Editor’s note: After Uber’s chief economist, Jonathan Hall, publicly criticized the MIT study’s findings for being based on “inconsistent logic,” its lead co-author acknowledged that the study’s conclusions may be inaccurate and said he plans to run a new analysis to recalculate drivers’ wages.
Batman’s work ethic and self-control are arguably his greatest superpowers—even more so than his stacks and stacks of cash. But what does it take to develop those characteristics in a person? According to a new story, it could be as simple as dressing up as Batman.
Most people are guilty of sharing a story on Facebook or Twitter that they didn’t read. And according to a new study, users are no different when it comes to performatively upvoting articles on Reddit. What’s most surprising is just how often those votes are impulse clicks.
The Pokémon GO phenomenon has mostly faded, but the destruction left in its wake could be far larger than anyone imagined. Two professors from Purdue University have attempted to get an idea of the game’s effect on traffic accidents by studying data from one county in Indiana. The results don’t reflect well on Pikachu…
We’ve all worried about artificial intelligence reaching a point in which its cognitive ability is so far beyond ours that it turns against us. But what if we just turned the AI into a spineless weenie that longs for our approval? Researchers are suggesting that could be a great step towards improving the algorithms,…
Scientists have long understood that dogs with flat faces like pugs and bulldogs are the result of out-of-control selective breeding. But they’ve yet to discover the exact genetic mutation that’s responsible for the physical traits of these dogs. A new study has gone a long way towards finding the answer and could…
In a breakthrough that almost sounds too good to be true, researchers have found a potential new form of birth control that could solve numerous problems. It offers the possibility of being effective for both sexes, no hormonal side effects, and might even be a Plan B that doesn’t piss off anti-abortion advocates.
Microdosing weed has become a minor trend with humans lately, but the science on its actual benefits is fairly shaky. Now, in a newly published study by a group of scientists in Germany, evidence shows that older mice may experience a reversal of brain aging and a restoration of the ability to learn.
Catnip has long been the preferred fix for cats. Given just a tiny whiff of the plant, most cats will temporarily turn into an approximation of a fully loaded, 1970s era Dennis Hopper. But for some cats, it’s as pointless as an O’Douls. A new study has found three new options that could allow all cats to get totally…
According to a new report from the United Nations University, higher incomes and more affordable prices have lead to an enormous jump in the levels of electronic goods being dumped in Asia. A five-year study found an average increase of 63% in e-waste across 12 countries.
Speculation about Russia’s interference in the U.S. Presidential election has run rampant throughout the campaign. Now, researchers from two independent groups have confirmed that Putin’s minions wielded a complex misinformation apparatus to unleash a “firehose of falsehood” on the American public.
Go get your freak on, because athletes can officially have sex before the big game without feeling guilty. A new study from researchers published in Frontiers in Physiology claims that there “is no robust scientific evidence to indicate that sexual activity has a negative effect upon athletic results.”
It’s not news that smartphones, tablets and e-readers emit a blue light that can keep us up when it’s time for bed. But in addition to abstaining from screens an hour before bed, experts say that all gadgets should have a “bedtime mode.”
Outside the Florida Everglades, cougars haven’t lived east of the Rockies in over 100 years. But, a new study finds there’s a strong likelihood that states like Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin could become home to healthy populations of the large carnivores in the next few years.
According to a detailed study from Ofcom, the UK version of the FCC, different generations have vastly different attachments to internet devices: the grandparents can’t live without the TV, and (surprise surprise) you’d have to wrest the smartphones from millenials’ cold, dead hands.
The best whisky on Earth is headed into space.
In a way, what you do in the privacy of your own home is literally Ikea's business. So it's no surprise that the Swedish company spends a ton of time and money studying how people live. What is surprising, though, is what its latest study found out. Including the fact that you're not the only one who reads their phone…
A new federal study proves that gays are having a hard time renting a place to live—especially male gays. Landlords are less likely to rent to gay men couples, the Housing and Urban Development study reveals. Lesbian couples also face discrimination, but not quite so much.
Biomimicry borrows design solutions from the embedded intelligence within animals' bodies—chiefly from other species. But occasionally, it also borrows from within the human body. For example, a new study from MIT suggests that buildings of the future could be built with super-strong materials based on the structure…
