As meetings shifted online during the COVID-19 lockdown, many people found that chattering roommates, garbage trucks and other loud sounds disrupted important conversations. This experience inspired three University of Washington researchers, who were roommates during the pandemic, to develop better earbuds. To enhance the speaker’s voice and reduce background noise, “ClearBuds” use a novel microphone...
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have identified specific elements of tone and style in online speech that are linked to hyperpartisan echo chambers. The findings are now published in the journal Discourse & Society. Online echo chambers are virtual spaces that gather like-minded individuals. Prior research has shown that people are more likely to believe and...
Malicious agents can use machine learning to launch powerful attacks that steal information in ways that are tough to prevent and often even more difficult to study. Attackers can capture data that “leaks” between software programs running on the same computer. They then use machine-learning algorithms to decode those signals, which enables them to obtain...
Have a look at this image. Do you perceive that the central black hole is expanding, as if you’re moving into a dark environment, or falling into a hole? If so, you’re not alone: a new study shows that this ‘expanding hole’ illusion, which is new to science, is perceived by approximately 86% of people. Dr....
Today is International Celiac Day; close to one percent of the global population suffers from celiac disease, a complex auto-immune disorder caused by the ingestion of gluten, for which there is no treatment besides eliminating gluten from the diet. As such, the detection of gluten before the product reaches the consumer is essential, in order...
Latinos view the support of friends, neighbors and other community members as so vital to their well-being in later life that they redefine these relationships as family, researchers say in a new study that explored older Latinos’ perspectives on positive aging. This redefinition of social relationships in old age, called “convivir,” which means to coexist,...
Plant-foliage-derived gases drive a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon over the Amazon rainforest, according to a recent study by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The findings have important applications for atmospheric science and for climate change modeling. “The tropical Amazon rainforest constitutes the lungs of the Earth, and this study connects natural processes in the forest to...
Whether someone is trying to predict tomorrow’s weather, forecast future stock prices, identify missed opportunities for sales in retail, or estimate a patient’s risk of developing a disease, they will likely need to interpret time-series data, which are a collection of observations recorded over time. Making predictions using time-series data typically requires several data-processing steps...
At the end of the Academy Award-nominated film “Don’t Look Up,” with a meteor hurtling toward Earth, the movie’s three scientist-protagonists gather with family and friends for a last supper around a dinner table in central Michigan. Having exhausted their efforts at action, they eat the food they’ve prepared and purchased, give thanks and pray...
If you’re reaching for the last piece of pizza at a party and see another hand going for it at the same time, your next move probably depends both on how you feel and whom the hand belongs to. Your little sister—you might go ahead and grab the pizza. Your boss—you’re probably more likely to...
