Six days after a prone and restrained George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien dismissed charges that racism is rampant among police by arguing that “a few bad apples” are giving police “a terrible name.” But O’Brien’s widely expressed view made little sense to sociologist Jomills...
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Employment Insecurity Linked to Anxiety and Depression Among Young Adults During COVID-19
Young adults may be less susceptible to the serious adverse health effects of COVID-19, but they have not been absolved from economic and employment downturns — and there has been little research on how employment insecurity has affected them. New research now shows a strong association between employment insecurity and common symptoms of anxiety and...
So-Called ‘Latino Vote’ Is 32 Million Americans with Diverse Political Opinions and National Origins
Pundits are expressing surprise that so many Latinos voted for Donald Trump. But pollsters who specialize in the Latino vote knew for months before the election that Latino support for Biden was soft, with many Latinos – especially in Florida – undecided. In Florida 57% of Latinos ultimately supported Biden, compared to roughly 70% nationwide....
Analysis of Trump’s Tweets Reveals Systematic Diversion of the Media
President Donald Trump’s controversial use of social media is widely known and theories abound about its ulterior motives. New research published today in Nature Communications claims to provide the first evidence-based analysis demonstrating the U.S. President’s Twitter account has been routinely deployed to divert attention away from a topic potentially harmful to his reputation, in turn...
Attending an HBCU May Protect Black Students from Later Health Problems
African Americans who attend Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) may be at lower risk for health problems later in adulthood compared to African Americans who attend predominantly white institutions, a new study suggests. The research showed that Black adults who had enrolled in an HBCUs had a 35% lower probability of developing metabolic syndrome...
Global Analysis of Forest Management Shows Local Communities Often Lose Out
Maintaining forest cover is an important natural climate solution, but new research shows that too often, communities lose out when local forest management is formalised. The new study published in Nature Sustainability, led by Dr. Johan Oldepkop at The University of Manchester and Reem Hajjar at Oregon State University, is based on 643 case studies...
Don’t Be Fooled by Pretty Food, Research Warns
As the holiday season nears, thoughts of pumpkin pies, roasted chestnuts and turkey dinners fill our dreams and our grocery shopping lists. While visions of holiday food may be pleasing to the eyes and tantalizing to the palate, it would be a mistake to conclude that pretty food is healthier than other food. Yet consumers...
Health Care Use Drops During Pandemic; Switch to Telemedicine Creates Disparities
During the first two months of the pandemic lockdown, Americans dramatically reduced their use of preventive and elective health care, while increasing use of telemedicine — but the switch was not enough to offset reductions in in-person care, according to a new study. The analysis, one of the first to quantify the cuts in elective...
How Does the Brain Process Fear?
When a frightful creature startles you, your brain may activate its fear-processing circuitry, sending your heart racing to help you escape the threat. It’s also the job of the brain’s fear-processing circuits to help you learn from experience to recognize which situations are truly dangerous and to respond appropriately–so if the scare comes from a...









