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How a professor learned to bring compassion to engineering and design

  • Written by Tahira Reid, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Tahira Reid leads a lab focused on human-centered design. Over her career, she’s gone outside the “traditional engineering box” and integrated compassion for the users of products and services into the design process – what she and colleagues refer to as “compassionate...

Read more: How a professor learned to bring compassion to engineering and design

Cancel culture looks a lot like old-fashioned church discipline

  • Written by Christopher Schelin, Assistant Professor of Practical and Political Theologies, Starr King School for the Ministry
imageBaptist preachers canceled by opponents.Library of Congress

Blink and you may have missed one of the more recent controversies over cancel culture.

On March 23, 2021, columnist Hemal Jhaveri published an opinion piece at For The Win, a sports commentary website operated by USA Today. In it, she remarked on the “Cinderella story” then...

Read more: Cancel culture looks a lot like old-fashioned church discipline

Ancient Christian thinkers made a case for reparations that has striking relevance today

  • Written by David Lincicum, Associate Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
imageSome ancient theologians argued that the Israelites deserved a share of Egypt's wealth after being enslaved for centuries.Culture Club/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Reparations to Black Americans for centuries of slavery and oppression have been discussed for a long time. But ever since journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case...

Read more: Ancient Christian thinkers made a case for reparations that has striking relevance today

Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters who are more politically conservative get slightly higher ratings and tips

  • Written by Alexander Davidson, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Wayne State University
imageDo your driver's political beliefs affect the service he provides?AP Photo/Anita Snow

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Customers give higher ratings and tips to politically conservative Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters than to ones with more liberal leanings, according to new peer-reviewed research...

Read more: Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters who are more politically conservative get slightly higher...

If China's middle class continues to thrive and grow, what will it mean for the rest of the world?

  • Written by Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageOver the past few decades, hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens have become part of the middle class.AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

China’s large and impressive accomplishments over the past four decades have spurred scholars and politicians to debate whether the decline of the West – including the United States – as the world’s...

Read more: If China's middle class continues to thrive and grow, what will it mean for the rest of the world?

Numbers can trip you up during the pandemic – here are 4 tips to help you figure out tricky stats

  • Written by Ellen Peters, Director, Center for Science Communication Research, University of Oregon
imageUnderstanding vaccine effectiveness stats can help you weigh the risks of travel.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust many news consumers into a world of statistics and deep uncertainty. An endless swirl of numbers – case counts, infection rates, vaccine efficacy – can leave you feeling stressed, anxious and powerless if...

Read more: Numbers can trip you up during the pandemic – here are 4 tips to help you figure out tricky stats

Arbor Day should be about growing trees, not just planting them

  • Written by Karen D. Holl, Professor of Restoration Ecology, University of California, Santa Cruz
imageA forested plot in Thailand's Doi Suthep Pui National Park, formerly burnt over, after 12 years of restoration.Forru/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

For 149 years, Americans have marked Arbor Day on the last Friday in April by planting trees. Now business leaders, politicians, YouTubers and celebrities are calling for the planting of millions, billions or...

Read more: Arbor Day should be about growing trees, not just planting them

FBI reaches out to Hasidic Jews to fight antisemitism – but bureau has fraught history with Judaism

  • Written by Sarah Imhoff, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University
imageFBI announcements in Yiddish encourage Hasidic or "ultra-Orthodox" Jews to report incidents of anti-Semitism.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The FBI wants to hear from Hasidim, or “ultra-Orthodox” Jews. The Hate Crimes Unit said as much when it issued announcements – in both Yiddish and Hebrew – asking Jews to report antisemitic...

Read more: FBI reaches out to Hasidic Jews to fight antisemitism – but bureau has fraught history with Judaism

FTC warns the AI industry: Don't discriminate, or else

  • Written by Ryan Calo, Professor of Law, University of Washington
imageThe FTC put companies that sell AI systems on notice: Cross the line with biased products and the law is coming for you.Maciej Frolow/Stone via Getty Images

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission just fired a shot across the bow of the artificial intelligence industry. On April 19, 2021, a staff attorney at the agency, which serves as the nation’s...

