Holiday gift buying doesn’t need to be stressful. The key, according to a consumer psychology researcher, is remembering your values while you’re shopping, and using that wisdom.
The Conversation
Turn shopping stress into purposeful gift giving by cultivating ‘consumer wisdom’ during the holidays
A psychology team distills the 6 principles of ‘consumer wisdom’: a set of habits that promotes well-being by aligning our values and behaviors.
IBM’s Watson wowed audiences on Jeopardy! but couldn’t deliver advances in cancer treatment. Technology researchers say the problem was with measuring the wrong things – a lesson that applies to all the AI hype today.
The Conversation
New technologies like AI come with big claims – borrowing the scientific concept of validity can help cut through the hype
Scientists across all fields make various types of claims about their innovations. Validity tests check whether they deliver on what they promise.
While AI earbuds promise to eliminate language barriers for tourists, researchers say true language learning offers far more: creative thinking, deeper cultural understanding and access to communities you can't reach through a translator.
The Conversation
What AI earbuds can’t replace: The value of learning another language
AI-fueled technologies make communicating in other languages easier than ever, but it still can’t replace the transformative value of learning a ...
Late-19th-century America was deeply divided, with narrow election victories, constant congressional shifts and minimal unified government. Sound familiar? A historian explains what that era reveals about breaking today's political gridlock:
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What America’s divided and tumultuous politics of the late-19th century can teach us
There are lessons from history for today’s divided America. Political division in the second half of the 19th century produced more problems than...
Imagine walking out of a Walmart, Target or Costco. As you push your large shopping cart to your car, you ask yourself: Did I really need all that stuff? The answer is you probably didn’t. And now an economist has measured the effect.
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The ‘supercenter’ effect: How massive, one-stop retailers fuel overconsumption − and waste
The arrival of a supercenter results in a 7% bump in consumer waste, a study found.
Brazil launched a $125 billion tropical forest protection fund ahead of COP30, combining government money and private investors to counter the economic incentives driving deforestation. But the structure has a critical flaw, according to an environmental law scholar:
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A bold new investment fund aims to channel billions into tropical forest protection – one key change can make it better
The Tropical Forest Forever Facility is designed to reward countries for preventing deforestation. Charts show the magnitude of the problem.
“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life. And someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.” - Pope Leo XIV
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What does ‘pro-life’ mean? There’s no one answer – even for advocacy groups that oppose abortion
The term ‘pro-life’ can seem simple – but how Americans and advocacy groups interpret it varies widely.
“Belief polarization” is driving the shutdown more than political disagreement, according to a philosopher who studies democracy. Like-minded people become more extreme versions of themselves, not because of evidence, but because they want to fit in with their peers.
The Conversation
Blame the shutdown on citizens who prefer politicians to vanquish their opponents rather than to work for the common good
Politicians get blamed for government shutdowns. But does the fault lie also with citizens, who are more invested in punishing partisan rivals than...
Nanoparticles navigating liquid-filled pores behave differently depending on electric field strength. This new technique could transform drug delivery systems and chemical purification technologies, changing guesswork into predictable science.
The Conversation
Electric fields steered nanoparticles through a liquid-filled maze – this new method could improve drug delivery and purification systems
Moving tiny particles through materials quickly can improve the efficiency of a variety of technologies.
Walking speed is a powerful indicator of longevity. Researchers are now using AI and motion sensors to track it and other movement patterns as a way to predict long-term health outcomes and life expectancy.
The Conversation
Turning motion into medicine: How AI, motion capture and wearables can improve your health
Motion data is well known for improving athletic performance and rehab. Thanks to AI, it’s also turning motion into another vital sign for genera...