Getting readers of a news story interested in numbers can be a challenge. But the benefits of engaging readers in data can lead to a better understanding, preventing misinformation and misrepresentation in the news. New research by Haiyan Jia, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication and the Data X Initiative at Lehigh University,...
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How Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Became Halloween’s Theme Song
In Bach’s era, the pipe organ was one of the world’s most technologically advanced instruments. Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images Imagine a grand house on a hill, after dark on an autumn night. As the door opens, an organ pierces through the thick silence and echoes through the cavernous halls. The tune that comes to...
Cold War Spy Satellite Imagery Reveals Ancient Roman Forts
Two-thousand years ago, forts were constructed by the Roman Empire across the northern Fertile Crescent, spanning from what is now western Syria to northwestern Iraq. In the 1920s, 116 forts were documented in the region by Father Antoine Poidebard, who conducted one of the world’s first aerial surveys using a WWI-era biplane. Poidebard reported that...
Africa’s Fashion Industry Is Growing to Meet Global Demands but Needs More Investment, UNESCO Says
Africa’s fashion industry is growing rapidly to meet local and international demand but inadequate investment limits its potential, UNESCO said Thursday in a report released during Lagos Fashion Week. Currently valued at $15.5 billion worth of exports annually, the earnings from the continent’s fashion industry could triple over a decade with the right investment and...
Nostalgia Fuels Hype for Adult Barbie Costumes, Fashion Design Expert Says
This Halloween is expected to look a lot like Barbie’s Dreamland. The widely successful summer film’s stars Barbie and Ken have found their way onto the top Halloween costume lists for this year. In fact, social media has even dubbed the holiday #Barbieween. Pop culture has long inspired fashion, including Halloween costumes, said Dina Smith-Glaviana, a...
How ‘La Catrina’ Became the Iconic Symbol of Day of the Dead
On April 13, 1944, thousands of people clashed with police on the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago. The melee was unrelated to U.S. participation in World War II, labor unrest or President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s controversial move to seize control of local Chicago industries. Rather, a massive, impatient art crowd overwhelmed the museum’s...
Rage Against the Machine?
Knowing How Technology and Artificial Intelligence Have—and Have Not—Affected Jobs in Recent Decades Offers Insight into How They Could Affect the Future of Work No matter how helpful it is, technology has always generated some worker anxiety. Tailors rioted against quick-stitching sewing machines in their day, and, centuries later, the invention of mechanical switching likely bred a...
Caution: Content Warnings Do Not Reduce Stress, Study Shows
Advocates for the use of trigger warnings suggest that they can help people avoid or emotionally prepare for encountering content related to a past trauma. But trigger warnings may not fulfill either of these functions, according to an analysis published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Instead, warnings appear to heighten the anticipatory...
Is Less More? Or Is Less Sometimes Less? Examining the Consumer Trend Toward Minimalist Packaging in Consumable Products
Researchers from Texas Christian University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of Georgia published a new Journal of Marketing article that examines the consumer trend towards minimalist packaging in consumable products. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Symbolically Simple: How Simple Packaging Design Influences Willingness to Pay for Consumable Products” and is authored by Lan Anh N. Ton, Rosanna...
New Research Highlights the Role of TikTok in Spreading Videos That Encourage Violence Against Women
Researchers focusing on the concerning rise of groups who perpetuate misogyny, sexism and even violence against women have uncovered the use of TikTok by incels to spread their extreme beliefs. Incels are men who are involuntary celibates. Recent violent incidents linked to incels (e.g., the 2021 Plymouth shooting, the 2020 Toronto machete attack, the 2018...