As lockdown requirements ease, COVID-19 is changing the way we use indoor spaces. That presents challenges for those who manage those spaces, from homes to offices and factories. Not least among these challenges is heating and cooling, which is the largest consumer of energy in American homes and commercial buildings. There’s a need for smarter,...
In a new study, researchers recently discovered that Indonesia’s national anti-poverty program reduced deforestation by about 30%. The study’s findings were published in Science Advances. “Two of the great global challenges of the 21st century are to reduce poverty and slow deforestation. Unfortunately, the solutions to those challenges are often perceived as conflicting with each...
High percentages of Vermonters agree with the social distancing measures put in place by the state in response to the coronavirus pandemic and have complied with them, according to a new survey. But their attitudes and actions, while protecting their health, have come at a significant economic cost, especially for low income Vermonters, one of...
A new book tells the story of a man jailed for impersonating a priest in 1693 Spain when he was likely trying to escape racial persecution. It gives readers a fascinating look at a centuries-old legal case against a man on pilgrimage and shows how Iberians of black-African ancestry faced discrimination and mistreatment. The book,...
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Dolph Briscoe, PhD, a history scholar and lecturer at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, discusses how the current protests and clashes between demonstrators and police compare with those of past decades. Briscoe, whose teaching and research interests include the civil rights movement and African-American studies, says the present unrest and demands for equality can be better...
First impressions can have long-term effects on people’s perceptions and behavior. A new study looked at the influence among finance professionals of first impression bias of firms’ performance, which spurs people to place undue weight on early experiences. The study found that equity analysts placed greater emphasis on early impressions than later ones, that negative...
Experts have documented that political polarization is intensifying in the United States. However, a Penn State sociologist now suggests that this separation isn’t just more intense, but it is also growing broader, coagulating into an ideological slick of opinions. In the study of data from a national opinion survey, Daniel DellaPosta, assistant professor of sociology...
Many Christian and political conservatives in the U.S. support legislation to deny sexual and gender minorities the rights most Americans enjoy: unfettered access to jobs, housing, services and public facilities; the opportunity to marry as they choose; and the right to adopt a child. A new study published in the American Journal of Community Psychology offers insight...
Consumers who use the Internet to learn about products are increasingly looking at online reviews to make purchasing decisions. The growing interest in online product reviews for legitimate promotion has been accompanied by a rise in fraudulent reviews; these are reviews placed by firms that artificially inflate ratings of their own products, or reviews by...
For black Americans – particularly men – growing up in better neighborhoods doesn’t diminish the likelihood of going to prison nearly as much as it does for whites or Latinos, new Cornell research shows. “If you’re a black male in America, it doesn’t matter much if you come from a good neighborhood or a bad...
