NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

The Conversation

Polarization, brain rot and brat – the 2024 words of the year point to the power, perils and ephemeral nature of digital life

  • Written by Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
imageSocial media has played a big role in political polarization.kieferpix/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Ever since the American Dialect Society selected a Word of the Year at its conference in 1990, over half a dozen English dictionaries have anointed an annual word or phrase that’s meant to encapsulate the zeitgeist of the prior year.

In 2003,...

Read more: Polarization, brain rot and brat – the 2024 words of the year point to the power, perils and...

New set of human rights principles aims to end displacement and abuse of Indigenous people through ‘fortress conservation’

  • Written by John H. Knox, Professor of International Law, Wake Forest University
imageMany protected areas, including California's Yosemite National Park, displaced Indigenous people in the name of protecting wildlands.Matthew Dillon/Flickr

For more than a century, conservationists have worked to preserve natural ecosystems by creating national parks and protected areas. Today the Earth faces a global biodiversity crisis, with more...

Read more: New set of human rights principles aims to end displacement and abuse of Indigenous people through...

Hypnosis is not just a parlor trick or TV act − science shows it helps with anxiety, depression, pain, PTSD and sleep disorders

  • Written by David Acunzo, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia
imageAlthough hypnosis can help with a number of medical conditions, it doesn't work for everything.Paula Connelly/iStock via Getty Images Plus

We’ve all seen it, typically on television or on stage: A hypnotist selects a few members from the audience, and with what seems to be little more than a steely stare or a few choice words, they’re...

Read more: Hypnosis is not just a parlor trick or TV act − science shows it helps with anxiety, depression,...

I’m a scholar of white supremacy who’s visiting all 113 places where Confederate statues were removed in recent years − here’s why Richmond gets it right

  • Written by David Cunningham, Professor of Sociology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
imageThe Confederate leader Jefferson Davis has new digs in Richmond − a museum where he's displayed prone and paint-splattered.David Cunningham, CC BY-SA

In a symbolic rebuke of the American South’s racist history, an old Confederate monument now has a meaningful new life, four years after it was toppled in Virginia.

In June 2020, protesters...

Read more: I’m a scholar of white supremacy who’s visiting all 113 places where Confederate statues were...

Links between gender stereotypes and American patriotism date from the Cold War − but weren’t true then either

  • Written by Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy, Teaching Professor of American Studies, Miami University
imageAn image of stereotypical American domesticity from the March 1948 issue of Ladies' Home Journal.Ladies' Home Journal via archive.org

In 1959, at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, in front of a model American kitchen full of appliances, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev sparred over the...

Read more: Links between gender stereotypes and American patriotism date from the Cold War − but weren’t true...

When AI goes shopping: AI agents promise to lighten your purchasing load − if they can earn your trust

  • Written by Tamilla Triantoro, Associate Professor of Business Analytics and Information Systems, Quinnipiac University
imageWill you let AI do the shopping for you?Lebazele/E+ via Getty Images

Online shopping often involves endless options and fleeting discounts. A single search for running shoes can yield hundreds of results across multiple platforms, each promising the “best deal.” The holiday season brings excitement, but it also brings a blend of...

Read more: When AI goes shopping: AI agents promise to lighten your purchasing load − if they can earn your...

Abu Mohammed al-Golani may become the face of post-Assad Syria – but who is he and why does he have $10M US bounty on his head?

  • Written by Sara Harmouch, Ph.D. candidate in Public Affairs, American University
imageSupporters greet Abu Mohammed al-Golani as the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Dec. 8, 2024. Aref Tammawi/AFP via Getty Images

The fall of President Bashar al-Assad has left a critical question: After a half-century of brutal dynastic rule has come to an end, who speaks for Syrians now?

One group staking a major claim for that role is Hayat Tahrir...

Read more: Abu Mohammed al-Golani may become the face of post-Assad Syria – but who is he and why does he...

Why does Colorado have so many ballot measures?

  • Written by John Matsusaka, Professor of Finance and Business Economics, University of Southern California

Colorado voters had the chance to weigh in on 14 ballot measures when they voted in November 2024, covering a wide range of issues, including abortion, school choice, taxes, trophy hunting and primary elections.

Denver voters faced an additional 11 ballot measures.

These measures were in addition to voting for president and other federal, state and...

Read more: Why does Colorado have so many ballot measures?

In 2024, independent voters grew their share of the vote, split their tickets and expanded their influence

  • Written by Thom Reilly, Professor & Co-Director, Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University
imagePolitical independents vote differently from those who say they are Democrats or Republicans.VectorMine/iStock via Getty Images Plus

With a growing number of American voters identifying as politically independent, many pollsters, most members of the media and the campaigns themselves viewed the independent vote as crucial to the outcome of the 2024...

Read more: In 2024, independent voters grew their share of the vote, split their tickets and expanded their...

