In new study findings published this month as part of ongoing research into smart speakers, researchers with the Mon(IoT)r Research Group at Northeastern University and Imperial College London examined the conditions under which a smart speaker might be eavesdropping after being accidentally activated by a source other than users themselves.

The devices do not constantly listen to our conversations but they do activate their microphones up to 19 times per day without users’ permission, according to a new study from Northeastern University in Boston.

“I suspect coronavirus will be a game-changer,” said Ravi Ramamurti, a Northeastern University professor of international business and director of its Center for Emerging Markets. “For years, many US companies have been over-dependent on China, especially for supply . . . But the coronavirus crisis may have exposed the systemic risk of sourcing from China.”

I suspect you pass off these apparent accidents as merely one of those things. Yet, as a new study from Northeastern University reveals, they’re one of those things that may happen with alarming regularity.

Matteo Chinazzi, a network scientist at Northeastern University, has co-developed a way to judge the effectiveness of COVID-19 travel bans.

How often do Alexa and her ilk listen to your conversations? Maybe more than you think. According to a new report from Northeastern University, smart speakers accidentally activate as many as 19 times a day, recording as much as 43 seconds of audio each time.

Dr Feldman Barrett is a psychologist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and along with her colleagues she found that, on average, adults in urban cultures scowled when they were angry 30% of the time. 

Alan Schroeder is a professor in the school of journalism at Northeastern University in Boston. 

Northeastern University communications professor Matthew Nisbet, who studies climate advocacy, says there’s a relatively small number of nongovernmental groups with the resources, staff and track record to handle multimillion-dollar grants.

Laurie Kramer, a clinical psychologist and professor at Northeastern University and founder of the More Fun With Sisters and Brothers program, discovered in her research that mothers who had negative histories with their own siblings were most likely to raise kids with the most positive relationships. 

In the piece, Leo Beletsky, a professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University, Dr. Sarah Wakeman, and Dr. Kevin Fiscella argued against the abstinence-based policies of some state groups.

WGBH Morning Edition fill-in host Aaron Schacter spoke with Northeastern University law professor and WGBH News legal analyst Daniel Medwed about one of the cases that stood out.