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Everyone wants to think they're open‑minded. Here's why most people aren't

10 June 2026 at 20:40
Most people think they are open-minded and would like others to perceive them as such. But for the things that matter mostβ€”religious beliefs, for example, or the meaning of lifeβ€”few of us are genuinely willing to consider that we might be wrong, let alone do the hard work of revising beliefs. At a fundamental level, we humans are somewhat closed-minded.

Osprey-inspired algorithm lifts Chinese-English translation accuracy

10 June 2026 at 18:00
Research published in the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology has taken inspiration from the hunting behavior of the fish-eating bird of prey, the osprey, and combined this with inspiration from quantum computing to improve machine translation, particularly for long sentences and technical texts between Chinese and English.

Thirty-five AI comedians walked into a workshop, and what happened next could reshape how machines learn humor

10 June 2026 at 17:20
Workshopping, an iterative process in which creators share ideas, test what works and refine what doesn't through collective feedback, is at the heart of any writers group. This collaborative dynamic inspired George Mason University Ph.D. student Shiwei Hong to explore whether artificial intelligence (AI) could benefit from a similar approach.

War on drugs or war on the poor? How bandit hunting formed a cover for Mexico's counterinsurgency campaign

10 June 2026 at 12:20
If the drug trade has helped define the modern Mexican state, writes the author of a new article in The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs, so too have wars on drugs. In "From Bandit Hunting to a War Against 'Social Poisoners': Counterinsurgency as Drug War and Drug War as Counterinsurgency in 1960s–1970s Southern Mexico," author Alexander AviΓ±a argues that the strategies eventually employed against Mexican drug traders were first developed in the violent suppression of rural guerrilla movements.

How health care systems shape native preferences for immigrants

10 June 2026 at 03:00
In recent years, anti-immigration sentiment has become increasingly common around the world. A common concern surrounding immigration is its potential impact on the host country's welfare system, including health care. Such concerns can reduce public support for accepting immigrants and for redistributive welfare policies.

Quality of relationship between patient and therapist is key to preventing child sex offenders from doing it again

10 June 2026 at 00:20
Since the 1980s, there has been extensive research on the effectiveness of treatment for perpetrators of sexual crimes against children. Studies have examined rehabilitation programs, the role of clinicians and the factors associated with recidivism. However, what remains unclear is how these factors interact to influence recidivism once treatment is over.

Distinctive language reveals likely conspiracy-community users across 500 million Reddit comments

9 June 2026 at 22:40
Users who participate in online communities linked to conspiracy theories show distinctive linguistic characteristics even when discussing apparently neutral topics, such as films, music, cooking or science, and even before they take part in conspiracy communities.

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