A striking and extremely rare half female, half male bird has been spotted by a University of Otago zoologist. Sesquicentennial Distinguished Professor Hamish Spencer was holidaying in Colombia when an amateur ornithologist John Murillo pointed out a wild Green Honeycreeper with distinct half green, or female, and half blue, male, plumage. “Many birdwatchers could go...
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New Tool Helps Gauge Trust in Government
People are less likely to adopt new health policies if they don’t have faith in their government, and a new tool from University of Waterloo researchers aims to fix that. The tool – designed by a team based in Waterloo’s School of Public Health Sciences – aids lawmakers in how trustworthy they may appear to the public...
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Nourishing Communities: Neighborhood Restaurants as Social Infrastructure
Studies on sustainability inevitably touch on food-related topics like food security, culinary heritage, and the sustenance of vulnerable people. Social sustainability is one of the three pillars of sustainability, alongside environmental and economic sustainability, and has become a pivotal topic in various research fields. It includes concerns about social justice, resource distribution and recognition, and...
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Inequity in U.S. Wildfire Emergency Response
Recent U.S. wildfire events — including the 2023 Maui wildfire in Hawaii, the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire in New Mexico, and the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado — are tragic examples of how disadvantaged communities can suffer most during and after a wildfire. While all three fires had a devastating impact on an...
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Assessing Loan Applicants’ Credit Risk Via Smartphone Activities Helps Improve Financial Inclusion and Business Profitability
Financial technology (FinTech)—innovation in the delivery of financial services and products—has grown in popularity, expanding access to finance for millions of people. But while promoting inclusive finance to accelerate economic growth and financial sustainability is considered a good idea, there are challenges to balancing the socioeconomic tradeoffs. In a new study, researchers sought to determine...
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Study Highlights Benefits of User-Generated Content to Digital Platform
Many online platforms (e.g., Huffpost, Wikipedia) host user-generated content (UGC) and content developed by professional reporters. In a new study, researchers examined data from more than 120 local news outlets hosted by a large online news platform in Austria to determine how UGC by citizen journalists affected the amount and type of content produced by professional...
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AI Networks Are More Vulnerable to Malicious Attacks Than Previously Thought
Artificial intelligence tools hold promise for applications ranging from autonomous vehicles to the interpretation of medical images. However, a new study finds these AI tools are more vulnerable than previously thought to targeted attacks that effectively force AI systems to make bad decisions. At issue are so-called “adversarial attacks,” in which someone manipulates the data...
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Consistency Key to Corporate Expressions of Racial Solidarity
Why do some corporate expressions of solidarity with marginalized groups register as genuine, while others seem performative or even backfire? An analysis of statements by Fortune 500 companies following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd finds that costly actions, such as donating money to social justice groups, aren’t enough to convey allyship to Black...
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Powerful Financial Giants Could Play Vital Role in Preventing the Next Pandemic
Many emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, especially zoonotic diseases such as ebola or new coronaviruses, emerge as the result of intensified human activities such as deforestation, expansion of agricultural land, and increased hunting and trading of wildlife. In a new study, published in the scientific journal Lancet Planetary Health, researchers identified public and private companies operating...
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Florida’s Mega-Rich Influx Keeps Spirits High for Art Basel’s Mighty Miami Fair
Art Basel Miami Beach shrugs off the digital downturn, its main rival’s US expansion and culture war worries Exhibitor numbers may be down 2% on last year, but the forthcoming edition of Art Basel Miami Beach still tallies a whopping 277 galleries and will feature works by more than 4,000 artists. Those numbers are easily...
