|
Top headlines
Lead story
If many states allow you to use your phone hands-free while driving, and carmakers are adding apps and driver-assist systems, then those technologies must be safe, right? They are better than looking down at your phone while driving, but that doesn’t make them safe.
Those technologies make it easier for you to take your attention off the road, and distracted driving kills thousands of people in the U.S. each year. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and UMass Amherst human factors engineer Shannon Roberts explains why you should heed the government’s new public service announcements telling you to “put the phone away or pay.”
[ Science from the scientists themselves. Sign up for our weekly science email newsletter. ]
|
Car infotainment systems are getting ever more sophisticated.
AP Photo/Ryan Sun
Shannon Roberts, UMass Amherst
Technology has made driving safer in many ways, but also provided more opportunities for drivers to distract themselves.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Marie-Amelie George, Wake Forest University
As states and local school boards in some places continue to pass anti-LGBTQ+ rights legislation and policies, hate crimes against young LGBTQ+ people have also increased.
-
Joseph G. Amoroso, United States Military Academy West Point; Lee Robinson, United States Military Academy West Point
Members of the military take an oath before service, but it’s to the Constitution, not a specific person. West Point professors explain how young officers learn the importance of their allegiance.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Giridhar Kalamangalam, University of Florida
Some scientists theorize that artificial intelligence may be able to deduce thoughts from EEGs.
-
Brian N. Chin, Trinity College
Pets provide a source of comfort and intimacy for many owners drifting off to sleep. But according to new research, they may also disrupt your ability to fall or stay asleep.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Katie Kapurch, Texas State University; Jon Marc Smith, Texas State University
To truly appreciate the track, it’s important to go beyond the long shadow of the Beatles’ version.
|
|
Ethics + Religion
|
-
Kimberly H. Breuer, University of Texas at Arlington
The skies and the gods were inseparable in Maya culture. Astronomers kept careful track of events like eclipses in order to perform the renewal ceremonies to continue the world’s cycles of rebirth.
|
|
International
|
-
Dee Ninis, Monash University
Strong aftershocks may cause the collapse of buildings that were only damaged in the main shock.
-
Satang Nabaneh, University of Dayton
The potential repeal of the ban on female genital mutilation poses a threat to the well-being of girls in The Gambia.
|
|
