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Editor's note
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“Blockbuster” has long been a term reserved for movies, not TV shows. That’s because for most of its history, television has been a profoundly national medium, with international television trade rules requiring delays: A show premiering in the United States might not appear in another country until years later.
But this Sunday, millions around the world will be turning into the season premiere of Game of Thrones. University of Michigan’s Amanda Lotz explains how HBO was in a unique position to make Game of Thrones simultaneously available in 170 international markets – making it television’s first true global blockbuster.
Also, Michigan State artificial intelligence researcher Arend Hintze has been thinking a lot lately about whether he should be afraid of anything about AI. He discusses his concerns, both about about the technology, and what it means for us humans.
And Georgia Tech’s Craig Tovey explains how he and his colleagues figured out how fire ants work together to form floating rafts and towers that rely on the same load-bearing principles as the Eiffel Tower. First they just had to get the ants from the field to their lab – without suffering their painful wrath.
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Nick Lehr
Editor, Arts and Culture
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Top story
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HBO
Amanda Lotz, University of Michigan
A unique set of circumstances allowed HBO to beat Netflix to the punch.
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Arts + Culture
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Kirk Hazen, West Virginia University
The founder of the West Virginia Dialect Project hopes to debunk some of the myths about the way Appalachian people speak and instill pride in a rich, oft-maligned culture.
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Bree McEwan, DePaul University
The national story of an anonymous Reddit user's post – and the threat to unmask him – raises important questions about the role of online communication in our society.
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Politics + Society
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Patricia Sullivan, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
The US is doing so with increasing frequency around the world – most recently with Kurdish fighters in Syria. A scholar explains what can go wrong, and why this approach is likely to continue.
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Lawrence Vale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Since the 1990s, the supply of deeply subsidized housing has decreased as the US population and need for housing have increased. Trump's proposed cuts to HUD won't help.
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Health + Medicine
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Jasenka Zubcevic, University of Florida; Christopher Martyniuk, University of Florida
Trillions of microorganisms living inside your digestive system may influence your health and even your weight. Here's how your gut may communicate with your brain, bone marrow and immune system.
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Jill D. Weinberg, Tufts University
People who seek aid in dying tend to be white men older than 65, a new analysis shows. While this could be due to religious views, here's why it could also be because of lack of access.
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JB Silvers, Case Western Reserve University
Republicans have had a hard time dismantling the Affordable Care Act, despite their promises. That could be because they are operating under certain beliefs about health care that are not accurate.
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Economy + Business
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Jeff Sovern, St. John's University; Ann L. Goldweber, St. John's University; Gina M. Calabrese, St. John's University
Republicans are hoping to eliminate or at least defang the only federal agency tasked solely with protecting consumers from financial abuses. What would we miss if they succeed?
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Karen Winterich, Pennsylvania State University; Julie Irwin, University of Texas at Austin; Rebecca Walker Reczek, The Ohio State University
Most Americans cling to things with sentimental value that we no longer need. Taking pictures of these possessions may make it easier to give them away.
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Science + Technology
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Craig Tovey, Georgia Institute of Technology
Researchers identified simple behavioral rules that allow these tiny creatures to collaboratively build elaborate structures, with no one in charge.
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Arend Hintze, Michigan State University
He spends his days developing artificial intelligence systems. What about AI keeps him up at night?
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Lena Ting, Emory University
For those with reduced mobility and even just the normally aging, stairs can pose a big problem. A cheap and efficient new prototype could help.
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Environment + Energy
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Lindsey Dillon, University of California, Santa Cruz
Cleaning up and reusing contaminated sites, known as brownfields, can create jobs and promote economic growth. But it also can drive gentrification that prices out low-income residents.
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Kevin Nute, University of Oregon
Research shows that bringing nature indoors, in the form of movement created by light, wind and water, makes occupants calmer and more productive. It also could promote interest in sustainable design.
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Nicholas F. Stump, West Virginia University
Are all people entitled to live in a clean and healthy environment? A legal scholar says yes, and argues for using this principle to address damage from polluting industries in Appalachia.
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Education
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John E. Taylor, West Virginia University
The Trinity Lutheran case signals the Supreme Court's willingness to interpret separation of church and state as religious discrimination. What will this mean for the future of vouchers and school choice?
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Roderick S. Graham, Old Dominion University
A recent Pew survey reported that young African-Americans are more likely to be both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying. Why?
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Linda Nielsen, Wake Forest University
Daughters across the US feel like their relationship with their father was damaged by their parents' divorce. Here are steps daughters can take to repair that relationship.
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Ethics + Religion
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Wendy Cadge, Brandeis University
With 90 percent of global goods coming to us by ship, who are the men and women who care for the crews?
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Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church requires nearly absolute obedience. This makes it difficult to speak up against superiors. And by the same token, superiors too can protect offending priests.
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