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Insider drops truth on Chiefs' potential reunion with Tyreek Hill
There is a lot to think about here.
Is Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Offering A Chance After Mixed Long Term Returns?
If you are wondering whether Caesars Entertainment at around US$27.38 is a bargain or a value trap, the starting point is understanding what the current price actually reflects. The stock has returned 7.4% over the past month and 16.2% year to date, although the 1 year return is 1.2% and the 3 and 5 year returns are negative at 37.8% and 73.4% respectively, which can change how investors think about both upside potential and risk. Recent headlines have focused on Caesars Entertainment's...
Viewpoint: A career in science is possible, and worth it
Starting a career in science is exciting, but also demanding, with researchers often faced with intense competition, long working hours and high levels of stress. A pioneer in the field of mass spectrometry, Carol Robinson has been there. She speaks with Science|Business on the importance of creating a supportive environment, particularly for women.Robinson did not wake up one day thinking that she would become a scientist. It was only late in school that she developed an interest in chemistry. “The more you work at something, the more you think, actually, this is fascinating. So, I went much further and deeper than I ever needed to pass the exam. And then I loved it,” she says. “I thought, I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to enjoy it while I’m here. But I didn’t think this would be my career for 50 odd years.”She left school at 16 to become a lab technician with the drug company Pfizer, which is where she first worked with mass spectrometry. Fascinated, she was encouraged to take a part-time degree and then a PhD. She went on to do pioneering work in native mass spectrometry, a technique that is used to study protein structures in their natural state, paving the way for breakthroughs in drug discovery. She also broke new ground by becoming the first female professor of chemistry at the University of Cambridge, and then the first female professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford, her current home.She now wants to show young researchers that a career in science is worth it. “Sometimes, I believe the culture isn’t very encouraging, and that’s something I have worked on,” Robinson says.In 2021, she launched the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery at Oxford, whose acronym gives a sense of what she hopes it will achieve. “Maybe it is corny,” she says. “It’s just a reminder that I would like it if we could all be kind to each other and supportive, especially for early-career researchers of either gender, because there’s quite a big attrition rate in science, and maybe it just doesn’t feel like a very friendly place to work.”And yet, a career in science comes with a lot of flexibility. “There are few careers where you have that amount of freedom, to go to conferences, to the library. Just because you didn’t see me didn’t mean I wasn’t working,” she says. “And I’m excited to come in every day. So, I don’t want people to think it’s a terrible place.”Gender equality is also important when it comes to the quality of science as a career. “The more women we have, the better it becomes,” Robinson adds.Imposter syndromeAccording to EU data, women outnumber men in university education but account for just about a third of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem). And while the number of women working as scientists and engineers in the 27-member bloc is on the rise, their representation remains below that of men, at 41%. This discrepancy is even more pronounced in top-tier functions across these fields, where women fill just 20% of positions.Having supervised many young scientists, Robinson sees that women continue to have a greater propensity than men to doubt their abilities, a feeling she once shared. “When I was doing my PhD at the University at Cambridge, I really felt like an imposter,” she says. “I don’t think I ever felt I deserved to be there or owned it and was proud. I just thought I was lucky.” Later on, she adds, “I was always that person who said, I can’t apply yet because my CV is not strong enough.”She has now made it her job to encourage women to break with this imposter syndrome. For example, rather than calling for volunteers to give a lecture in the groups that she mentors or teaches, which nearly always results in men stepping forward, she goes straight to the women, “because I know they won’t push themselves forward.”But the gender gap in science is not just down to imposter syndrome. The “obvious” reason, Robinson says, and the reason that is on everybody’s mind when discussing workplace gender equality, is the balance between work and raising a family. Her own path was to choose between the two, taking an eight-year break after completing a postdoctoral training fellowship to bring up three children. And she continues to advise women not to work part-time while they raise a family. “You’ll just get half the pay and continue to work full-time because you are not able to fit everything in,” she says. “You should be able to have a family and come back to have the career that you want.”The solution is for men to also take career breaks. “That kind of evens it up, so that it’s not such a big thing for women,” Robinson says. “I always encourage men in my groups to do that. I think it’s important to take your share of the duties.”Support produces resultsAccording to the Women in Stem Network, a UK advocacy group, countries with strong childcare systems and equal pay policies retain more women in technical careers. In Europe, these are primarily found in the Nordic region and parts of central Europe.At the EU level, the European Commission asks all Horizon Europe applicant organisations to have a gender action plan in place. Since this criterion was introduced in 2021, the share of women leading consortia has increased to 31%, against 23% in Horizon 2020. Their overall participation, however, has risen just 1%, to 38%. After trying to weaken the requirement for gender action plans in 2025, the Commission now intends to adopt a plan for supporting women in research and innovation.Related articlesCommission scraps plan to water down gender requirements in HorizonHow gender balance can swing who wins Horizon Europe fundingRobinson herself has benefited from three Advanced Grants from the European Research Council. “I was extremely honoured and privileged to get those, because they really allowed me to fuel my passion,” she says. “Without that, it would have been a much harder slog.”Beyond applying gender rules, she says that more work is needed on translational enterprise, where women are, once again, largely underrepresented. The European Patent Office found that only 13.8% of applications were filed by women in 2022. “We have so many more women doing amazing science; why do they feel it’s not a thing to have a company?” she asks.She founded her own spin-out company, OMass Technologies, in 2016, and remains chair of its scientific advisory board now that it trades as OMass Therapeutics. As for research, Robinson is now studying how changes in the brain may be linked to depression, using port-mortem tissue. “We’re hoping to publish soon,” she says. “We had to consult with a lot of people who knew a lot more about the brain than we did. So, we’ve learnt a lot, and that’s always a lot of fun to learn a new thing. That’s what keeps you going.”
