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Unrest in Latin America makes authoritarianism look more appealing to some

  • Written by Paula Armendariz Miranda, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Minnesota
A demonstrator protesting new austerity measures in Ecuador confronts armed police officers during clashes in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 11, 2019. AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa

Months of sustained, sometimes violent anti-government protest in South America may have increased popular support for authoritarianism.

That’s the startling finding of a...

Read more: Unrest in Latin America makes authoritarianism look more appealing to some

Want to know what will happen in 2020? Look to state polls for the answer

  • Written by Daniel R. Birdsong, Lecturer in Political Science, University of Dayton
Before an election the media closely follows polls.Rob Crandall/Shutterstock.com

Public opinion polls are ingrained in American politics. It seems like every day there is a new poll about the presidential election or impeachment or whether the public feels that the United States is on the right track.

As the presidential primary season begins in...

Read more: Want to know what will happen in 2020? Look to state polls for the answer

5 things you can do to make your microbiome healthier

  • Written by Connie Rogers, Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences , Pennsylvania State University
Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for you and your gut microbes. Teri Virbickis/Shutterstock.com

It’s common for people to focus on their health at the start of the year. But few consider the well being of the microbes that live inside the human gut – the microbiome – which are vital to an individual’s good health.

How...

Read more: 5 things you can do to make your microbiome healthier

How to use habit science to help you keep your New Year's resolution

  • Written by Wendy Wood, Provost Professor of Psychology and Business, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Willpower and habits involve different parts of the brain.lemono/Shutterstock.com

More than 80% of people who make New Year’s resolutions have already given up on their goals by February.

While there’s a lot of resolution advice on the internet, much of it fails to highlight the crux of behavioral change.

To make individual decisions...

Read more: How to use habit science to help you keep your New Year's resolution

What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment's ratification

  • Written by Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, Assistant Professor of Secondary Social Studies, West Virginia University
Many African Americans made education a high priority after the Civil War.National Museum of African American History and Culture

I’ll never forget a student’s response when I asked during a middle school social studies class what they knew about black history: “Martin Luther King freed the slaves.”

Martin Luther King Jr. was...

Read more: What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment's ratification

America's love affair with the single-family house is cooling, but it won't be a quick breakup

  • Written by Robert Parker, Co-Director, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, University of Oregon
Single-family houses on former farmland west of Des Moines, Iowa. Lynn Betts/USDA

For decades land use regulation across the U.S. has emphasized single-family houses on large lots. This approach has priced many people out of the quintessential American dream: homeownership. It also has promoted suburban sprawl – a pattern of low-density,...

Read more: America's love affair with the single-family house is cooling, but it won't be a quick breakup

3 big ways that the US will change over the next decade

  • Written by Dudley L. Poston, Jr., Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University
The U.S. will undergo some significant shifts in the next decade.DenisProduction.com/Shutterstock.com

The U.S. has just entered the new decade of the 2020s.

What does our country look like today, and what will it look like 10 years from now, on Jan. 1, 2030? Which demographic groups in the U.S. will grow the most, and which groups will not grow as...

Read more: 3 big ways that the US will change over the next decade

Why your New Year's resolution to go to the gym will fail

  • Written by William Clark, Adjunct Lecturer of Health and Wellness Studies, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Gyms start to empty as more and more people give up their New Year's resolutions.AP Photo/Sang Tan

Come January, 40% of Americans will make New Years resolutions, and nearly half of them will aim to lose weight or get in shape.

But 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February, and gyms will experience a decrease in traffic after the first...

Read more: Why your New Year's resolution to go to the gym will fail

A new way to give an old TB vaccine proves highly effective in monkeys

  • Written by JoAnne L. Flynn, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
Chest x-ray of a person with TB infection in both the right and left lungs. Schira/Shutterstock.com

What if you could make the tuberculosis vaccine much more powerful, not by altering the ingredients, but just by changing the way it is given to people? It would help prevent the infection that kills more people every year than any other microbe.

A...

