By Shannon Roberts, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, UMass Amherst
Driverless trucks with artificial intelligence on board could dramatically change the landscape of freight shipping. A few companies have begun testing early models on some limited routes in Texas and California. Simulations of automated fleets show the potential benefits of the technology: The vehicles could improve safety, enhance fuel economy and lessen transit…
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By Charlotte Pennington, Lecturer in Psychology, Aston University
Daniel Shaw, Lecturer in Psychology, Aston University
Evelyn Murray, PhD Candidate in Cyberpsychology, Aston University
Amid growing concerns about teenagers’ mental health and wellbeing, governments around the world are considering or enacting new restrictions on young people’s access to social media.
Australia has already legislated a ban on social media for under-16s, and the UK government has announced plans to introduce similar restrictions from spring 2027.
Yet a fundamental question remains largely unanswered: what exactly are governments trying to regulate through these bans?
Policymakers…
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By Kristen Skruber, Assistant Professor of Biology, Gonzaga University
Organisms are products of the environments they live and evolve in. While the physical world is governed by universal laws like thermodynamics and gravity, there are few laws of biology. An open question for biologists like me is how environmental conditions shape what organisms look like and dictate how they live, breathe and move.
Organisms can adapt to survive in a wide variety of conditions, from salty water to extreme heat or cold and changing climates. Most eukaryotic…
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By Justin Gest, Professor of Policy and Government, George Mason University; Institute for Humane Studies
A quiet US-Mexico border, and the reduced urgency of undocumented immigration, has deprived Republicans of an issue that previously energized voters and offered conservatives an advantage.
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By Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State University
Natalie Pennington, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Colorado State University
Nick Marx, Professor of Film and Media Studies, Colorado State University
Younger Americans’ pop culture favorites have multipartisan appeal, but male creators dominate the list of top influencers, podcasters and comedians.
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By Vincent Charles, Professor of AI for Business and Management Science, Queen's University Belfast
Tatiana Gherman, Associate Professor of AI for Business and Strategy, University of Northampton
The UK government wants to grow the country’s native AI industry to reduce its dependence on systems made by foreign companies.
In the Budget on October 28, Chancellor John Healey announced more money – £60 million – for the national Sovereign AI Fund to support promising UK AI companies.
The…
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By Asma Uddin, Assistant Professor of Law, Michigan State University; Institute for Humane Studies
At a campaign rally, in Port Huron, Michigan, on Oct. 25, 2026, President Donald Trump accused U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of being a “jihadist” who wants to impose Sharia law – Islamic law – in the United States. His comments reflect a broader pattern among Republican politicians of portraying Sharia as a threat to the American legal system.
In March 2026, Texas legislators launched the Sharia Free Texas Caucus, a group dedicated to…
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By Daniel O'Brien, Lecturer, Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex
Fantasy accounts for only about 28 minutes of Pan’s Labyrinth’s 119-minute running time, yet these supernatural scenes are what many viewers remember most about Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film. A rewatch 20 years on makes it easy to see why.
Despite everything del Toro has achieved since, including his Oscar success for The Shape of Water (2017),
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By Keith McDonald, Senior Lecturer Film Studies and Media, York St John University
This autumn marks the 20th anniversary of Pan’s Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro’s elaborate and deeply sorrowful film about a young girl caught between two dangerous worlds in rural Spain in 1944.
The film tells the story of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who finds herself shifting between the “real” above-ground world half a decade after the end of the Spanish civil war, and an underground “fantasy” realm where ancient forces recognise her as a lost princess.
It is a perennially relevant tale…
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By Hannah Cloke, Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science, University of Reading
Storm Austen and Storm Boelo swept across the UK in quick succession. Rain lashed windows, river levels rose and the clocks went back. It feels like winter has arrived all at once.
Yet most of England and Wales are still in drought. Parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Sussex are in severe…
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