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Is @realDonaldTrump addicted to Twitter?

  • Written by James A. Roberts, Professor of Marketing, Baylor University
imageExamining the president's Twitter activity.Screenshot, CC BY-ND

Is President Trump a Twitter addict? He may not know – but he could find out, as could members of the general public concerned about their own use of social media.

Addiction, whether it’s to drugs, alcohol, exercise, sex or social media, is best understood as continuing a...

Read more: Is @realDonaldTrump addicted to Twitter?

Are religious people more moral?

  • Written by Dimitris Xygalatas, Assistant Professor in Anthropology, University of Connecticut
imageDimitris Xygalatas, CC BY

Why do people distrust atheists?

A recent study we conducted, led by psychologist Will Gervais, found widespread and extreme moral prejudice against atheists around the world. Across all continents, people assumed that those who committed immoral acts, even extreme ones such as serial murder, were more likely to be atheists....

Read more: Are religious people more moral?

Japan's vote for Abe could worsen prospects for peace with North Korea, China

  • Written by Nicole L Freiner, Associate Professor, Political Science, Bryant University

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gambled by calling a snap election – and he has won big.

Voters handed Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party a sweeping victory in the Oct. 22 balloting for Japan’s House of Representatives.

The call for the election came in late September after North Korea had just fired another test missile, with its lo...

Read more: Japan's vote for Abe could worsen prospects for peace with North Korea, China

India outlawed commercial surrogacy – clinics are finding loopholes

  • Written by Sharmila Rudrappa, Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

Would you pay someone US$150,000 to have your baby?

The high cost of surrogacy in the U.S. has pushed many potential parents to seek cheaper options elsewhere. Countries like India and Thailand have attracted surrogacy clients from countries like the U.S., Britain, Australia and Israel. The global surrogacy trade, however, has been fraught with scan...

Read more: India outlawed commercial surrogacy – clinics are finding loopholes

Our laws don't do enough to protect our health data

  • Written by Sharona Hoffman, Professor of health law and bioethics, Case Western Reserve University
imageYou might be surprised to find what your data says about your past – and future – health.Scanrail1/Shutterstock.com

Have you ever wondered why your computer often shows you ads that seem tailor-made for your interests? The answer is big data. By combing through extremely large datasets, analysts can reveal patterns in your behavior.

A...

Read more: Our laws don't do enough to protect our health data

Will Obamacare marketplaces suffer as open enrollment begins?

  • Written by Michael Morrisey, Professor, Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M University
imagePres. Trump shows off an executive order he signed Oct. 12, 2017 to undo parts of the Affordable Care Act. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

The Trump administration’s executive order changing some elements of the Affordable Care Act’s administration are creating uncertainty as open enrollment for the health insurance marketplaces is set to start...

Read more: Will Obamacare marketplaces suffer as open enrollment begins?

Terrorist leaders in the Philippines are dead – will democracy be restored?

  • Written by Jessica Trisko Darden, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, American University School of International Service
imageExplosions continue in Marawi, a day after President Duterte declared the city liberated.AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

For almost five months, 21 million people in the southern Philippines have been living under martial law.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the province of Mindanao in May in response to increasing Islamist...

Read more: Terrorist leaders in the Philippines are dead – will democracy be restored?

In Central America, gangs like MS-13 are bad – but corrupt politicians may be worse

  • Written by Jose Miguel Cruz, Director of Research, Florida International University

Is Mara Salvatrucha, the Salvadoran youth gang menacing residents in some U.S. cities, really America’s public enemy number one?

After months of boasting that it would “destroy” MS-13, the Trump administration has now declared the group a top crime-fighting priority. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has instructed the...

Read more: In Central America, gangs like MS-13 are bad – but corrupt politicians may be worse

The IRS targeting scandal was fake, but IRS budget woes are a real problem

  • Written by Philip Hackney, James E. & Betty M. Phillips Professor of Law, Louisiana State University
imageMembers of the tea party movement seen rallying outside the Capitol in 2013. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Conservatives have been seething since 2013 over what they say was an unfair and imbalanced effort by the IRS to scrutinize right-leaning organizations more closely than other groups seeking nonprofit status.

As a new report from the Treasury...

Read more: The IRS targeting scandal was fake, but IRS budget woes are a real problem

More Articles ...

  1. Does regulating artificial intelligence save humanity or just stifle innovation?
  2. Is local news on the cusp of a renaissance?
  3. Is marriage obsolete? 4 essential reads
  4. Breast cancer risk higher in western parts of time zones; is electric light to blame?
  5. Micro solutions for a macro problem: How marine algae could help feed the world
  6. In defense of cash: why we should bring back the $500 note and other big bills
  7. Why bystanders rarely speak up when they witness sexual harassment
  8. How seeing problems in the brain makes stigma disappear
  9. I teach ethics at the university where Richard Spencer spoke
  10. Why is Saudi Arabia suddenly so paranoid?
  11. 'Geostorm' movie shows dangers of hacking the climate – we need to talk about real-world geoengineering now
  12. Teens are sleeping less – but there's a surprisingly easy fix
  13. How China's skewed sex ratio is making President Xi's job a whole lot harder
  14. Scientist at work: Measuring public health impacts after disasters
  15. Are many hate crimes really examples of domestic terrorism?
  16. Why the European Union's hands are tied over Catalonia
  17. Is racial bias driving Trump's neglect of Puerto Rico?
  18. US health care system: A patchwork that no one likes
  19. A statistical fix for the replication crisis in science
  20. The difference between cybersecurity and cybercrime, and why it matters
  21. Why is there so little research on guns in the US? 5 questions answered
  22. How media sexism demeans women and fuels abuse by men like Weinstein
  23. Solving the political ad problem with transparency
  24. Why Russia thinks it's exceptional
  25. Is youth football past its prime?
  26. What post-Weinstein Hollywood can learn from '90s sexual harassment training
  27. Three ways Trump's nuclear strategy misunderstands the mood in Iran
  28. One step at a time: Simple nudges can increase lifestyle physical activity
  29. World hunger is increasing thanks to wars and climate change
  30. Why hazing continues to be a rite of passage for some
  31. Why Harvey Weinstein can't redeem himself through charity alone
  32. What the 'Fearless Girl' statue and Harvey Weinstein have in common
  33. Our calculator will guess how many healthy years of life you have left
  34. Just 120 days into his term, Ecuador's new president is already undoing his own party's legacy
  35. Cómo el nuevo presidente del Ecuador procura deshacer el legado del Correismo en solo 120 días
  36. Do gamers behave the way game theory predicts they should?
  37. Wildfire smoke and health: 5 question answered
  38. Wildfire smoke and health: 5 questions answered
  39. LIGO announcement vaults astronomy out of its silent movie era into the talkies
  40. Why astrophysicists are over the moon about observing merging neutron stars
  41. Five types of gun laws the Founding Fathers loved
  42. To Uber or not? Why car ownership may no longer be a good deal
  43. Ancient Greek wisdom for today’s leadership crisis
  44. Why are Russian media outlets hyping the Mueller investigation?
  45. Need another reason to help Puerto Rico? It's a key US economic and military asset
  46. The pull of energy markets – and legal challenges – will blunt plans to roll back EPA carbon rules
  47. Under the Trump administration, US airstrikes are killing more civilians
  48. Sexual harassment: 5 essential reads
  49. Sent to Haiti to keep the peace, departing UN troops leave a damaged nation in their wake
  50. Until youth soccer is fixed, US men's national team is destined to fail