The Conversation

Facebook's own internal documents offer a blueprint for making social media safer for teens

Written by Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University

What if there were a social media blackout for teens during certain hours of the night?NitaYuko/iStock via Getty Images

Right at the time social media became popular, teen mental health began to falter. Between 2010 and 2019, rates of depression and loneliness doubled in the U.S. and globally, suicide rates soared for teens in the U.S. and emergency...

Teachers say working with students kept them motivated at the start of the pandemic

Written by Nathan D. Jones, Associate Professor of Special Education, Boston University

Teachers experienced more positive emotions interacting with their students when schools closed during the pandemic. Barrie Fanton/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Of all the things teachers do on the job, we found that teachers enjoy interacting...

Indigenous Peoples' Day: why it's replacing Columbus Day in many places

Written by Susan C. Faircloth, Professor & Director of the School of Education, Colorado State University

Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated in many states across the U.S.grandriver/E+ via Getty Images

Columbus Day celebrations in the United States – meant to honor the legacy of the man credited with “discovering” the New World – are almost as old as the nation itself. The earliest known Columbus Day celebration took place on...

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified that the company's algorithms are dangerous – here's how they can manipulate you

Written by Filippo Menczer, Luddy Distinguished Professor of Informatics and Computer Science, Indiana University

Whistleblower Frances Haugen called Facebook's algorithm dangerous.Matt McClain/The Washington Post via AP

Former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen testified before the U.S. Senate on Oct. 5, 2021, that the company’s social media platforms “harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.”

Haugen was the primary...

What's on the menu matters in health care for diverse patients

Written by Minakshi Raj, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Family members often take on the burden of preparing and delivering meals to their relatives.SoumenNath/E+ via Getty Images

Food is a powerful part of community and medicine. It has the potential to build connections, elicit nostalgia, spark joy, mark celebration and promote healing.

It also plays a role in determining whether the health care system...

The water you're drinking may be thousands of years old – growing demand for deeper wells is tapping ancient reserves

Written by Marissa Grunes, Environmental Fellow, Harvard University

Some of North America’s groundwater is so old, it fell as rain before humans arrived here thousands of years ago.Maria Fuchs via Getty Images

Communities that rely on the Colorado River are facing a water crisis. Lake Mead, the river’s largest reservoir, has fallen to levels not seen since it was created by the construction of the...

Ancient groundwater: Why the water you're drinking may be thousands of years old

Written by Marissa Grunes, Environmental Fellow, Harvard University

Some of North America’s groundwater is so old, it fell as rain before humans arrived here thousands of years ago.Maria Fuchs via Getty Images

Communities that rely on the Colorado River are facing a water crisis. Lake Mead, the river’s largest reservoir, has fallen to levels not seen since it was created by the construction of the...

What is chaos? A complex systems scientist explains

Written by Mitchell Newberry, Assistant Professor of Complex Systems, University of Michigan

Tiny changes, like a butterfly's wing flapping, can be amplified downstream in a chaotic system.Catherine Falls Commercial/Moment via Getty Images

Chaos evokes images of the dinosaurs running wild in Jurassic Park, or my friend’s toddler ravaging the living room.

In a chaotic world, you never know what to expect. Stuff is happening all the...

My Ph.D. supervisor just won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for designing a safer, cheaper and faster way to build molecules and make medicine

Written by David Nagib, Associate Professor of Chemistry, The Ohio State University

Many catalysts currently used to make many drugs are expensive and can produce toxic byproducts. Westend61 via Getty Images

The reason that ibuprofen treats headaches and ice cream tastes sweet is that their chemical components fit perfectly into certain receptors in your body. The better a drug or flavor molecule fits with its matching receptor,...

First major Second Amendment case before the Supreme Court in over a decade could topple gun restrictions

Written by Eric Ruben, Assistant Professor of Law, Southern Methodist University

This ruling could change the course of future firearm rights litigation.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The stakes in one of the most significant Second Amendment cases in U.S. history are high.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, expected by mid-2022, could declare a New York state restriction...