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UN fails to agree on 'killer robot' ban as nations pour billions into autonomous weapons research

  • Written by James Dawes, Professor of English, Macalester College
imageHumanitarian groups have been calling for a ban on autonomous weapons.Wolfgang Kumm/picture alliance via Getty Images

Autonomous weapon systems – commonly known as killer robots – may have killed human beings for the first time ever last year, according to a recent United Nations Security Council report on the Libyan civil war. History...

Read more: UN fails to agree on 'killer robot' ban as nations pour billions into autonomous weapons research

People who are bad with numbers often find it harder to make ends meet – even if they are not poor

  • Written by Wändi Bruine de Bruin, Professor of Public Policy, Psychology and Behavioral Science, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
imageEven college-educated adults can still struggle with numbers. Prostock-Studio/iStock via Getty Images

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

The big idea

People who are bad with numbers are more likely to experience financial difficulties than people who are good with numbers. That’s according to our analyses of the...

Read more: People who are bad with numbers often find it harder to make ends meet – even if they are not poor

The magnificent history of the maligned and misunderstood fruitcake

  • Written by Jeffrey Miller, Associate Professor of Hospitality Management, Colorado State University
imageFruitcakes are known for their legendary shelf life.CSA-Printstock via Getty Images

Nothing says Christmas quite like a fruitcake – or, at the very least, a fruitcake joke.

A quip attributed to former “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson has it that “There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to...

Read more: The magnificent history of the maligned and misunderstood fruitcake

Kim Jong Un’s decade in power: Starvation, repression and brutal rule – just like his father and grandfather

  • Written by Sung-Yoon Lee, Professor in Korean Studies, Tufts University
imageRepression running in the genes?Jenni Lim/AFP via Getty Images

By the grim metric of fatalities in the first 10 years of a dictator’s rule, Kim Jong Un has yet to match the records set by his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, or father, Kim Jong Il – the two tyrants who reigned by terror in North Korea before him.

For now, the number of people...

Read more: Kim Jong Un’s decade in power: Starvation, repression and brutal rule – just like his father and...

bell hooks will never leave us – she lives on through the truth of her words

  • Written by Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Executive Director, Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice, Loyola University Maryland
imageBell hooks' books provide a window into her hugely influential theories.Karjean Levine/Getty Images

I was introduced to the work of bell hooks for the first time when I was 14 years old, sitting on my Nana’s porch, complaining about the mosquitoes and the heat.

My Nana, who was probably frustrated by my endless complaints about being bored,...

Read more: bell hooks will never leave us – she lives on through the truth of her words

The US is making plans to replace all of its lead water pipes from coast to coast

  • Written by Gabriel Filippelli, Chancellor's Professor of Earth Sciences and Executive Director, Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute, IUPUI
imageWorkers prepare to install new water pipes in Walnut Creek, California, on April 22, 2021.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Biden administration has released a plan to accelerate removal of lead water pipes and lead paint from U.S. homes. As a geochemist and environmental health researcher who has studied the heartbreaking impacts of lead poisoning...

Read more: The US is making plans to replace all of its lead water pipes from coast to coast

A Persian festival, Yalda, celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, with pomegranates, poetry and sacred rituals

  • Written by Pardis Mahdavi, Dean of Social Sciences, Arizona State University
imageA table set for the celebration of the Persian festival of Yalda. Jasmin Merdan/Moment via Getty images.

As the days become shorter and the nights become longer and darker, we are reminded that indeed winter is coming. As a child I would dread this time of the year. Not only was there was less time to play outside, but there was a string of...

Read more: A Persian festival, Yalda, celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, with pomegranates,...

Taking out a student loan for your child can hurt your own financial well-being

  • Written by Thomas Korankye, Assistant Professor, Personal and Family Financial Planning, University of Arizona
imageParents who borrow for their children's college education say finances control their lives.kali9/E+ via Getty Images

When people take out student loans for themselves, certain risks are involved. The debt can negatively affect a person’s mental, emotional and even physical well-being. It can also harm a person’s financial well-being.

But...

Read more: Taking out a student loan for your child can hurt your own financial well-being

Convenient but susceptible to fraud: Why it makes sense to regulate charitable crowdfunding

  • Written by Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
imageA woman searches through debris near where her Dawson Springs, Ky. home stood before a tornado flattened it in December 2021.Scott Olson/Getty Images

Within 24 hours of devastating tornadoes striking six states in December 2021, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear launched the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund. That the leader of the state this...

Read more: Convenient but susceptible to fraud: Why it makes sense to regulate charitable crowdfunding

The 'runner's high' may result from molecules called cannabinoids – the body's own version of THC and CBD

  • Written by Hilary A. Marusak, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University
imageExercise spurs the release of the body's natural cannabinoids, which have myriad benefits for mental health and stress relief.Luca Sage/Stone via Getty Images

Many people have experienced reductions in stress, pain and anxiety and sometimes even euphoria after exercise. What’s behind this so-called “runner’s high”? New...

