Avatars. Avatars are images that represent either a person or some other sentient guide to a program. Avatars are used across a variety of settings, from IKEA’s Anna (who will helpfully guide you to their bedroom department if you complain about your saggy mattress) to the iPhone’s Siri. In healthcare, one intriguing use of avatars has […]

Yet, the state’s situation is far from dire, said Northeastern University economics professor Alan Clayton-Matthews. The state unemployment rate is estimated from a survey of households, but a separate survey of employers also released Thursday showed that the state added 6,500 jobs in November, after gaining 9,400 in October. The data from both surveys are […]

By Michele Simon and Cara Wilking Looking back at 2013, while the food movement made progress in certain areas (such asschool food and GMO labeling), when it comes to exploitative food marketing to children meaningful change remains elusive. Let’s Move director and White House chef Sam Kass recently acknowledged the obvious when he said this issue was […]

Fiore, a Salem native fresh out of Northeastern University, in her early 20s was determined to become a lawyer. Her younger sister, Athena, helped to change her path. In 2002, Athena enlisted her sister’s help working on a high school fund-raiser. Malita’s job was to cook and serve food to 300 people. At first, Fiore […]

Tonight’s commute home is almost guaranteed to be better than last night’s. Yesterday’s snow storm lasted through the evening commute, snarling traffic across the Greater Boston area. Many of you were stuck in cars inching along snowy roadways or diverted because of accidents or waiting in the cold for MBTA trains and buses — some […]

As Ben Schmidt, assistant professor of history at Northeastern University, has shown in a series of great graphs, women’s choices of major really explain most of the drop. Starting in the late 1970s, women became the majority of the undergraduate student body at colleges and universities in the United States. By the 2000s, women made up […]