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How the new 'Aladdin' stacks up against a century of Hollywood stereotyping

  • Written by Evelyn Alsultany, Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California
In the live-action 'Aladdin,' Mena Massoud stars Aladdin, while Will Smith plays the Genie.Daniel Smith/Walt Disney Pictures

Though critically acclaimed and widely beloved, the 1992 animated “Aladdin” feature had some serious issues with stereotyping.

Disney wanted to avoid repeating these same problems in the live action version of...

Read more: How the new 'Aladdin' stacks up against a century of Hollywood stereotyping

Assange’s new indictment: Espionage and the First Amendment

  • Written by Ofer Raban, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Oregon

Julian Assange, the co-founder of WikiLeaks, has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with a slew of Espionage Act violations that could keep him in prison for the rest of his life.

The new indictment expands an earlier one charging Assange with conspiring with Chelsea Manning, the former soldier convicted of leaking classified documents...

Read more: Assange’s new indictment: Espionage and the First Amendment

Rapid water quality tests better protect beachgoers

  • Written by Rachel Noble, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering and Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fast tests can help keep people out of the water when it's unsafe, and let them back in sooner once the coast is clear.Paul Fisher, CC BY-ND

Planning a trip to the beach? Along with looking forward to some summer fun, beachgoers may be thinking about the safety of their waterfront destination. Will the water be clean enough for swimming, surfing,...

Read more: Rapid water quality tests better protect beachgoers

Doping soldiers so they fight better – is it ethical?

  • Written by Maxwell Mehlman, Professor of Biomedical Ethics, Case Western Reserve University
A waxwork of Captain America on display at Madame Tussauds in Bangkok, Thailand. Nuamfolio/Shutterstock.com

The military is constantly using technology to build better ships, warplanes, guns and armor. Shouldn’t it also use drugs to build better soldiers?

Soldiers have long taken drugs to help them fight. Amphetamines like Dexedrine were...

Read more: Doping soldiers so they fight better – is it ethical?

Water stays in the pipes longer in shrinking cities – a challenge for public health

  • Written by Nancy Love, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
How long has that water already been in the system?mike.irwin/Shutterstock.com

The geographic locations where Americans live are shifting in ways that can negatively affect the quality of their drinking water.

Cities that experience long-term, persistent population decline are called shrinking cities. Although shrinking cities exist across the...

Read more: Water stays in the pipes longer in shrinking cities – a challenge for public health

'World Heritage' site selection is Eurocentric – and that shapes which historic places get love and money

  • Written by Victoria Reyes, Assistant Professor, University of California, Riverside

The April 2019 fire that engulfed France’s Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris, led to an outpouring of grief and introspection.

Historians explained how the 800-year-old church had survived political upheaval. Theologians examined its “secret life” and symbolism and architects recounted its structural changes through the centuries.

Bu...

Read more: 'World Heritage' site selection is Eurocentric – and that shapes which historic places get love...

People with traumatic brain injury, who often lose empathy, can regain it with treatment

  • Written by Dawn Neumann, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, IUPUI
Understanding the facial cues from another person is a component of empathy.Pressmaster/Shutterstock.com

Most people can easily determine when a loved one is feeling sad or anxious. This recognition will often trigger the person to offer a comforting gesture or even have a contagious emotional reaction, causing them to also feel sad or anxious,...

Read more: People with traumatic brain injury, who often lose empathy, can regain it with treatment

Mathematics of scale: Big, small and everything in between

  • Written by Mitchell Newberry, Assistant Professor of Complex Systems, University of Michigan
How many lakes are in Alaska? Thermokarst lakes on Alaska's North Slope are self-similar and fractal.Painting by Cherissa Dukelow, CC BY-SA

Breathe. As your lungs expand, air fills 500 million tiny alveoli, each a fraction of a millimeter across. As you exhale, these millions of tiny breaths merge effortlessly through larger and larger airways into...

Read more: Mathematics of scale: Big, small and everything in between

As Airbnb grows, this is exactly how much it's bringing down hotel prices and occupancy

  • Written by Tarik Dogru, Assistant Professor of Hospitality Management, Florida State University
Airbnb is a growing threat to the major hotel chains. Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com

Airbnb has grown exponentially since its founding in 2008 and is expected to soon go public in an initial public offering that would rank it among the world’s most valuable hotel companies.

