NewsPronto

 
Times Advertising


.

The Conversation

Beijing Olympics may get points for boosting China's international reputation, but Games are definitely gold for Xi Jinping's standing at home

  • Written by David Bachman, Henry M. Jackson Professor of International Studies, University of Washington
imageSkiers practice at the Olympic cross country venue in Zhangjiakou, China on February 1, 2022.Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

The 2022 Winter Games in Beijing provide many benefits for China, and really don’t have any downsides for the country.

For China’s leader, Xi Jinping, the most important result of the Games will likely be...

Read more: Beijing Olympics may get points for boosting China's international reputation, but Games are...

How 18th-century Quakers led a boycott of sugar to protest against slavery

  • Written by Julie L. Holcomb, Associate Professor of Museum Studies, Baylor University
imageEnglish Quakers on a Barbados plantation.Image courtesy of New York Public Library

Buying items that are fair trade, organic, locally made or cruelty-free are some of the ways in which consumers today seek to align their economic habits with their spiritual and ethical views. For 18th-century Quakers, it led them to abstain from sugar and other...

Read more: How 18th-century Quakers led a boycott of sugar to protest against slavery

The great Amazon land grab – how Brazil's government is turning public land private, clearing the way for deforestation

  • Written by Gabriel Cardoso Carrero, Graduate Student Fellow and PhD Candidate in Geography, University of Florida
imageA satellite captured large and small deforestation patches in Amazonas State in 2015. The forest loss has escalated since then.USGS/NASA Landsat data/Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images/Getty Images

Imagine that several state legislators decide that Yellowstone National Park is too big. Also imagine that, working with federal politicians, they change the...

Read more: The great Amazon land grab – how Brazil's government is turning public land private, clearing the...

Why is Taiwan competing in the Olympics under 'Chinese Taipei'?

  • Written by Meredith Oyen, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
imageTaiwanese independence activists call for a boycott of the Beijing Games.Walid Berrazeg/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

When the Beijing Olympics opens with a glitzy ceremony on Feb. 4, 2022, a tiny contingent of Taiwanese athletes will be in attendance. But they won’t be marching under the Taiwanese flag. And they will be announced as the...

Read more: Why is Taiwan competing in the Olympics under 'Chinese Taipei'?

New AI technique identifies dead cells under the microscope 100 times faster than people can – potentially accelerating research on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's

  • Written by Jeremy Linsley, Scientific Program Leader at Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco
imageEliminating human guesswork can make for faster and more accurate research.KTSDESIGN/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Understanding when and why a cell dies is fundamental to the study of human development, disease and aging. For neurodegenerative diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,...

Read more: New AI technique identifies dead cells under the microscope 100 times faster than people can –...

50-year-old muscles just can’t grow big like they used to – the biology of how muscles change with age

  • Written by Roger Fielding, Associate Director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Professor of Medicine, Tufts University
imageWhy is it harder to build muscle as you age? DjelicS/iStock via Getty Images

There is perhaps no better way to see the absolute pinnacle of human athletic abilities than by watching the Olympics. But at the Winter Games this year – and at almost all professional sporting events – you rarely see a competitor over 40 years old and almost...

Read more: 50-year-old muscles just can’t grow big like they used to – the biology of how muscles change with...

Legalizing recreational pot may have spurred economic activity in first 4 states to do so

  • Written by Roberto Pedace, Professor of Economics, Scripps College
imageWashington state was home to some of the nation's first dispensaries for legalized marijuana. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

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

The big idea

Banking activity in the first four U.S. states to make recreational marijuana legal grew significantly more than in other parts of the country despite fed...

Read more: Legalizing recreational pot may have spurred economic activity in first 4 states to do so

Why community college students quit despite being almost finished

  • Written by Benjamin Skinner, Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Policy, University of Florida
imageSix out of 10 community college students do not earn a degree. FatCamera E+ via Getty Images

Community colleges are designed to make college more accessible, yet 6 out of every 10 community college students cannot reap the full rewards of higher education because they do not earn their degree. For graduates, rewards often include making more money....

Read more: Why community college students quit despite being almost finished

What does climate change have to do with snowstorms?

  • Written by Michael A. Rawlins, Associate Director, Climate System Research Center, UMass Amherst
imageBoston got socked with nearly 2 feet of snow in late January 2022.Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Bostonians may have grumbled about digging out from almost 2 feet of snow after a historic snowstorm clobbered the Northeast in late January 2022, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. This part of the U.S. has been seeing a lot of storms like this in...

Read more: What does climate change have to do with snowstorms?

