The Conversation

Making eye contact and small talk with strangers is more than just being polite − the social benefits of psychological generosity

Written by Linda R. Tropp, Professor of Social Psychology, UMass Amherst

Eyes down, headphones on – what message are you sending?vm/E+ via Getty Images

How much do you engage with others when you’re out in public? Lots of people don’t actually engage with others much at all. Think of commuters on public transportation staring down at their phones with earbuds firmly in place.

As a professor of social...

Aristotle would scoff at Mark Zuckerberg’s suggestion that AI can solve the loneliness epidemic

Written by Gregg D. Caruso, Professor of Ethics and Management and Director of the Waide Center for Applied Ethics, Fairfield University

Mark Zuckerberg has said that chatbots could meet a need for Americans who want more friends.Andrej Sokolow/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Mark Zuckerberg recently suggested that AI chatbots could combat social isolation by serving as “friends” for people experiencing loneliness.

He cited statistics that the average American has...

Biden is getting prostate cancer treatment, but that’s not the best choice for all men − a cancer researcher describes how she helped her father decide

Written by Luisel Ricks-Santi, Senior Associate Vice President Community Health, Education and Training, Old Dominion University; Associate Professor of Pharmacy, University of Florida

Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative had funded hundreds of cancer research projects across the country.AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

“Me encontraron càncer en la pròstata,” my father told me. “They found cancer in my prostate.”

As a cancer researcher who knows very well about the high incidence and decreased...

Independence Hall, Gettysburg and – Epcot? How Reagan helped elevate Disney to America’s roster of honored patriotic sites

Written by Bethanee Bemis, Museum Specialist, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

First lady Nancy Reagan kisses Mickey Mouse as President Ronald Reagan and Minnie Mouse watch 20 bands marching in the unofficial inaugural parade at Disney's Epcot Center on Memorial Day, May 27, 1985.Bettmann/Getty Images

A presidential or political visit is one of the ways in which the United States marks places as uniquely important. A space...

Nonprofit news media leaders are struggling to stop leaning on the foundations that say they should branch out more

Written by Katherine Fink, Associate Professor of Media, Communications, and Visual Arts, Pace University

If the basket falls, at least there are some other eggs on hand that might not break.Iryna Veklich/Moment via Getty Images

You’ve probably heard the adage about not putting all your eggs in one basket.

It’s an especially meaningful one for newspapers. For decades, they relied heavily on advertising revenue. That arrangement stopped...

The one-size-fits-all diversity training model is broken – here’s a better alternative

Written by Radostina Purvanova, Professor of Management and Organizational Leadership, Drake University

Diversity training is more effective when it’s personalized, according to my new research in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychology.

As a professor of management, I partnered with Andrew Bryant, who studies social marketing, to develop an algorithm that identifies people’s “personas,” or psychological profiles, as they...

Do photons wear out? An astrophysicist explains light’s ability to travel vast cosmic distances without losing energy

Written by Jarred Roberts, Project Scientist, University of California, San Diego

Light, whether from a star or your flashlight, travels at 186,000 miles per second.Artur Debat/Moment via Getty Images

My telescope, set up for astrophotography in my light-polluted San Diego backyard, was pointed at a galaxy unfathomably far from Earth. My wife, Cristina, walked up just as the first space photo streamed to my tablet. It sparkled...

An 18th-century rebellion for liberty, equality and freedom − not in France or the United States, but Ireland

Written by Joseph Patrick Kelly, Professor of Literature and Director of Irish and Irish American Studies, College of Charleston

A sculpture in Wexford, Ireland, by Eamonn O'Doherty, called 'Fuascailt,' commemorates the 1798 rebellion.Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images

Shortly before midnight on May 23, 1798, highwaymen just north of Dublin intercepted and set on fire a mail coach headed to Belfast.

It was the signal meant to ignite revolution across all Ireland.

At the...

Teens of any age who drink alcohol with their parents’ permission drink more as young adults, new research shows

Written by Bernard Pereda, Doctoral Student in Psychoolgy, University at Buffalo

Parents play an important role in teaching their children about alcohol.StockPlanets/E+ via Getty Images

Children and teenagers of any age who sip or taste alcohol with their parents’ permission are more likely to engage in risky drinking in young adulthood. That was the finding of a new study my colleagues and I published in the journal...

How 3D printing is personalizing health care

Written by Anne Schmitz, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Stout

A girl, wearing her prosthetic hands, walks to school in Uruguay.AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico

Three-dimensional printing is transforming medical care, letting the health care field shift from mass-produced solutions to customized treatments tailored to each patient’s needs. For instance, researchers are developing 3D-printed prosthetic hands s...