“Napoleon,” the new film from Ridley Scott and starring Joaquin Phoenix, is coming out in theatres, but will it get the facts straight? Howard Brown, expert on the French Revolution and professor of history at Binghamton University, State University of New York, believes that the film will likely omit certain facts about the famous leader. Here are...
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Digital Payment Platforms Can Easily Be Misused for Drug Dealing
Digital payment platforms such as Venmo work great for sharing a dinner bill with friends, buying gifts at a pop-up shop or making payments without cash or credit cards. But these digital payment platforms have a dark side: They can be misused for drug dealing and other illicit activity, suggest researchers from the University of...
Long in the Bluetooth: Sussex Scientists Develop a More Efficient Way to Transmit Data Between Our Devices
University of Sussex researchers have developed a more energy-efficient alternative to transmit data that could potentially replace Bluetooth in mobile phones and other tech devices. With more and more of us owning smart phones and wearable tech, researchers at the University of Sussex have found a more efficient way of connecting our devices and improving battery...
Precious Water: As More of the World Thirsts, Luxury Water Becoming Fashionable Among the Elite
Monsoon rains have finally passed and floods blocking the lone dirt road have retreated enough for a small truck to climb these Himalayan foothills to a gurgling spring. It spews water so fresh that people here call it nectar. Workers inside a small plant ferry sleek glass bottles along a conveyer. The bottles, filled with...
How Do We Stop Relying on 911 to Handle Mental Health Crises?
911 is the most well-known phone number in the country. When 911 launched in 1968, its original intent was to alert responders to emergency situations such as fire, crime, and accidents. Today, though, about two-thirds of calls to 911 are for nonemergency situations like power outages or general requests for information: What time is it? What day is recycling...
Why the Oct. 7 Attack Wasn’t Israel’s 9/11
Ever since October 7th, commentators, scholars, politicians, and Israeli officials alike have referred to the terrorist attack as a hyper-charged version of “Israel’s 9/11.” On its face, such a comparison makes sense. In both cases, the terrorist groups gained strategic surprise, an intelligence failure magnified though in Israel’s case by the fact that it has been locked in a...
Human Rights Issues in Russia May Offer U.S. Leverage
he 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reminds us of how much human rights diplomacy has reshaped and enriched international relations. Inspired by this, Washington might pursue more proactive human rights diplomacy with Moscow. The United States could shine a harsher light on human rights abuses in Russia, as it has done on Russian...
What a Biannual Gathering of 1967 Impalas Reveals About the Blurry Line Between Fandom and Religion
Among the many spooky events happening over Halloween weekend was the biannual “Haunting of Impalas” at Family Business Brewing, a 15-acre brewery in Dripping Springs, Texas, owned by actor and musician Jensen Ackles. Along with Jared Padalecki, Ackles is the star of “Supernatural,” a television series that ran from 2005 to 2020. A weekly science-fiction...
In America, National Parks Are More Than Scenic − They’re Sacred. but They Were Created at a Cost to Native Americans
Abraham Lincoln has an almost saintly place in U.S. history: the “Great Emancipator” whose leadership during the Civil War preserved the Union and abolished slavery. Often overlooked among his achievements is legislation he signed June 30, 1864, during the thick of the war – but only marginally related to the conflict. The Yosemite Valley Grant...
Li Yuan-Chia’s Expansive Worlds
A major exhibition at Kettle’s Yard highlights the legacy of a Chinese-born artist whose distinctive artistic journey left an indelible mark on art in postwar Britain ‘The fact that Li Yuan-chia has been missed by the art establishments of so many countries suggests that they have no instruments fine enough to detect a journey such as his,’...