In fact, U.S. consumers spent more money on Airbnb last year than...

Read more: As Airbnb grows, this is exactly how much it's bringing down hotel prices and occupancy

The history of China's Muslims and what's behind their persecution

  • Written by Kelly Anne Hammond, Assistant Professor of History, University of Arkansas
A delegate in traditional Uighur dress listens to a speaker during a meeting with delegates from China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in Beijing,AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Over 1 million Uighur Muslims are being held in detention centers in the far western province of Xinjiang, China.

Uighur leaders and experts located outside China have...

Read more: The history of China's Muslims and what's behind their persecution

More Articles ...

  1. Facebook doesn't fool me – but I worry about how it affects you
  2. Recent attempts at reparations show that World War II is not over
  3. Chicago's Urban Prep Academy – known for 100% college acceptance rates – put reputation ahead of results
  4. US is already fighting a conflict with Iran – an economic war that is hurting the wrong people
  5. Could a lack of humility be at the root of what ails America?
  6. The Constitution dictates that impeachment must not be partisan
  7. The American GI in WWII, uncensored
  8. I'm an evolutionary biologist – here's why this ancient fungal fossil discovery is so revealing
  9. Genetic trigger discovered for common heart problem, mitral valve prolapse
  10. The Catholic Church is tightening rules on reporting sexual abuse – but not swearing off its legal privilege to keep secrets
  11. What’s wrong with those anti-vaxxers? They're just like the rest of us
  12. How rural areas like Florida's Panhandle can become more hurricane-ready
  13. The SAT's new 'adversity score' is a poor fix for a problematic test
  14. How dogs help keep multiracial neighborhoods socially segregated
  15. What China wants: 3 things motivating China's position in trade negotiations with the US
  16. An outlaw yeast thrives with genetic chaos – and could provide clues for understanding cancer growth
  17. Hate heaped on black heroines of the French Resistance would look familiar to AOC and Rashida Tlaib
  18. Simply elegant, Morse code marks 175 years and counting
  19. Getting ready for hurricane season: 4 essential reads
  20. Women take a hit for reporting sexual harassment, but #MeToo may be changing that
  21. Misreading the story of climate change and the Maya
  22. How millennials are affecting the price of your home
  23. What your ability to engage with stories says about your real-life relationships
  24. There is more than one religious view on abortion - here's what Jewish texts say
  25. New autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits
  26. States – not just Congress – should unlock student financial aid for people in prison
  27. Phage therapy to prevent cholera infections – and possibly those caused by other deadly bacteria
  28. What's behind the belief in a soulmate?
  29. Hydropower dams can harm coastal areas far downstream
  30. The US could have ended up with a British-style health care system: Here is why it didn’t
  31. Viruses to stop cholera infections – the viral enemy of deadly bacteria could be humanity's friend
  32. Why Congress needs to empower the IRS to give nonprofit newspapers a green light
  33. Same-sex couples have been in American politics way longer than the Buttigiegs have been married
  34. Political cartoonists are out of touch – it's time to make way for memes
  35. Why letting the IRS decide the future of news is a bad idea
  36. Why is the Pentagon interested in UFOs?
  37. 'The Big Bang Theory' finale: Sheldon and Amy's fictional physics parallels real science
  38. The Brown v. Board of Education case didn't start how you think it did
  39. Congress is considering privacy legislation – be afraid
  40. Populist alliances of 'cowboys and Indians' are protecting rural lands
  41. Why are there so many candidates for president?
  42. Doris Day was a sunny actress and a domestic violence survivor; are there lessons?
  43. 21 questions for today's college graduates
  44. Laser of sound promises to measure extremely tiny phenomena
  45. Stiff muscles are a counterintuitive superpower of NBA athletes
  46. This commencement speech had nothing but questions
  47. A new type of laser uses sound waves to help to detect weak forces
  48. Why parents should think twice about tracking apps for their kids
  49. New Gates-funded commission aims to put a value on a college education
  50. US fertility keeps dropping – but that's not a reason to panic