In the Media
Driverless Cars? After Deadly Accidents, Most Americans Would Rather Take the Bus
Industry Week -- 07/27/2018
The support for self-driving cars is down a bit from other surveys over the past year. For example, Northeastern University/Gallup undertook a mail survey of 3,297 U.S. adults from September 15 to October 10, 2017, and found 25% were likely to ride in a self-driving car and 54% were unlikely. In January 2018, Reuters/Ipsos completed a survey of 2,592 adults, finding 27% were comfortable riding in a self-driving car and two-thirds were uncomfortable.
Dukakis Warns Democrats Exaggerating Ocasio-Cortez Victory Is ‘A Serious Mistake’
WGBH -- 07/27/2018
Dukakis, a professor at Northeastern University, also cautioned Democrats not to get into an ideological back-and-forth. “It seems to me that we ought to make sure we don’t get into these ridiculous intramural fights at a time when the goal has to be saving American democracy. I mean, that’s what’s really is going on here.”…
How to Turn a Customer Service Misstep Into a Positive, Relationship-Building Interaction
Inc.com -- 07/27/2018
When they mess up, companies should focus on building relationships rather than apologizing profusely, says Paul Fombelle, a marketing professor at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. At the same time, owners shouldn’t ask, “what can we do to make you happy,” the equivalent of a blank check.
What is Amazon’s responsibility over its facial recognition tech?
CNN -- 07/27/2018
Perhaps, or perhaps not, said Woodrow Hartzog, who teaches law and computer science at Northeastern University. “The idea that this is simply neutral technology that can be used for good or evil and Amazon shouldn’t be responsible, I think is purely wrong,” he said.
How to stop your smartphone from tracking your location
Boston Globe -- 07/27/2018
I asked Dave Choffnes, an assistant professor at Northeastern University whose research focuses on privacy and security in mobile devices, for some suggestions to help stop the surveillance.
A Photographer Documents the Effects of Climate Change on Maine’s Intertidal Zones
Smithsonian Magazine -- 07/27/2018
Briggs’ subjects are much smaller, spikier, and perhaps less obviously charismatic. They are the mussels, barnacles, algae, crabs and sea stars that create the complex and delicate miniature ecosystems along coastal areas. Briggs is here as an undergraduate researcher and photographer on a research trip for Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center. His photos will appear on Northeastern’s College of Science news site as well as in outreach and educational materials.
Just in Time for Whom?
Slate -- 07/27/2018
For generations, colleges and universities have had a monopoly on credentials. But as the global economy demands more skills and competencies for individuals to keep up with an ever-expanding base of knowledge, “we’re going to need more recognition for the learning and skills development that happens outside the higher-education system,” said Sean Gallagher, executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy.
High caliber guns more deadly
Reuters -- 07/27/2018
Researchers wading into the gun control debate have shown that people shot by criminals wielding a higher caliber gun are more likely to die than those shot with a small caliber weapon, according to a report in JAMA Network Open. “There’s the old adage that guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” said lead author Anthony Braga, distinguished professor and director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston. “That’s not quite right. People do kill people and their intent matters. But above and beyond that, the type of weapon they use matters greatly.”…
Actually, guns do kill people, according to a new study
The Washington Post -- 07/27/2018
A new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open underscores an often overlooked factor in gun-policy debates: When it comes to lethality, not all guns are created equal. Analyzing data on hundreds of shootings in Boston from 2010 to 2014, Anthony Braga of Northeastern University and Philip J. Cook of Duke University found that on a bullet-per-bullet basis, shootings committed with a large-caliber firearm are much more likely to result in a fatality than those with a smaller-caliber gun. Caliber is a measure of the diameter of the bullets fired by a particular gun.
Mueller’s indictment of election hackers a cybersecurity ‘wake-up call’
The Parallax -- 07/24/2018
Legally, says Andrea Matwyshyn, law professor at Northeastern University and co-director of the school’s Center for Law, Innovation, and Creativity, the DNC hacking indictment is “boring” and unremarkable for the charges brought under the CFAA, despite how broad they are. But its technical details should serve as a “wake-up call” to “every” political campaign in America.
Workers in summer heat need far better protections, groups say
Reuters -- 07/24/2018
Designing protections for outdoor workers has been slow in part due to their lack of political clout, said Sharon Harlan, a professor of health sciences and sociology at Northeastern University in Boston. “If executives were sitting in their offices dropping off from heat exhaustion, probably something would be done more quickly,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Gender bias in health care may be harming women’s health: What you need to know
Today -- 07/24/2018
Laurie Edwards, an associate professor of English at Northeastern University, knows what that’s like. All her life, she has struggled to breathe. She suffers from a chronic but rare lung disease that was never properly diagnosed as she was growing up, with doctor after doctor telling her that her symptoms were all in her head — something many female patients endure.