How utilities are working to meet AI data centers’ voracious appetite for electricity

  • Written by Anurag Srivastava, Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University
imageHigh-voltage transmission lines provide electricity to data centers in Ashburn, Va., to power AI and other internet uses. AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey

Across the U.S. and worldwide, energy demand is soaring as data centers work to support the wide and growing use of artificial intelligence. These large facilities are filled with powerful computers, called...

Read more: How utilities are working to meet AI data centers’ voracious appetite for electricity

More Articles ...

  1. How to combat toxic bosses: Social media and flexible work can save careers, new research shows
  2. Meditation can reduce stress – but the pressure to overwork remains
  3. Trump’s plans for tougher border enforcement won’t necessarily stop migrants from coming to US − but their journeys could become more costly and dangerous
  4. What is the universe expanding into if it’s already infinite?
  5. Assad leaves behind a fragmented nation – stabilizing it will be a major challenge for fractured opposition and external backers
  6. Assad leaves behind a fragmented nation – stabilizing Syria will be a major challenge for fractured opposition and external backers
  7. What does the NASA administrator do? The agency’s leader reaches for the stars while navigating budgets and politics back on Earth
  8. Trump attacks diversity, but a fellow New Yorker − US Rep. Vito Marcantonio − worked to represent all Americans in a multiracial democracy
  9. What is Salt Typhoon? A security expert explains the Chinese hackers and their attack on US telecommunications networks
  10. Extraterrestrial life may look nothing like life on Earth − so astrobiologists are coming up with a framework to study how complex systems evolve
  11. Protests, sectarian violence and a growing spat with India: Bangladesh’s new leaders are beset with challenges to its democracy
  12. What is the ‘way of the warrior’? Students investigate the arts of war and peace in this course about virtue and the ethics of violence
  13. Love it or hate it, nonliteral ‘literally’ is here to stay: Here’s why English will survive
  14. Adults grow new brain cells – and these neurons are key to learning by listening
  15. White and Black activists worked strategically in parallel in Detroit 50 years ago, fighting for civil rights
  16. What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend
  17. Some black holes at the centers of galaxies have a buddy − but detecting these binary pairs isn’t easy
  18. Long-standing American principle of birthright citizenship under attack from Trump allies
  19. Avian flu virus has been found in raw milk − a reminder of how pasteurization protects health
  20. Can you choose to believe something, just like that?
  21. ‘Lebanon wanted us gone … it was a risk to leave’ − Syrian refugees who fled Israeli bombs face hostility and uncertainty on return
  22. Bluesky isn’t the ‘new Twitter,’ but its resemblance to the old one is drawing millions of new users
  23. How a director of national intelligence helps a president stay on top of threats from around the world
  24. Prenatal supplements largely lack the recommended amount of omega-3 fatty acids to help prevent preterm birth − new research
  25. Supreme Court could narrow the scope of federal environmental reviews, with less consideration of how projects would contribute to climate change
  26. Water fluoridation helps prevent tooth decay – how growing opposition threatens a 70-year-old health practice
  27. Notre Dame reopens in Paris 5 years after fire – its reconstruction preserves the past and illuminates France’s modern ambitions
  28. America’s counties are less purple than they used to be
  29. AI Jesus might ‘listen’ to your confession, but it can’t absolve your sins − a scholar of Catholicism explains
  30. One’s a Hugh Grant thriller, one’s a hot-mess reality show – and both center on stereotypes about Mormon women
  31. Is masculine anxiety spurring support for Trump among Gen Z?
  32. How right-wing media is like improv theater
  33. What South Korea’s short-lived martial law says about nation’s democracy and the autocratic tendencies of President Yoon
  34. Why you should talk to people you disagree with about politics
  35. Threatening texts targeting minorities after election were vile − but they might not be illegal
  36. Rape survivors like Gisèle Pelicot are choosing to speak out, refuting the idea that they should feel shame
  37. We surveyed hundreds of vacationers to confirm this ancient wisdom: The journey matters as much as the destination
  38. New IRS funding boosted tax enforcement and improved taxpayer services during the Biden administration
  39. NEOWISE, the NASA mission that cataloged objects around Earth for over a decade, has come to an end
  40. Noam Chomsky at 96: The linguist, educator, philosopher and public thinker has had a massive intellectual and moral influence
  41. Are trans women ‘biologically male’? The answer is complicated
  42. Wildland firefighters face a big pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress
  43. Wildland firefighters face up to $20,000 pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress
  44. What is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham? And how did the Islamist group evolve into a key player in Syria’s civil war?
  45. Pardon who? Hunter Biden case renews ethical debate over use and limits of peculiar presidential power
  46. Do Mom and Dad really know what’s best? A psychologist explains why kids see their parents as bossier than they are
  47. Music can change how you feel about the past
  48. The apocalypse that wasn’t: AI was everywhere in 2024’s elections, but deepfakes and misinformation were only part of the picture
  49. Why sending a belated gift is not as bad as you probably think − and late is better than never
  50. Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return