Innovation Hub

How social media has changed society

It draws us in and riles us up — but we still can’t look away.

A crowd of people rushing in a subway station

What 1 billion Americans would mean for the US

The US has the world’s largest economy, but for how much longer?

Global economic inequalities could grow worse with a vaccine for COVID-19

If you thought you lived in an unequal world before the global pandemic, it's becoming increasingly clear our already unequal society will become more unequal.

Hand reaching forward to set the timer on a washing machine

How tech reshapes our relationships

What happens when tech influences every aspect of our lives — even who we meet, and what our families look like?

Sections of a table are seen blocked off with tape as assistant professor Jennifer Guerard speaks into laptops while teaching a foundations of chemistry remote class at the US Naval Academy, Aug. 24, 2020, in Annapolis, Md.

Will coronavirus really change college forever?

Colleges were already facing hard times. Could the pandemic be the tipping point to upend the whole industry?

A person wearing a gray shirt holds two paper ballots and places them in a box.

Relying on electronic voting machines puts us at risk, security expert says

How do we make elections secure? Try paper. Professor J. Alex Halderman, a security expert at the University of Michigan, explains why.

Twins Emma and Etienne inside their house are eating sugar cookies baked by their mother

COVID-19’s cost to working mothers

How can women juggle working and parenting during a pandemic?

People wear face masks in in Beijing while walking outside near a Huawei store.

How does a country’s culture predict its pandemic response?

Professor Michele Gelfand uses “tight” and “loose” to categorize various societies around the globe based on the strength of social norms and applies this to what we can learn about the range of pandemic responses around the world.

Three women wearing masks hang signs on a laundry wire.

The future of our pandemic

In recent weeks, many states have seen significant increases in COVID-19 cases. What will it take to change the trajectory?

people stand socially distanced in front of a school

Pandemic-prompted remote education efforts get a failing grade

School’s out for summer, but the educational losses caused by the coronavirus are only just beginning to be understood.

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