millionaire tax” drive high-earning residents away from New Jersey? Not in significant numbers, according to research by sociology Ph.D. candidate Charles Varner and Cristobal Young *10, an assistant professor at Stanford. Their study, which will be published by National Tax Journal in June, examined tax revenue from 2004 to 2007, the four years after New Jersey raised taxes on households that earn more than $500,000 per year. Departing families cost the state a total of $16.4 million in revenue, but the tax generated more than $1 billion per year. Gov. Chris Christie disputed the finding, citing a 2010 Boston College study that estimated that $70 billion in household wealth left New Jersey from 2004 to 2008. That study did not examine tax revenue.

Communication breakdown   “Quorum sensing,” the chemical signaling process that bacteria use to communicate and synchronize group behavior, may become a useful target for antibacterial drugs, according to research led by molecular biology professors Frederick Hughson and Bonnie Bassler. In a study published by Molecular Cell April 22, the Princeton team gained a more detailed understanding of why certain “antagonist” compounds are able to disrupt bacterial communication.