In a period defined by an impeachment inquiry, a pandemic, nationwide protests over racial injustice, and a contentious presidential campaign, Americans’ knowledge of their First Amendment rights and their ability to name all three branches of the federal government have… Read More ›

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Well-intentioned “citizen scientists” developing homemade COVID-19 vaccines may believe they’re inoculating themselves against the ongoing pandemic, but the practice of self-experimentation with do-it-yourself medical innovations is fraught with important legal, ethical and public health issues, according to… Read More ›

An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially, or by microbes… Read More ›

WASHINGTON — Individuals who can unconsciously predict complex patterns, an ability called implicit pattern learning, are likely to hold stronger beliefs that there is a god who creates patterns of events in the universe, according to neuroscientists at Georgetown University…. Read More ›

 E-MAIL A recent analysis published in Campbell Systematic Reviews indicates that body cameras worn by police do not have clear or consistent effects on officers’ use of force, arrests, or other activities. Nor do they have significant effects on citizens’ calls to… Read More ›

Every four years, US presidential campaigns collectively spend billions of dollars flooding TV screens across the country with political ads. But a new study co-authored by Yale political scientist Alexander Coppock shows that, regardless of content, context, or audience, those… Read More ›

The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated three main pathologies of American voting rights. The pandemic has revealed the lack of systematic and uniform protection of voting rights in the United States. Source: COVID-19 and the threat to American voting rights

Low socioeconomic families – and particularly women – experienced increased financial hardship, food insecurity, domestic violence and mental health challenges during COVID-19 lockdown measures in Bangladesh, a new research study shows. In the first study of its kind, Australian and… Read More ›

The practicality of quantum computing hangs on the integrity of the quantum bit, or qubit. Qubits, the logic elements of quantum computers, are coherent two-level systems that represent quantum information. Each qubit has the strange ability to be in a… Read More ›

Roughly one billion cars and trucks zoom about the world’s roadways. Only a few run on hydrogen. This could change after a breakthrough achieved by researchers at the University of Copenhagen. The breakthrough? A new catalyst that can be used… Read More ›

Research by Kansas State University shows how politicians from both major parties have changed their political speech from previous centuries. Source: Analysis shows that political speeches now use simpler language, express more sentiments

A new study shows that individuals who react negatively to rules and recommendations and have lower trust in doctors more often use complementary and alternative medicine, that is, treatments or substances that are not included in the care offered or… Read More ›

War atrocities are sometimes committed by ‘normal’ people obeying orders. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience measured brain activity while participants inflicted pain and found that obeying orders reduced empathy and guilt related brain activity for the inflicted pain…. Read More ›

Your smartphone can tell when you’ve had too much to drink by detecting changes in the way you walk, according to a new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Source: Smartphones can tell when you’re… Read More ›

Two algorithms that account for distinctive use of repeated words and word pairs require as few as 50 tweets to accurately distinguish deceptive ”troll” messages from those posted by public figures. Sergei Monakhov of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany,… Read More ›

Research published in DeGruyter’s International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health suggests TikTok is rich with untapped educational potential. The platform could play a vital role in conveying important health information alongside lip-syncing videos and viral dance challenges, the paper’s… Read More ›

Researchers at the Universities of Bologna and Padua studied the subsurface cavities that lava created underground on Mars and the Moon. These cavities can shield from cosmic radiations Source: Lava tubes on Mars and the Moon are so wide they… Read More ›

A new study shows the surprising way that many American taxpayers adjust their standard of living when they owe money to the IRS versus when they receive tax refunds. Researchers found that when households received tax refunds, they immediately started… Read More ›

A new study shows other stars could have as many as seven Earth-like planets in the absence of a gas giant like Jupiter. Source: Surprising number of exoplanets could host life

According to recent Gallup polls, socialism is now more popular than capitalism among Democrats and young people, and support for ”some form of socialism” among all Americans is at 43% (compared to 25% in 1942). Policies that went unmentioned or… Read More ›