Dr. R. E. Search, PhD Professor and Specialist in Academic Wellbeing & Sustainable Scholarship The Institute for Sensible Research Practices Date: December 2024 To Whom It May Concern: This is to certify that I have examined the patient group known collectively as “Researchers and Doctoral Candidates” and have diagnosed the following acute conditions requiring immediate intervention: […] … learn more→

Reducing the visibility of polarizing content in social media news feeds can tangibly decrease partisan hostility. To reach this conclusion, my colleagues and I developed a method for modifying the ranking of posts in news feeds , an operation previously limited to social media platforms. The readjustment of feeds to limit exposure to posts expressing anti-democratic attitudes […] … learn more→

For many years, this postcard was taped to my office door: It’s funny because it’s true. The machines really do talk about us behind our backs. Machines talking to machines helped me pay for the delicious cardamom buns I bought from the new branch of Under bakery this morning: OK, technically I was watching while the machine […] … learn more→

A fake photo of an explosion near the Pentagon once rattled the stock market. A tearful video of a frightened young “Ukrainian conscript” went viral: until exposed as staged. We may be approaching a “synthetic media tipping point”, where AI-generated images and videos are becoming so realistic that traditional markers of authenticity, such as visual flaws, are rapidly disappearing. In […] … learn more→

In the past decade, AI’s success has led to uncurbed enthusiasm and bold claims – even though users frequently experience errors that AI makes. An AI-powered digital assistant can misunderstand someone’s speech in embarrassing ways, a chatbot could hallucinate facts, or, as I experienced, an AI-based navigation tool might even guide drivers through a corn field – all without […] … learn more→

Truck driving has long been romanticized in American culture, from the iconic imagery of 18-wheelers crossing endless highways to the legend of independent spirits behind the wheel. But beyond the mythology lies a genuine opportunity for career independence that continues to attract thousands of workers each year. For those seeking autonomy, flexibility, and the chance […] … learn more→

At the end of October 2025, a new adaptation of a literary work was released in theaters: “The Stranger,” by Albert Camus, revisited by François Ozon. This cinematic event reminded us, once again, that fictional characters can have a life that escapes their creator, to the point that we sometimes want to believe they are […] … learn more→

Earlier this year, I realised that there was no Wikipedia page for ‘research culture’. I was surprised by the omission, but I probably shouldn’t have been. English Wikipedia’s coverage is huge, but it isn’t perfect. So, I set out to write a page that would provide some bare bones for people to build on. On […] … learn more→

The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies have heightened stress among the country’s approximately 14 million immigrants who are living in the U.S. without legal authorization. The sharp rise in dramatic arrests and deportations of immigrants over the past year has received widespread media attention. A less publicized issue is that many young, undocumented immigrants are also finding it harder to apply to and stay in college. As someone who researches […] … learn more→

The digital revolution has become a vast, unplanned experiment – and children are its most exposed participants. As ADHD diagnoses rise around the world, a key question has emerged: could the growing use of digital devices be playing a role? To explore this, we studied more than 8,000 children, from when they were around ten until they […] … learn more→