Haiku has captured the essence of seasons for centuries – new poems contain a trace of climate change

Haiku poetry chart flowers appearing earlier and species retreating to the margins, marking climate change.

Paul Chambers, PhD Candidate in Creative Writing, University of Bristol • conversation
March 15, 2024 ~8 min

Five fiction books to inspire climate action

Climate stories that focus on solutions are more likely to inspire positive environmental action.

Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Practice, University of Southampton • conversation
March 6, 2024 ~6 min


To better understand addiction, students in this course take a close look at liquor in literature

This course beckons students to examine how alcoholic beverages are portrayed in books by American authors.

Debra J. Rosenthal, Professor of English, John Carroll University • conversation
Oct. 26, 2023 ~5 min

MIT researchers win grants to develop and test 14 innovative ideas to improve education

The Jameel World Education Lab awards more than $900K in Education Innovation Grants to researchers across MIT.

Shauna Billings Delano | Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) • mit
Sept. 6, 2023 ~14 min

Peruvian writers tell of a future rooted in the past and contemporary societal issues

In the Global South, a group of writers are rejecting the norms of science fiction and commenting on the future in a way that embraces Indigenous culture.

Rocio Quispe Agnoli, William J. Beal Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University • conversation
Aug. 31, 2023 ~7 min

A voyage through history

“Lines Drawn across the Globe,” a new book by MIT Professor Mary Fuller, looks at the worldwide vision of English exploration proponent Richard Hakluyt.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News • mit
Aug. 8, 2023 ~10 min

Even lawyers don’t like legalese

A new study shows lawyers find simplified legal documents easier to understand, more appealing, and just as enforceable as traditional contracts.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
May 29, 2023 ~8 min

Memes-field Park? ‘Digital natives’ are flirting with Jane Austen’s vision of the ideal man all over again

Know about the Darcy hand-flex? Remember that lake scene with Colin Firth? For 200 years, audiences have been swooning over different portrayals of Mr Darcy,

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Jan. 27, 2023 ~7 min


Experts: Supernatural frights offer meaning amid chaos

Our love of the supernatural reflects a "natural human impulse" to find meaning in a chaotic world, experts say.

Andy Ober-U. Arizona • futurity
Oct. 28, 2022 ~7 min

MIT cognitive scientists win Ig Nobel for shedding light on legalese

Edward Gibson and Eric Martinez are among this year's winners of the satiric prize, for explaining what makes legal documents so difficult to comprehend.

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences • mit
Sept. 16, 2022 ~3 min

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