The Curiosity Gap Content

Is the '27 Club' Real? Researcher Looks at Myths That Endure

Karen Michele Nikos — November 21, 2024 - 2:39pm

The 27 Club isn’t true, but it is real − a sociologist explains why myths endure and how they shape reality

Game Over? How Customers Respond When Mobile Banking App Rewards Go Dark

Jamie Sara Gelfond — October 25, 2024 - 12:14pm

Companies have started the process of gamifying a large variety of products, even mobile banking apps. In a recent study, in collaboration with Flourish Fi, researchers looked at what happens when a rewards program is stopped as well as if consumers continue or stop incentivized behaviors was investigated. More specifically, the use of gamification to encourage adoption of digital financial services was examined.

What Motivates Food Bank Donors?

Jamie Sara Gelfond — October 11, 2024 - 2:23am

In a recent study involving �ٺ��Ƶ Professor of Human Ecology Catherine Brinkley, 2.97 millions pounds of food-bank donations from 296 organizations were analyzed to understand the dependencies between community food security and local food movements.

What Does it Mean To Own Something?

Karen Michele Nikos — September 06, 2024 - 3:30pm

For most of his adolescence, Gerardo Con Diaz viewed the world through the prism of mathematics. He excelled at numbers and computation, winning mathematics competitions while growing up in Costa Rica and later majoring in the subject while studying at Harvard University. He was enroute to a mathematics career, but something was off.

“There was this nagging sensation that there might be a path I hadn’t considered,” Diaz recalled.

How Do You Take History from the Front Porch to the Streets?

Karen Michele Nikos — August 19, 2024 - 2:25pm

Dave Peters’ porch in West Oakland is a place everyone in the area knows, partly because of the décor, but mostly because of the effervescent, exuberant man who spends many days there, calling out to neighbors and passersby, letting people know that he is there and letting people know that he recognizes that they are there too.

The Conversation: What is the Meaning of Kamala?

Karen Michele Nikos — August 14, 2024 - 9:32am

Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris became a presence on the national scene, her name — a common one for women in India — has attracted a lot of attention, most specifically for its pronunciation.

The three-syllable word should be pronounced “Come-a-laa” (Kamalā), with the final long “a” signaling a feminine noun in Sanskrit. In the United States, it is often enunciated with stresses placed on the first or second syllable.

At the Olympics, Can Anyone Sideline Politics?

Karen Michele Nikos — August 07, 2024 - 3:54pm

�ٺ��Ƶ professor says expecting the Olympics to be apolitical is to ignore their history.

What are the Limits of Free Speech?

Karen Michele Nikos — July 30, 2024 - 4:13pm

The right to free speech is part of our American identity, but what if some forms of speech use this idea of freedom against us? Increasingly, certain forms of speech — hate speech and disinformation in particular — threaten our society and the many freedoms we might take for granted.

Did Trump's 2016 Election Affect Babies' Health?

Karen Michele Nikos — July 25, 2024 - 11:14am

In 2016, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to deport thousands of immigrants. His anti-immigration message vilified foreign-born people living in the U.S.

How Can Seagrasses Help Mitigate Climate Change?

Karen Michele Nikos — July 17, 2024 - 3:43am

On a triple-digit summer day in Davis, community members found shade and science within the walls of G Street WunderBar at the latest Davis Science Café. Standing at the front of the pub, marine geochemist and oceanographer Tessa Hill showed the audience a picture of a fog-shrouded Tomales Bay and asked them to reflect on their connections to the ocean.