Ice cores in freezers, dinosaurs on display, fish in jars, birds in boxes, human remains and ancient artifacts from long gone civilizations that few people ever see – museum collections are filled with all this and more. These collections are treasure troves that recount the planet’s natural and human history, and they help scientists in […] … learn more→

Shortly after taking office, US President Donald Trump issued executive orders banning federal funding on so-called “woke” research. This is part of his broader ban on all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, grants and programs in the US government. These orders are massive in scope, impacting studies as varied as stroke recovery, computing and ancient languages. The impact […] … learn more→

Some people have an innate predisposition to balance and symmetry, who keep their belongings neat and tidy. However, order, rather than an innate habit, is acquired through practice or learned from family, partners, or friends. Rejection of disorder Aristotle explained that virtue is found in the golden mean , and this also applies to order. A cluttered house projects […] … learn more→

Across its nearly 250-year history, the United States has never had an official language. On March 1, U.S. President Donald Trump changed that when he signed an executive order designating English as the country’s sole official language. The order marks a fundamental rupture from the American goverment’s long-standing approach to languages. “From the founding of our […] … learn more→

The use of information technology (IT) has significant environmental and social impacts, including human mortality from climate change. One striking example is the carbon emissions and impacts associated with digital communication. To quantify the human cost of carbon-emitting technology, researchers use the 1,000-ton rule that estimates that for every 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, […] … learn more→

When two junior employees bump into each other in the corridor and start chatting about their manager’s overbearing manner, it’s typically considered gossip. But what about when two managers have an off-record catch-up to discuss an under-performing employee? Both scenarios meet traditional definitions of gossip – the information being shared is about other people, the […] … learn more→

The Trump administration on Tuesday slashed staff at the Department of Education – firing roughly 1,300 employees – as part of its long-planned effort to eliminate the agency entirely. The move leaves the department with 2,183 employees, down from more than 4,000 at the beginning of the year. The cuts also follow recent leaks that President Donald Trump was planning […] … learn more→

A widely used principle in economics to understand how people make decisions is that of rationality : people behave in ways that achieve the greatest possible benefit. This benefit, mathematically represented by a utility function , is typically the economic gain we receive from our actions (in the context of those of others). However, the emergence of experimental economics , which […] … learn more→

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the government will deport lawful permanent residents who support Hamas and came to the U.S. as students with an intent “to rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities,” referencing the Palestinian rights protests at universities in 2024. “And if you end up having a green card – not […] … learn more→

Schools have always sought to supervise students and their teachers, with a teaching method long based on authority and discipline. However, pedagogical knowledge, psychological knowledge, public policies as well as social transformations (mass schooling, rise of individual rights, new educational expectations) have largely contributed to transforming educational standards and the way in which we interpret, […] … learn more→