By Rayid Ghani, Distinguished Career Professor of Machine Learning and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
Every year, millions of people who qualify for food assistance never get it. The money exists and they meet the eligibility rules, but they don’t know that the program exists, or if they qualify. For others, the application is too long and complicated.
Public interest technology can fill these gaps between what a policy promises and what a person experiences.
Public interest technology is a combination of technology, data, design, policy, social science, ethics and law brought together to improve people’s lives…
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By Fernanda Cruz Rios, Assistant Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University
A ‘green’ building has to last for its intentionally small carbon footprint to pay off. That includes surviving flood, storm or wildfire damage.
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By Michael Helbing, Adjunct Professor of Law, Penn State
The Environmental Rights Amendment of the PA Constitution guarantees the right to clean air, pure water and to the preservation of the aesthetic values of the environment.
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By Martin Carcasson, Director, Center for Public Deliberation, Colorado State University
Research shows that humans are susceptible to simple stories and biased toward arguments that fit their current perspectives. Here’s how to confront those tendencies.
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By Ellen P. Aprill, Senior Scholar in Residence at the Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Law, University of California, Los Angeles
The fate of President Donald Trump’s estimated US$400 million White House ballroom may hinge on the little-known and somewhat surprising rules as to when the federal government and its agencies can accept privately donated funds.
That’s because Trump’s using the fact that he’s been accepting private donations to
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By Jack Campbell, PhD Candidate, Accounting and Accountability, Dublin City University
When asked to think about accounting, most people imagine numbers, calculators, spreadsheets and offices populated by smart-suited bean counters hunched over reports. You most certainly think about money.
But by breaking away from this image and reclaiming the term “accountant” to speak to a wider number of everyday activities, we can understand the vital, often positive role accounting plays in our lives.
Accounting is one of the oldest forms of communication in human history, perhaps even pre-dating…
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By Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy, Lancaster University
The myth that when women live together their menstrual cycles become synchronised has long persisted – despite research showing there’s no evidence that this so-called McClintock effect exists. Any overlap that does happen is probably just down to chance.
However, just because this isn’t true doesn’t mean our bodies don’t sync with those around us in other ways. In fact, more and more scientific evidence of this happening is being discovered.
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By Elaine Craig, Lecturer specialising in Violence, Abuse and Mental Health, Manchester Metropolitan University
A mother discovered her son was restrained 33 times in six weeks. Another was told her distressed daughter is “aggressive” as six staff pin her to the floor and inject her with medication. Through tears, families describe images they cannot forget: bruises, broken bones, loved ones left sitting in urine-soaked clothes, isolated and afraid.
These are recent experiences shared by family carers supporting relatives with learning disabilities, autism and mental health conditions in mental health hospitals.…
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By Johanna Gibson, Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary University of London
The Pantone colour of the year for 2026 is white. It’s called Cloud Dancer, which is described as a “lofty white”. This choice reflects a growing trend away from colour in our visual world.
You might have noticed this yourself. Where an area once had a distinct sense of place we are seeing more cookie cutter developments popping up. Take the London borough…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Yakov Vorontsov. © Petr Trotsenko (RFE/RL) The case of Vladimir (Yakov) Vorontsov, a Russian Orthodox priest from Kazakhstan who was defrocked in 2024 over apparent retaliation for independent religious activity and public criticism of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is scheduled to go to trial on September 11. But dubious charges and lack of adequate medical care in detention raise serious concerns.Vorontsov, 40, was arrested in February 2026. He is facing a seven-year prison sentence on charges of illegal drug storage and maintaining premises for drug use,…
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