The dirty truth about your phone – and why you need to stop scrolling in the bathroom

Your mobile phone is 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat. Here’s what to do about it.

Primrose Freestone, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology, University of Leicester • conversation
April 24, 2023 • ~7 min

The same app can pose a bigger security and privacy threat depending on the country where you download it, study finds

Mobile apps are sometimes ‘regionalized’ to better serve the needs of users, functioning differently in, for example, China than in Canada. But some of those differences pose security and privacy risks.

Renuka Kumar, Ph.D. student in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan • conversation
Sept. 27, 2022 • ~8 min

Does ignoring robocalls make them stop? Here's what we learned from getting 1.5 million calls on 66,000 phone lines

The plague of unsolicited automated phone calls isn't abating. By studying robocalls, scholars at the Robocall Observatory are developing ways to help shut them down.

Bradley Reaves, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, North Carolina State University • conversation
Sept. 10, 2020 • ~4 min

These tools help older people connect digitally while isolating

From Facebook to WhatsApp, technology is important to keeping older generations from feeling lonely while social distancing during coronavirus

Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology, UCL • conversation
March 30, 2020 • ~5 min

Viruses live on doorknobs and phones and can get you sick – smart cleaning and good habits can help protect you

The coronavirus, like many infectious diseases, can live and spread on inanimate objects in the world around us. An epidemiologist explains how and gives some advice on how to minimize the risk.

Joseph Eisenberg, Professor and Chair of Epidemiology, University of Michigan • conversation
March 17, 2020 • ~7 min

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