Editor's note
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The booming U.S. economy is creating some of the best conditions for job seekers since the 1960s. The Department of Labor reported yesterday that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits reached an almost 49-year low, signaling that the jobless rate is likely to continue to drop from its current level of 3.9 percent. Is a zero percent unemployment rate possible? Jay Zagorsky, who practices the “dismal science” of economics at Boston University, explains what the unemployment rate actually measures.
Flexible – even foldable – electronics are the next frontier of mobile devices and “internet of things” sensors. Battery researcher Seokheun Choi from Binghamton University explains how his work will help power those gadgets.
And as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to hear testimony regarding an allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a girl when he was a teen, violence experts David Finkelhor and Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan share six key facts you should know about sexual assault between adolescents.
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Bryan Keogh
Economics + Business Editor
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Top stories
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Students graduate.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University
With the unemployment rate at about the lowest level in almost 50 years, how much lower could it go? An economist explains.
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A foldable, biodegradable battery based on paper and bacteria opens a new opportunity in electronics.
Seokheun Choi/Binghamton University
Seokheun Choi, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Paper-based devices with foldable, biodegradable batteries provide a new way to reduce electronic waste. But how would these new gadgets work?
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Sexual assault among adolescents is common.
David Finkelhor, University of New Hampshire; Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan, University of New Hampshire
Data reveal that sexual assault is common among boys and girls under the age of 18. Sexual violence experts share key facts from research on the issue.
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Politics + Society
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Sarah L. Cook, Georgia State University; Lilia M. Cortina, University of Michigan; Mary P. Koss, University of Arizona
These terms are often used interchangeably by the public, and though the concepts are overlapping, there are important distinctions.
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Gordon Adams, American University School of International Service
The US was once the dominant force in the Middle East. That old order has disappeared. Now the new powers are Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Russia – and the US needs a new policy for the region.
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Health + Medicine
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Matthew Lee Smith, Texas A&M University ; Ellen Schneider, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Marcia G. Ory, Texas A&M University ; Tiffany Shubert, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Saturday isn't just the first day of fall. It's also the 10th annual National Falls Prevention Awareness Day. Falls are a major cause of disability in seniors. Experts explain ways to prevent them.
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From our International Editions
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Robert Hearn, University of Nottingham
Seems humans aren't the only ones moving into cities in ever greater numbers.
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Jerry Flores, University of Toronto; Kati Barahona-Lopez, University of California, Santa Cruz
Psychotropic medication is 'pharmaceutical violence' against migrant children and other incarcerated youth throughout the United States. Drug addiction is one consequence.
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Christopher Henshilwood, University of Bergen; Karen Loise van Niekerk, University of Bergen
A new discovery adds to our existing understanding of Homo sapiens in Africa.
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Today’s chart
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Christopher Boone
Arizona State University
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