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When Trump calls someone a dog, he's tapping into ugly history

  • Written by Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond, Associate Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, University of California San Diego
President Donald Trump talks with reporters during a visit with U.S. Army dog Conan.AP Photo/ Evan Vucci

The news was recently filled with stories about Trump’s praise for Conan, the Belgian Malinoisused to hunt Islamic State Group founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alongside his vivid accounts of al-Baghdadi’s “death like a...

Read more: When Trump calls someone a dog, he's tapping into ugly history

Margaret Morse Nice thought like a song sparrow and changed how scientists understand animal behavior

  • Written by Kristoffer Whitney, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Rochester Institute of Technology
Making sense of bird behavior was a lifelong passion for Margaret Morse Nice. AP Photo

The invader, puffed out into the shape of a ball, fluttered one wing straight up in the air. He sang constantly and softly, incomplete songs in rapid succession. The defender, silent, hunched his shoulders in a menacing attitude, closely following every move of...

Read more: Margaret Morse Nice thought like a song sparrow and changed how scientists understand animal...

Butterfly lovers become citizen scientists by logging sightings on eButterfly

  • Written by Kathleen Prudic, Assistant Professor of Citizen and Data Science, University of Arizona
Scientists can now track butterfly migration in real time with the help of volunteersMara Koenig/USFWS/flickr, CC BY

The Abstract features interesting research and the people behind it.

Kathleen Prudic is an entomologist who studies pollinators. We caught up with her recently to discuss her work as co-directer of eButterfly.

What is eButterfly?

Kathlee...

Read more: Butterfly lovers become citizen scientists by logging sightings on eButterfly

Uber's data revealed nearly 6,000 sexual assaults. Does that mean it's not safe?

  • Written by Liberty Vittert, Professor of the Practice of Data Science, Washington University in St Louis
What's your safest option for a ride home?MikeDotta/Shutterstock.com

Since Uber released its first ever safety report on Dec. 5, the media has raised alarms for the 5,981 instances of sexual assault included in the document.

This also includes 464 reports of rape over a two-year period – 2017 to 2018.

Uber also reported 97 fatal car accidents...

Read more: Uber's data revealed nearly 6,000 sexual assaults. Does that mean it's not safe?

Asking people with memory loss about past holidays can help them recall happy times

  • Written by Michael R. Nadorff, Associate Professor of Psychology, Mississippi State University
Asking a person who is memory impaired to tell stories from bygone holidays may help trigger a happy memory.Lucky Business/Shutterstock.com

Many people love the holidays because they are a time to make happy memories with loved ones.

But what if you could do something that would help restore memories in some of the people you love?

Using a process...

Read more: Asking people with memory loss about past holidays can help them recall happy times

As rural Americans struggle for health care access, insurers may be making things worse

  • Written by Simon F. Haeder, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Kyle Parks, the only surgeon at Evans Memorial Hospital in Claxton, Ga. The hospital struggles to stay in business while serving large numbers of rural poor.Russ Bynum/AP Photo

Living in rural America certainly comes with a number of benefits. There is less crime, access to the outdoors, and lower costs of living.

Yet, not everything is rosy...

Read more: As rural Americans struggle for health care access, insurers may be making things worse

The Earth needs multiple methods for removing CO2 from the air to avert worst of climate change

  • Written by David Goldberg, Lamont Research Professor, Columbia University
Reducing pollution will help stave off climate change but avoiding the worst effects means taking CO2 out of the atmosphere at large scale.AP Photo/J. David Ake

Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are higher than at any time in human history, and nine of the warmest years have occurred since 2005.

Even with the progress made in...

Read more: The Earth needs multiple methods for removing CO2 from the air to avert worst of climate change

'Organic' label doesn't guarantee that holiday ham was a happy pig

  • Written by Michael Haedicke, Associate Professor of Sociology, Drake University
Federal organic regulations require outdoor access for livestock -- but don't specify how much.US Dept. of Agriculture/flickr

This holiday season, Americans will buy some 20 million turkeys and 300 million pounds of ham.

Some of these turkeys and hams will be certified organic, reflecting the common belief that organically raised animals live...