Why a warming climate can bring bigger snowstorms

  • Written by Michael A. Rawlins, Associate Director, Climate System Research Center, UMass Amherst
imageBoston got socked with nearly 2 feet of snow in late January 2022.Scott Eisen/Getty Images

The blizzard that buried Boston under nearly 2 feet of snow in January 2022 was historic, but not a surprise. Over a century of reliable weather records show many of the Northeast’s heaviest snowfalls have occurred since 1990 – including seven of...

Read more: Why a warming climate can bring bigger snowstorms

More Articles ...

  1. Some cancers are preventable with a vaccine – a virologist explains
  2. Government agencies are tapping a facial recognition company to prove you're you – here's why that raises concerns about privacy, accuracy and fairness
  3. China's biggest holiday: The Lunar New Year and how it is celebrated
  4. How to build wildfire-resistant communities on the wildland fringe
  5. Seizures can cause memory loss, and brain-mapping research suggests one reason why
  6. Did male and female dinosaurs differ? A new statistical technique is helping answer the question
  7. Why taking fever-reducing meds and drinking fluids may not be the best way to treat flu and fever
  8. China has no plan for who will succeed Xi Jinping – leaving the nation and the world in uncertainty
  9. New flood maps show US damage rising 26% in next 30 years due to climate change alone, and the inequity is stark
  10. What's NATO, and why does Ukraine want to join?
  11. How Brad Pitt's green housing dream for Hurricane Katrina survivors turned into a nightmare
  12. Can delta-8 THC provide some of the benefits of pot – with less paranoia and anxiety?
  13. There is much more to mindfulness than the popular media hype
  14. Can the US find enough natural gas sources to neutralize Russia's energy leverage over Europe?
  15. Why do we bleed? A hematologist explains how the body prevents blood loss after injury
  16. The IRS already has all your income tax data – so why do Americans still have to file their taxes?
  17. Bad managers, burnout and health fears: Why record numbers of hospitality workers are quitting the industry for good
  18. Pope Benedict faulted over sex abuse claims: New report is just one chapter in his – and Catholic Church’s – fraught record
  19. A lunar return, a Jupiter moon, the most powerful rocket ever built and the James Webb Space Telescope – space missions to watch in the coming months
  20. Don't pay too much attention to guesses about how US Supreme Court will vote on abortion rights – experts are often wrong
  21. Driverless cars won't be good for the environment if they lead to more auto use
  22. New insights from biology can help overcome siloed thinking in cancer clinical trials and treatment
  23. Omicron makes booster shots more critical for medically vulnerable seniors
  24. 5 tips to help preschoolers with special needs during the pandemic
  25. A new treatment helped frogs regenerate their amputated legs – taking science one step closer to helping people regrow their body parts, too
  26. What is a bomb cyclone? An atmospheric scientist explains
  27. Gut microbes help hibernating ground squirrels emerge strong and healthy in spring
  28. The moderate, pragmatic legacy of Stephen Breyer
  29. Famine, subjugation and nuclear fallout: How Soviet experience helped sow resentment among Ukrainians toward Russia
  30. How is snowfall measured? A meteorologist explains how volunteers tally up winter storms
  31. Where are all the substitute teachers?
  32. How real is 'Abbott Elementary?' A former Philadelphia school teacher weighs in
  33. Behind the 11 Oath Keepers charged with sedition are many more who have been trained by the US military
  34. West Elm Caleb and the rise of the TikTok tabloid
  35. Youth largely underestimate the risks of contracting STIs through oral sex, a new study finds
  36. Is the omicron variant Mother Nature’s way of vaccinating the masses and curbing the pandemic?
  37. Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates 'soon' to fight inflation: What that means for consumers and the economy
  38. Stephen Breyer is set to retire – should his replacement on the Supreme Court have a term limit?
  39. Russia could unleash disruptive cyberattacks against the US – but efforts to sow confusion and division are more likely
  40. 'Teaching has always been hard, but it's never been like this' – elementary school teachers talk about managing their classrooms during a pandemic
  41. The herbicide dicamba was supposed to solve farmers' weed problems – instead, it's making farming harder for many of them
  42. New federal wildfire plan is ambitious – but the Forest Service needs more money and people to fight the growing risks
  43. US has taken FARC off its terrorist list, giving insight into Biden's foreign policy
  44. Russia's recent invasions of Ukraine and Georgia offer clues to what Putin might be thinking now
  45. It's just a 'panic attack' – Russian media blames US for escalating Ukraine crisis
  46. The pandemic changed death rituals and left grieving families without a sense of closure
  47. When will the COVID-19 pandemic end? 4 essential reads on past pandemics and what the future could bring
  48. Does it really empower women to expect them to make the first move?
  49. What is the best mask for COVID-19? A mechanical engineer explains the science after 2 years of testing masks in his lab
  50. How this cycle of redistricting is making gerrymandered congressional districts even safer and undermining majority rule