Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have identified specific elements of tone and style in online speech that are linked to hyperpartisan echo chambers. The findings are now published in the journal Discourse & Society. Online echo chambers are virtual spaces that gather like-minded individuals. Prior research has shown that people are more likely to believe and...
The ‘anomie’ concept – that the society is disintegrating and losing moral standards – explains why people with low socio-economic status trust politics less than those with a higher one, concludes a new study published in the scientific journal Social Psychological Bulletin. The study was conducted by two Belgian researchers, Thierry Bornand (ULB and IWEPS) and Olivier Klein (ULB) in...
Mutual fund investors are known to be vulnerable to fluctuating market conditions. What is less well understood is how corporate managers are affected by waves of investor optimism. A Luxembourgish researcher has published a study in the Springer Nature journal Financial Innovation, where he argues that corporate managers and investors are jointly caught up in...
The word “witches” makes many Americans think of women working in league with the devil. But that hasn’t always been the face of sorcery. Most of Catholic and Protestant Europe embraced the idea of magic as a satanic craft practiced by women, and strong, independent women were kept in line through such accusations. In Orthodox...
Journalists need not cover both sides of an argument when one side is advancing what experts widely regard as a con, Illinois Institute of Technology John and Mae Calamos Endowed Chair in Philosophy J. D. Trout argues in his latest publication. “The Epistemic Virtues of a Closed Mind: Effective Science Reporting in the Golden Age of the...
As the climate crisis leads to more intense and more frequent extreme weather and climate-related events, this in turn risks increasing the amount of gender-based violence experienced by women, girls, and sexual and gender minorities, say researchers. In a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, a team led by a researcher at the University of...
About one-tenth of the world’s population suffers from hunger and nearly one in three people face food insecurity, according to recent estimates. Yet behind those stark figures lurks another, closely related threat: water insecurity. In a new 25-country study, researchers report a strong link between water insecurity—a lack of reliable access to sufficient water—and food...
Casey Malish had just pulled into an intersection in the 2nd Ward when a woman with tattoos and pinkish hair unexpectedly hopped into the back seat of his gray Mazda. He handles outreach for the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance, a nonprofit that helps drug users like her stay alive. The woman, Desiree Hess, had arranged...
Several months ago, a lab technologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital mixed the blood components of two people: Alphonso Harried, who needed a kidney, and Pat Holterman-Hommes, who hoped to give him one. The goal was to see whether Harried’s body would instantly see Holterman-Hommes’ organ as a major threat and attack it before surgeons could finish...
Many U.S. schools were in dire need of upgrades — burdened by leaking pipes, mold, and antiquated heating systems — long before the covid-19 pandemic drew attention to the importance of indoor ventilation in reducing the spread of infectious disease. The average U.S. school building is 50 years old, and many schools date back more...