Read more: 'Organic' label doesn't guarantee that holiday ham was a happy pig

The dangers of depicting Greta Thunberg as a prophet

  • Written by Ellen Boucher, Associate Professor of History, Amherst College
Climate activist Greta Thunberg listens during a meeting with climate scientists at the COP25 summit in Madrid, Spain.AP Photo/Paul White

She came from obscurity and ignited a global movement. Beginning with a small but persistent act of protest outside the Swedish parliament, she inspired millions to join her. Her fiery speech to the United...

Read more: The dangers of depicting Greta Thunberg as a prophet

Why are whales big, but not bigger?

  • Written by Matthew Savoca, Postdoctoral researcher, Stanford University
Minke whale.Jeremy Goldbogen, CC BY-ND

Both toothed and baleen (filter-feeding) whales are among the largest animals ever to exist. Blue whales, which measure up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and can weigh over 150 tons, are the largest animals in the history of life on Earth.

Although whales have existed on this planet for some 50 million years,...

Read more: Why are whales big, but not bigger?

More Articles ...

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  3. Supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may have a friend
  4. Winter is coming: 5 essential reads about snow and ice
  5. Myths around mental illness cause high rates of unemployment
  6. Slave life's harsh realities are erased in Christmas tours of Southern plantations
  7. School resource officers aren't arrested often – but when they are, it's usually for sexual misconduct
  8. Myanmar charged with genocide of Rohingya Muslims: 5 essential reads
  9. Examining how primates make vowel sounds pushes timeline for speech evolution back by 27 million years
  10. USMCA: The 3 most important changes in the new NAFTA and why they matter
  11. Mexican Mennonites combat fears of violence with a new Christmas tradition
  12. Like 'Little Women,' books by Zitkála-Šá and Taha Hussein are classics
  13. We calculated emissions due to electricity loss on the power grid – globally, it's a lot
  14. Not every campus is a political battlefield
  15. 5 new ways for schools to work with families
  16. What happens when black Americans leave their segregated hometowns
  17. 'Robotic blacksmithing': A technology that could revive US manufacturing
  18. Paul Volcker helped shape an independent Federal Reserve – a vital legacy that's under threat
  19. What can drones do to protect civilians in armed conflict?
  20. Fat-shaming pregnant women isn't just mean, it's harmful
  21. Millions of burnt trees and rusted cars: Post-disaster cleanup is expensive, time-consuming and wasteful
  22. Taliban negotiations resume, feeding hope of a peaceful, more prosperous Afghanistan
  23. Super rats or sickly rodents? Our war against urban rats could be leading to swift evolutionary changes
  24. How the 'extreme abstinence' of the purity movement created a sense of shame in evangelical women
  25. In its anti-'Medicare for All' push, the health insurance industry pulls from an old playbook
  26. A brief guide to how the China-US trade war will affect your holiday shopping
  27. What the Roman senate's grovelling before emperors explains about GOP senators' support for Trump
  28. New studies show discrimination widely reported by women, people of color and LGBTQ adults
  29. Risk rooted in colonial era weighs on Bahamas' efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Dorian
  30. What makes wine dry? It's easy to taste, but much harder to measure
  31. Why the holidays are a prime time for elder abuse, and what you can do to thwart it
  32. Payday lenders have embraced installment loans to evade regulations – but they may be even worse
  33. Why are kids today less patriotic?
  34. Nicolas Bourbaki: The greatest mathematician who never was
  35. Courts have avoided refereeing between Congress and the president, but Trump may force them to wade in
  36. Why it can be hard to stop eating even when you're full: Some foods may be designed that way
  37. What makes Christmas movies so popular
  38. Why the US military usually punishes misconduct but police often close ranks
  39. American influence could take the hit as Putin, Zelenskiy try to make peace in Donbass
  40. Large-scale education tests often come with side effects
  41. American influence could take the hit as Putin, Zelenskiy try to make peace in Ukraine
  42. From their balloons, the first aeronauts transformed our view of the world
  43. NPR is still expanding the range of what authority sounds like after 50 years
  44. Limited eating times could be a new way to fight obesity and diabetes
  45. Turning gray and into the red: The true cost of growing old in America
  46. 5 ways to check a college's financial health
  47. 'Stop-and-frisk' can work, under careful supervision
  48. An ethicist explains why philanthropy is no license to do bad stuff
  49. India's plan to identify 'illegal immigrants' could get some Muslims declared 'foreign'
  50. Why are moths attracted to light?