But while UX is one issue, larger phones are more difficult to use from an ergonomic standpoint. Northeastern University professor of physical therapy Jack Dennerlein said a larger handset “means more awkward postures of the thumb, and reduced performance when using it with a single hand. As the size gets bigger too, the devices are […]

What makes you a good person or a bad person? How do you choose between the devil and the angel on your shoulders? What forms your moral compass? Well, it could be how you were raised. Or your faith. Or the values of the society you live in. But if you ask a neuroscientist, they’ll […]

FBI officials had no immediate comment on the reason for the turnabout, but the plan seemed reminiscent of a similar effort of the Obama administration to grade media coverage of its response to the BP oil spill. Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor for Northeastern University, told The Times last week that such a system posed […]

There is some evidence to suggest that student debt may take a toll on major economic decisions, such as buying a home. Young people with student debt were once more likely to have mortgage debt, because more education led to higher incomes. But that changed in 2012, when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York […]

Rob Franek, Senior Vice President and Publisher of The Princeton Review, discusses their annual book of college rankings – “The Best 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition.”

Local housing advocates have long warned that Massachusetts needs more development to meet the demands of first time homebuyers, yet most new construction is still aimed at the luxury market. In our continuing FOCUS series, “Growing Pains,” we look the struggle to find a starter home in Boston. GUESTS Tim Warren is the CEO of […]

In June, the board voted to release Frederick Christian, who was 17 when he was arrested for his role in the killing of three men. “I think this is a very important decision because it demonstrates that the board, as they said in their decision, has an understanding that conduct is affected by the underdeveloped […]

The Ebola crisis is continuing to have an impact on Nigeria, taking the life of a nurse who treated a Liberian American man before he died last month. Five other people who had direct contact with Patrick Aawyer in Lagos also have Ebola. The disease is blamed for at least 932 deaths in four West […]

he deadly Ebola virus continues to tear through West Africa at an alarming rate, heightening fears among American doctors that the disease could make its way past U.S. borders. “It’s very simple: The more people who are infected, the more likely it is to spread to other countries,” said professor Elke Mühlberger, an Ebola researcher […]

Previous Ebola outbreaks in Africa, though deadly, have burned themselves out. But experts aren’t sure about this one. “Whether this outbreak will spread even more is hard to say,” said Alessandro Vespignani, who is a professor of physics and computer science at Northeastern University. Vespignani has created computer models to track the potential spread of […]

Those agreements between Big Tobacco and states restricted ads, promotions and sponsorships aimed at children and teenagers. Colorado, like Massachusetts, does not allow additives in marijuana for medical purposes. Both states require testing so that consumers will know how strong different ingredients are in the marijuana they buy. But Levy worries about the loopholes. She […]

It is still hard — illogically hard — for people like Johnson to get hired. There’s no evidence that spending months unemployed actually damages a worker’s future job performance. So, researchers wondered, as the labor market began to improve, why were so many people still out of work for so long? The answer, they found, […]