The Conversation

Why 'bad' ads appear on 'good' websites – a computer scientist explains

Written by Eric Zeng, PhD Candidate in Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington

Examples of 'bad ads' found on the web: clickbait articles, potentially unwanted programs, miracle weight loss supplements, gross-out images, and investment pitches.Screenshot by Eric Zeng

Sketchy ads, like those for miracle weight loss pills and suspicious-looking software, sometimes appear on legitimate, well-regarded websites. It turns out that...

ALS is only 50% genetic – identifying DNA regions affected by lifestyle and environmental risk factors could help pinpoint avenues for treatment

Written by Ramona Zwamborn, PhD candidate in Neurogenetics, Utrecht University

Epigenetics is how behavior and environment affect gene expression.Iryna Dobytchina/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects about 1 in 50,000 people. Well-known people who suffered from ALS include baseball player Lou Gehrig, who lived two years after he was diagnosed, and...

Russia isn't likely to use chemical weapons in Ukraine – unless Putin grows desperate

Written by Jeffrey William Knopf, Professor and Program Chair Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies

Ukrainians walk in the besieged city of Mariupol, where there are reports of a possible chemical attack. Victor/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Reports emerged from Ukraine on April 11, 2022, alleging that Russia had used a drone to drop an unknown chemical agent in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

There has been no official confirmation of these...

Russian ruble's recovery masks disruptive impact of West's sanctions – but it won't make Putin seek peace

Written by Peter Rutland, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University

People bought the last remaining groceries at a Finnish PRISMA store that was closing down in in St. Petersburg in March.AP Photo

Six weeks into the war with Ukraine, Russia’s economy seems to be holding up better than initially expected.

Despite unprecedented sanctions and an exodus of Western companies, the Russian ruble – a widely...

Soaring energy costs fuel fastest inflation in 40 years: 3 essential reads

Written by Bryan Keogh, Senior Editor, Economy + Business

California is seeing some of the highest gas prices in the U.S.AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Inflation continues to surge at the fastest pace since the early 1980s, placing more pressure on the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of prices of goods and services in the U.S. economy, climbed 8.5% in March 2022 from...

Archaeological site along the Nile opens a window on the Nubian civilization that flourished in ancient Sudan

Written by Michele R. Buzon, Professor of Anthropology, Purdue University

Thousands of years ago, people in this part of Sudan used underground tombs to bury their dead.Michele R. Buzon, CC BY-ND

Circular mounds of rocks dot the desert landscape at the archaeological site of Tombos in northern Sudan. They reveal tumuli – the underground burial tombs used at least as far back as 2500 B.C. by ancient inhabitants who...

Abusive bosses often blame a worker's lack of effort or care for poor performance when it's their own biases that may be the problem

Written by Zhanna Lyubykh, PhD Candidate in Organizational Behavior, University of Calgary

Managers who abuse their employees may be suffering from a perceptual bias. imtmphoto/iStock via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Managers may mistreat employees who perform poorly because they assume it results from a lack of diligence rather than other factors, according to research we...

Thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape, driven by a hidden world of changes beneath the surface as the climate warms

Written by Mark J. Lara, Assistant Professor in Plant Biology & Geography, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Permafrost and ice wedges have built up over millennia in the Arctic. When they thaw, they destabilize the surrounding landscape.Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape.

Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared in the span of a few days....

Raising cattle on native grasses in the eastern U.S. benefits farmers, wildlife and the soil

Written by Patrick Keyser, Professor of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries and Director, Center for Native Grasslands Management, University of Tennessee

Native grasses, long overlooked, have been shown to benefit cattle and diverse native animals. Patrick Keyser, CC BY-ND

Early on a cool June morning, heavy dew lies on the grass of rolling farm country somewhere in Tennessee, or Missouri, or Pennsylvania. Small patches of fog hang in low lying pockets of these fields. In the distance, hardworking...

Monkeys can sense their own heartbeats, an ability tied to mental health, consciousness and memory in humans

Written by Joey Charbonneau, PhD Student in Neuroscience, University of California, Davis

New research indicates that rhesus monkeys show interoception – the ability to sense physiological processes like their own heartbeats. Matthew Verdolivo/UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services, CC BY-ND

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

The big idea

Rhesus monkeys have a sense of when their own hearts are...