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Space tourism – 20 years in the making – is finally ready for launch

  • Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies
imageSpace tourism has been slow to get off the ground. Nadia Bormotova/iStock via Getty Images Plus

For most people, getting to the stars is nothing more than a dream. On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito achieved that lifelong goal – but he wasn’t a typical astronaut. Tito, a wealthy businessman, paid US$20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz s...

Read more: Space tourism – 20 years in the making – is finally ready for launch

Scarred by Zika and fearing new COVID-19 variants, Brazilian women say no to another pandemic pregnancy

  • Written by Letícia Marteleto, Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts
imageA field hospital in São Paulo state, Brazil, on March 26, 2021. Brazil keeps setting new COVID-19 records, with up to 4,000 people dying daily. Miguel Schincariol/AFP via Getty Images

“We have to avoid a pregnancy,” said Rosa, about the possibility of getting pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic. “My feeling is that I...

Read more: Scarred by Zika and fearing new COVID-19 variants, Brazilian women say no to another pandemic...

Why states didn't go broke from the pandemic

  • Written by Raymond Scheppach, Professor of Public Policy, University of Virginia
imageThe predictions were for a massive downturn in state finances because of COVID-19 ... but the predictions were wrong. tang90246/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

During the summer of 2020, there were many news reports about the impending state fiscal crisis due to the pandemic. A July 7 article on CNBC with the headline “Cuts to basic services...

Read more: Why states didn't go broke from the pandemic

Wind farms bring windfalls for rural schools, but school finance laws limit how money is spent

  • Written by Eric Brunner, Professor of Economics and Policy, University of Connecticut
imageTexas has collected and spent more money on wind energy than any other state. Daxis/flickr, CC BY-ND

On the website for the local school district in Blackwell – a town of just over 300 people in rural Texas – school Superintendent Abe Gott says: “We believe that no matter your dreams, you can achieve them from Blackwell, Texas.&rdq...

Read more: Wind farms bring windfalls for rural schools, but school finance laws limit how money is spent

How a professor learned to bring compassion to engineering and design

  • Written by Tahira Reid, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Tahira Reid leads a lab focused on human-centered design. Over her career, she’s gone outside the “traditional engineering box” and integrated compassion for the users of products and services into the design process – what she and colleagues refer to as “compassionate...

Read more: How a professor learned to bring compassion to engineering and design

Cancel culture looks a lot like old-fashioned church discipline

  • Written by Christopher Schelin, Assistant Professor of Practical and Political Theologies, Starr King School for the Ministry
imageBaptist preachers canceled by opponents.Library of Congress

Blink and you may have missed one of the more recent controversies over cancel culture.

On March 23, 2021, columnist Hemal Jhaveri published an opinion piece at For The Win, a sports commentary website operated by USA Today. In it, she remarked on the “Cinderella story” then...

Read more: Cancel culture looks a lot like old-fashioned church discipline

Ancient Christian thinkers made a case for reparations that has striking relevance today

  • Written by David Lincicum, Associate Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
imageSome ancient theologians argued that the Israelites deserved a share of Egypt's wealth after being enslaved for centuries.Culture Club/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Reparations to Black Americans for centuries of slavery and oppression have been discussed for a long time. But ever since journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case...

Read more: Ancient Christian thinkers made a case for reparations that has striking relevance today

Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters who are more politically conservative get slightly higher ratings and tips

  • Written by Alexander Davidson, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Wayne State University
imageDo your driver's political beliefs affect the service he provides?AP Photo/Anita Snow

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

The big idea

Customers give higher ratings and tips to politically conservative Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters than to ones with more liberal leanings, according to new peer-reviewed research...

Read more: Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters who are more politically conservative get slightly higher...

If China's middle class continues to thrive and grow, what will it mean for the rest of the world?

  • Written by Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageOver the past few decades, hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens have become part of the middle class.AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

China’s large and impressive accomplishments over the past four decades have spurred scholars and politicians to debate whether the decline of the West – including the United States – as the world’s...

Read more: If China's middle class continues to thrive and grow, what will it mean for the rest of the world?