Read more: The 'runner's high' may result from molecules called cannabinoids – the body's own version of THC...

More Articles ...

  1. How to help those who have lost loved ones to suicide cope with grief during the holidays
  2. Sold-out supplies, serving a public need and other adventures of doing science during a pandemic – 4 researchers share their experiences
  3. 'Twas the night before Christmas' helped make the modern Santa – and led to a literary whodunit
  4. Why spending $2 trillion on child care, health care and fighting climate change won't make inflation any worse than it already is
  5. Mistletoe – famous for stolen holiday kisses – is a parasite that steals water and nutrients from other plants
  6. Surveys of scientists show women and young academics suffered most during pandemic and may face long-term career consequences
  7. It's all in the flag: Bussa's Rebellion and the 200-year fight to end British rule in Barbados
  8. Latest trials confirm the benefits of MDMA – the drug in ecstasy – for treating PTSD
  9. The best way to protect personal biomedical data from hackers could be to treat the problem like a game
  10. Brain wrinkles and folds matter – researchers are studying the mechanics of how they form
  11. Hurricane-force wind gusts in Colorado, dust storms in Kansas, tornadoes in Iowa in December – here's what fueled a day of extreme storms
  12. How effective are vaccines against omicron? An epidemiologist answers 6 questions
  13. What is the Fed taper? An economist explains
  14. What is the Fed taper? An economist explains how the Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus from the economy
  15. COVID-19 vaccines for children: How parents are influenced by misinformation, and how they can counter it
  16. How the Native American population in the US increased 87% says more about whiteness than about demographics
  17. I'm a Black woman and the metaverse scares me – here’s how to make the next iteration of the internet inclusive
  18. Cellphone bans in the workplace are legal and more common among blue-collar jobs – they also might be a safety risk
  19. To tree, or not to tree? How Jewish-Christian families navigate the 'December Dilemma'
  20. How Mrs. Claus embodied 19th-century debates about women's rights
  21. Mourning after mass shootings isn't enough – a sociologist argues that society's messages about masculinity need to change
  22. Pandemic, war and environmental disaster push scientists to deliver quick answers – here's what it takes to do good science under pressure
  23. 2021 Arctic Report Card reveals a (human) story of cascading disruptions, extreme events and global connections
  24. Vast majority of American workers like their jobs – even as a record number quit them
  25. Smoke, heat and stress: A snapshot from Southern California of life in an altered climate
  26. US prep schools held student exchanges with elite Nazi academies
  27. 'Strangers in their own land': Iraqi Yazidis and their plight, 7 years on from genocide
  28. What partnership looks like in Mormon marriages is shifting – slowly
  29. Orthodox Jewish women's leadership is growing – and it's not all about rabbis
  30. Comic book introduces kids to key concepts and careers in cybersecurity
  31. Blocking an immune system molecule in mice may help prevent long-term disabilities after traumatic brain injury
  32. Tornadoes and climate change: What a warming world means for deadly twisters and the type of storms that spawn them
  33. Here's how Southern Baptist women found ways to lead outside the denomination
  34. In polygamous communities, deep roots of distrust shape vaccine hesitancy
  35. The US doesn't have enough faculty to train the next generation of nurses
  36. Why is my poop brown?
  37. Why the southern US is prone to December tornadoes
  38. ¿Pruebas COVID de PCR o antígenos? Conoce cuáles son las diferencias
  39. Why is inflation so high? Is it bad? An economist answers 3 questions about soaring consumer prices
  40. How conspiracy theories in the US became more personal, more cruel and more mainstream after the Sandy Hook shootings
  41. How to keep students safe in school: 5 essential reads on school shootings in America
  42. Understanding the history and politics behind Pakistan's blasphemy laws
  43. 'Zero Day' for California water? Not yet, but unprecedented water restrictions send a sharp warning
  44. Professors’ free speech rights can clash with public universities’ interest in managing their employees as they choose
  45. Union battles at Amazon and Starbucks are hot news – which can only be good for the labor movement
  46. Got Zoom fatigue? Out-of-sync brainwaves could be another reason videoconferencing is such a drag
  47. Rapid tests play a crucial role in curbing COVID-19 infections – especially as people gather for the holidays
  48. Appeals court says Trump has given 'no legal reason' to defy Congress' demand for Jan. 6 documents, but Supreme Court may have final say
  49. 'West Side Story' may be timeless – but life in gangs today differs drastically from when the Jets and Sharks ruled the streets
  50. Tropical forests can recover surprisingly quickly on deforested lands – and letting them regrow naturally is an effective and low-cost way to slow climate change