Read more: FTC warns the AI industry: Don't discriminate, or else

Census results shift political power in Congress, presidential elections

  • Written by Dudley L. Poston Jr., Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University
imageThe seats in the House chamber will be filled according to elections in the 50 states.U.S. House of Representatives

New data from the 2020 U.S. census released April 26, 2021, indicates that starting in 2023 – after the next congressional elections – seven states will have fewer seats in Congress than they do now, and six will have...

Read more: Census results shift political power in Congress, presidential elections

More Articles ...

  1. Trans youth are coming out and living in their gender much earlier than older generations
  2. QAnon hasn't gone away – it's alive and kicking in states across the country
  3. The FBI is breaking into corporate computers to remove malicious code – smart cyber defense or government overreach?
  4. How do people make paper out of trees, and why not use something else?
  5. How lifting children out of poverty today will help them tomorrow
  6. How Biden's request for more education funding would shift more power to the federal government
  7. US landmarks bearing racist and Colonial references are renamed to reflect Indigenous values
  8. Restart of the Johnson Johnson COVID-19 vaccine: A doctor explains why benefits far outweigh risks
  9. Warp drives: Physicists give chances of faster-than-light space travel a boost
  10. This supermoon has a twist – expect flooding, but a lunar cycle is masking effects of sea level rise
  11. How Richard Nixon's obsession with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers sowed the seeds for the president's downfall
  12. Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?
  13. GPS tracking could help tigers and traffic coexist in Asia
  14. For Vladimir Putin and other autocrats, ruthlessly repressing the opposition is often a winning way to stay in power
  15. ¿Aumento o pérdida de peso no deseado durante la pandemia? El estrés podría tener la culpa
  16. Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health
  17. New US climate pledge: Cut emissions 50% this decade, but can Biden make it happen?
  18. The other George Floyd story: How media freedom led to conviction in his killer's trial
  19. Why corporate America appears to be drifting away from the Republican Party
  20. Money alone can't fix Central America – or stop migration to US
  21. Best schools often out of reach for disadvantaged students in choice programs
  22. You don't have a male or female brain – the more brains scientists study, the weaker the evidence for sex differences
  23. Lab–grown embryos and human–monkey hybrids: Medical marvels or ethical missteps?
  24. What Homer's 'Odyssey' can teach us about reentering the world after a year of isolation
  25. Shakespeare's musings on religion are like curious whispers – they require deep listening to be heard
  26. Do you really need to drink 8 glasses of water a day? An exercise scientist explains why your kidneys say 'no'
  27. Chauvin conviction: 2 things to know about jury bias and 2 ways to reduce it
  28. Environmental DNA – how a tool used to detect endangered wildlife ended up helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic
  29. Vaccine mandates aren't the only – or easiest – way for employers to compel workers to get their shots
  30. Why our dislikes should be celebrated as much as our likes
  31. Yes, online communities pose risks for young people, but they are also important sources of support
  32. Famine in the Bible is more than a curse: It is a signal of change and a chance for a new beginning
  33. Misinformation, disinformation and hoaxes: What’s the difference?
  34. Why this trial was different: Experts react to guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin
  35. How parents can support a child who comes out as trans – by conquering their own fears, following their child's lead and tolerating ambiguity
  36. The ups and downs of European soccer are part of its culture – moving to a US-style 'closed' Super League would destroy that
  37. Hydrogen is one future fuel oil execs and environmentalists could both support as rival countries search for climate solutions
  38. The US electric power sector is halfway to zero carbon emissions
  39. Domestic violence calls for help increased during the pandemic – but the answers haven't gotten any easier
  40. No visits and barely any calls – pandemic makes separation even scarier for people with a family member in prison
  41. Student loan debt is costing recent grads much more than just money
  42. Why it's good for kids to have friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds
  43. There are plenty of moral reasons to be vaccinated – but that doesn’t mean it’s your ethical duty
  44. An advantage of the government's new payments for families: Not humiliating poor people
  45. What's next for Cuba and the United States after Raul Castro's retirement
  46. From haute cuisine to hot dogs: How dining out has evolved over 200 years – and is innovating further in the pandemic
  47. Democratic bill attempts to undo voter restrictions of past 15 years
  48. Interstate water wars are heating up along with the climate
  49. Brazil’s economic crisis, prolonged by COVID-19, poses an enormous challenge to the Amazon
  50. Competition heats up in the melting Arctic, and the US isn't prepared to counter Russia