Numbers can trip you up during the pandemic – here are 4 tips to help you figure out tricky stats

  • Written by Ellen Peters, Director, Center for Science Communication Research, University of Oregon
imageUnderstanding vaccine effectiveness stats can help you weigh the risks of travel.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust many news consumers into a world of statistics and deep uncertainty. An endless swirl of numbers – case counts, infection rates, vaccine efficacy – can leave you feeling stressed, anxious and powerless if...

Read more: Numbers can trip you up during the pandemic – here are 4 tips to help you figure out tricky stats

More Articles ...

  1. Arbor Day should be about growing trees, not just planting them
  2. FBI reaches out to Hasidic Jews to fight antisemitism – but bureau has fraught history with Judaism
  3. FTC warns the AI industry: Don't discriminate, or else
  4. Census results shift political power in Congress, presidential elections
  5. Trans youth are coming out and living in their gender much earlier than older generations
  6. QAnon hasn't gone away – it's alive and kicking in states across the country
  7. The FBI is breaking into corporate computers to remove malicious code – smart cyber defense or government overreach?
  8. How do people make paper out of trees, and why not use something else?
  9. How lifting children out of poverty today will help them tomorrow
  10. How Biden's request for more education funding would shift more power to the federal government
  11. US landmarks bearing racist and Colonial references are renamed to reflect Indigenous values
  12. Restart of the Johnson Johnson COVID-19 vaccine: A doctor explains why benefits far outweigh risks
  13. Warp drives: Physicists give chances of faster-than-light space travel a boost
  14. This supermoon has a twist – expect flooding, but a lunar cycle is masking effects of sea level rise
  15. How Richard Nixon's obsession with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers sowed the seeds for the president's downfall
  16. Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?
  17. GPS tracking could help tigers and traffic coexist in Asia
  18. For Vladimir Putin and other autocrats, ruthlessly repressing the opposition is often a winning way to stay in power
  19. ¿Aumento o pérdida de peso no deseado durante la pandemia? El estrés podría tener la culpa
  20. Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health
  21. New US climate pledge: Cut emissions 50% this decade, but can Biden make it happen?
  22. The other George Floyd story: How media freedom led to conviction in his killer's trial
  23. Why corporate America appears to be drifting away from the Republican Party
  24. Money alone can't fix Central America – or stop migration to US
  25. Best schools often out of reach for disadvantaged students in choice programs
  26. You don't have a male or female brain – the more brains scientists study, the weaker the evidence for sex differences
  27. Lab–grown embryos and human–monkey hybrids: Medical marvels or ethical missteps?
  28. What Homer's 'Odyssey' can teach us about reentering the world after a year of isolation
  29. Shakespeare's musings on religion are like curious whispers – they require deep listening to be heard
  30. Do you really need to drink 8 glasses of water a day? An exercise scientist explains why your kidneys say 'no'
  31. Chauvin conviction: 2 things to know about jury bias and 2 ways to reduce it
  32. Environmental DNA – how a tool used to detect endangered wildlife ended up helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic
  33. Vaccine mandates aren't the only – or easiest – way for employers to compel workers to get their shots
  34. Yes, online communities pose risks for young people, but they are also important sources of support
  35. Why our dislikes should be celebrated as much as our likes
  36. Famine in the Bible is more than a curse: It is a signal of change and a chance for a new beginning
  37. Misinformation, disinformation and hoaxes: What’s the difference?
  38. Why this trial was different: Experts react to guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin
  39. How parents can support a child who comes out as trans – by conquering their own fears, following their child's lead and tolerating ambiguity
  40. The ups and downs of European soccer are part of its culture – moving to a US-style 'closed' Super League would destroy that
  41. Hydrogen is one future fuel oil execs and environmentalists could both support as rival countries search for climate solutions
  42. The US electric power sector is halfway to zero carbon emissions
  43. Domestic violence calls for help increased during the pandemic – but the answers haven't gotten any easier
  44. No visits and barely any calls – pandemic makes separation even scarier for people with a family member in prison
  45. Student loan debt is costing recent grads much more than just money
  46. Why it's good for kids to have friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds
  47. There are plenty of moral reasons to be vaccinated – but that doesn’t mean it’s your ethical duty
  48. An advantage of the government's new payments for families: Not humiliating poor people
  49. What's next for Cuba and the United States after Raul Castro's retirement
  50. From haute cuisine to hot dogs: How dining out has evolved over 200 years – and is innovating further in the pandemic