When World Leaders Thought You Shouldn’t Need Passports or Visas
In 1914, France, Germany, and Italy made passports mandatory. The passport conference of 1920 wanted to restore the pre-war freedom of movement regime.
University of California’s Showdown With the Biggest Academic Publisher Aims To Change Scholarly Publishing
The high stakes standoff between Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scholarly research, and the University of California.
Gamers Use Machine Learning To Navigate Complex Video Games – but It’s Not Free
Dota 2 tracks your activity as you play. The aim is to create machine learning systems that can learn and coach you to become a competent player.
Furtive Looks, Nervousness, Hesitation: How Nonverbal Communication Influences the Justice System?
Pauses in answers, body movements, elusive or angry looks, confusion, anxiety — the facial expressions and gestures made by witnesses matter in court.
SPIDER GLUE’S STICKY SECRET REVEALED BY NEW GENETIC RESEARCH
The glue has the potential for many unique applications and is biodegradable, water soluble and stays sticky for months or even years.
What the Toronto Raptors Have Taught Us About Resilience
The Toronto Raptors have won their first NBA title in franchise history, and their star player, Kawhi Leonard, was crowned the most valuable player.
The Trump Administration Wants To Dismantle the Agency Overseeing 2 Million Federal Workers
Trump wants to dismantle the agency overseeing 2 million federal workers – and weaken safeguards against partisanship.
Libra: Four Reasons To Be Extremely Cautious About Facebook’s New Currency
Facebook has unveiled libra, a controversial cryptocurrency that will enable users to make international payments over Messenger and other group platforms.
Music Engagement and Achievement Predicts Higher Grades in Math, Science and English
Music matters for its own sake, but also because music engagement is significantly related to better high school achievement.
U.K. Proposal To ‘Bcc’ Law Enforcement on Messaging Apps Threatens Global Privacy
The proposal’s function is to give law enforcement power to listen in on encrypted apps communications (like those on WhatsApp, for example).
Rewilding: As Farmland and Villages Are Abandoned, Forests, Wolves and Bears Are Returning to Europe
Large parts of Europe have been passively rewilding for decades as people have moved out of rural areas toward urban conglomerations.
Counterfeit Alcohol, Sometimes Containing Jet Fuel or Embalming Fluid, Is a Growing Concern for Tourists Abroad
Counterfeit alcohol brings a new level of risk, as it may include added ingredients, such as methanol, known to be extremely harmful to health.
The Future of Personal Satellite Technology Is Here – Are We Ready for It?
How can we be sure that hobbyists aren’t launching their own “spy” satellite, or deploying low-cost CubeSat networks that could be used nefariously?
Sylvia Plath’s New Short Story Was Never Lost – So Why Is the Media Saying It Was Just Discovered?
“Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom” has been preserved – and has been accessible to the public – at Indiana University’s Lilly Library.
Five Options for Brexit Trade Explained
Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, a no-deal Brexit, staying in the customs union, staying in the single market, and the so-called Common Market 2.0 idea.
China’s Sponge Cities Aim to Re-Use 70% of Rainwater – Here’s How
China’s sponge city initiative has an ambitious goal: by 2020, 80% of urban areas should absorb and re-use at least 70% of rainwater.
Why the U.S. Rejects International Criminal Justice: Looking Back at Nuremberg
Faced with U.S. rejection of international criminal justice, supporters of the ICC usually invoke the precedent of the Nuremberg Trials.
Austerity Has Pushed the UK’s Poorest Households Further Into Debt – Here’s How
Debt is a growing problem for people on low incomes and it has been made worse by the austerity policies that followed the 2007-08 financial crisis.
Backgrounder: What We Know About Indonesia’s 1965 Anti-Communist Purge
In less than 48 hours, Suharto had roundly defeated the 30th September Movement. At about the same time, the abductees’ bodies were found in an old well in an area known as Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole) in east Jakarta.
Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and the Thorny Issue of Robot Rights
McEwan questions what it means to be human – if these machines are just like me, does that mean they have rights, like me?
From Miniature Satellites To Giant Sun Shields – the Extreme Technology Transforming Space Engineering
While Apollo was an example of engineering on a heroic scale, future space ventures can deliver lasting societal benefits beyond flags and footprints.
Neoliberalism Has Tricked Us Into Believing a Fairytale About Where Money Comes From
There is nothing natural about money. There is no link to some scarce essential form of money that sets a limit to its creation.
I Build Mathematical Programs That Could Discover the Drugs of the Future
Discovering a new drug is one of the most challenging tasks in biology. It takes over 10 years and about US$2.6 billion to bring an average drug to market.
The Guts of an Apple iPhone Show Exactly What Trump Gets Wrong About Trade
A better way of thinking about the U.S.-China trade deficit associated with one iPhone would be to only count the value added in China, $8.50, rather than the $240 that shows up as a Chinese import to the U.S.
U.S. Poverty Statistics Ignore Millions of Struggling Americans
16 million Americans are struggling, yet they do not show up on poverty line monitoring radar screens and may not be eligible for assistance programs.