Read more: A new way to give an old TB vaccine proves highly effective in monkeys

Countries to watch in 2020, from Chile to Afghanistan: 5 essential reads

  • Written by Catesby Holmes, Religion Editor | International Editor, The Conversation US
Anti-government protesters in Chile defend themselves against a police water cannon, Santiago, Nov. 15, 2019. AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo

Where will the world’s attention turn in 2020?

The United States’ impeachment trial of Donald Trump and the United Kingdom’s long-awaited Brexit are sure bets. And after the U.S. military withdrawal...

Read more: Countries to watch in 2020, from Chile to Afghanistan: 5 essential reads

More Articles ...

  1. How putting purpose into your New Year’s resolutions can bring meaning and results
  2. Higher education in America's prisons: 4 essential reads
  3. Why the race for the presidency begins with the Iowa caucus
  4. Deaf Christians often struggle to hear God's word, but some find meaning in the richness of who they are
  5. What do kids really think about Santa?
  6. Washington's perilous Christmas night crossing of the Delaware: Health hazards worse than war
  7. Lemurs are the world's most endangered mammals, but planting trees can help save them
  8. Hate exercise? Small increases in physical activity can make a big difference
  9. Archaeological discoveries are happening faster than ever before, helping refine the human story
  10. 3 internet language trends from 2019, explained
  11. Statistic of the decade: The massive deforestation of the Amazon
  12. Why some people distrust atheists
  13. Mormons and money: An unorthodox and messy history of church finances
  14. Hangovers happen as your body tries to protect itself from alcohol's toxic effects
  15. How undoing 'Obamacare' would harm more than the health of Americans
  16. From Vietnam to Afghanistan, all US governments lie
  17. Exploring the data on Hollywood's gender pay gap
  18. How being 'tough on crime' became a political liability
  19. Impeachment overkill, the USMCA's impact on jobs and the power of imagery: 3 quotes from the Democratic debate, explained
  20. Finding opportunity in crisis: 3 essential reads about environmental solutions
  21. We asked kids to send us their burning questions – here are 5 of our favorites from 2019
  22. Why are so few people born on Christmas Day, New Year's and other holidays?
  23. Battle at the border: 5 essential reads on asylum, citizenship and the right to live in the US
  24. Don't let your vote get stolen – 5 essential reads about disinformation in 2020
  25. Religious minorities around the world face an uncertain future: 5 essential reads
  26. Where does beach sand come from?
  27. Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they send the same racist message
  28. Why bad customer service won't improve anytime soon
  29. How old would you want to be in heaven?
  30. Giving pregnant women antibiotics could harm the lungs of preemies, according to study in mice
  31. Should you avoid meat for good health? How to slice off the facts from the fiction
  32. Nonprofits that empower leaders of color are more apt to do something about racial inequality
  33. A real-life deluminator for spotting exoplanets by reflected starlight
  34. The holidays remind us that grief cannot be wished away
  35. Democratic presidential hopefuls are promising to ramp up funding for public schools
  36. 5 ways chess can make you a better law student and lawyer
  37. Here's how you can be nudged to eat healthier, recycle and make better decisions every day
  38. How St. Francis created the Nativity scene, with a miraculous event in 1223
  39. Alcoholic? Me? How to tell if your holiday drinking is becoming a problem
  40. Can Congress hold Trump accountable? 4 essential reads on a historic power struggle
  41. The Madrid climate conference's real failure was not getting a broad deal on global carbon markets
  42. How Crisco toppled lard – and made Americans believers in industrial food
  43. Tracking your heart rate? 5 questions answered about what that number really means
  44. 150 cooks, servers and dishwashers almost shut down a Democratic debate, showing unions' growing clout in the party
  45. Think presidential debates are dull? Thank 1950s TV game shows
  46. Parents of medically fragile children and their kids could use help, understanding year-round
  47. 7 reasons to learn a foreign language
  48. 7 science-based strategies to boost your willpower and succeed with your New Year’s resolutions
  49. My team uses crossbows and drones to collect bacteria from whales – and the results are teaching us how to keep whales healthy
  50. Feeling sick is an emotion meant to help you get better faster