This AI knew the answers but didn’t understand the questions
For decades, psychologists have debated whether the human mind can be explained by one unified theory or must be broken into separate parts like memory and attention. A recent AI model called Centaur seemed to offer a breakthrough, claiming it could mimic human thinking across 160 different cognitive tasks. But new research is challenging that bold claim, suggesting the model isn’t truly “thinking” at all—it’s just memorizing patterns.
Scientists Rethink How Much Lifespan Is in Our Control
Research upending long-held estimates of genetic influence on lifespan could relieve the pressure to get all the lifestyle factors right.
Astronomers Think They've Finally Found The Edge of The Milky Way
A hazy line that has been hard to define.
Rising premiums push younger workers to rethink employer health plans
Rising health insurance costs are prompting some younger, healthier workers to reconsider employer-sponsored coverage, creating new strains for workers and warning signs for employers, Bloomberg writes. As premiums climb and take-home pay tightens, some employees are opting for alternatives, such as medical cost-sharing plans, limited-benefit coverage or going uninsured altogether to save hundreds of dollars […]
Local Politics, After Murder
How does the decline of lethal violence change the way New York thinks about government leadership?
Pearl Health Releases 2026 Top 50 Value-Based Care Thinkers Report
/PRNewswire/ -- Pearl Health today announced the release of its fifth annual Top 50 Value-Based Care Thinkers Report, recognizing the leaders driving...
What smart people are saying after OpenAI reportedly missed targets
A report that OpenAI missed on internal growth targets raised fresh concerns about AI demand. Here's what traders and scientists think.
Taylor Moton on his health, the new additions to the O-line and more
Watch Panthers tackle Taylor Moton discuss the new additions to the offensive line group in Rasheed Walker and Monroe Freeling, his health, not thinking about retirement and more.
Why Hawaiʻi Must Rethink Youth Mental Health
Suicide was the leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 19.
Today on Texas Standard: Scientists identify jellyfish species previously unknown to science
If you think one jellyfish looks like another, marine biologists at Texas A&M University Galveston would disagree. Researchers have identified a jellyfish species previously unknown to science.
Denver Health ended up on a list of at-risk hospitals — but it's not as bad off as you might think
Denver Health’s CEO says any talk of service reduction is “premature,” after a new report lists it among Colorado hospitals most at risk.
Small business owners concerned about proposed pause in South Carolina liquor liability law
Business owners think the law's temporary change will hurt business
Scientists think they finally know why Neanderthals vanished
A new study suggests Neanderthals didn’t go extinct simply because of climate change or competition with Homo sapiens. Instead, the key difference may have been social connectivity—Homo sapiens formed stronger, more flexible networks that helped them survive environmental shocks. Neanderthals had connections too, but they were more fragile and regionally limited. This made them less resilient as conditions became increasingly unpredictable.
Matthew Lillard doesn't think 'anyone really likes' him, credits nostalgia factor for his Hollywood comeback
Matthew Lillard joked that no one 'really likes' him. The 'Scooby-Doo' actor credits the nostalgia factor for his Hollywood comeback.
Rethinking Utility Incentives and Business Models in the Age of Distributed Energy
Many utilities have been slow to embrace distributed energy resources (DERs) and, in some cases, have reshaped rate structures and compensation mechanisms to limit their growth. This is not simply resistance to change. It is a rational response to incentive structures that favor building infrastructure over technology advancement and energy optimization and efficiency.
Scientists Think Time Could Move Fast and Slow All at Once. They’re About to Prove It.
Ultraprecise atomic clocks could test the idea that time moves at multiple speeds.
The No. 1 Bad Protein Habit Driving Dietitians 'Insane'
In TODAY.com's Expert Tip of the Day, a dietitian shares a healthier way to think about protein.
Hasbro unveils new figurines for Spider-Man: Brand New Day — and MCU fans think they spoil a big 'badass' event in Tom Holland's next Marvel movie
'Oh s**t, are we actually getting that one scene?'
Democrats think swearing will fix their authenticity problem. It won’t
Outrage is a legitimate political emotion. It is not, by itself, a politics
Yearbook Advice vs. Seed Business Reality: “Never Change” Is an Awful Strategy
Seed companies can’t rely on “never change” thinking. To stay competitive, leaders must protect customer trust while evolving sales channels, pricing models, digital tools, agronomic insight, and product positioning. Intentional change helps seed businesses adapt to farmer expectations, build resilience, create differentiation, and keep growing in a fast-changing agricultural marketplace.
2026 NFL Draft: Minnesota Vikings Draft Grade Roundup
What do the Really Smart Football People™ think?
Lions give optimistic injury updates on Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph
Lions GM Brad Holmes was optimistic about Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch, but warned not to overthink their draft moves.
Officer loses gun at entertainment center, teen shoots it thinking it was a prop: police
An officer allegedly lost his gun at an entertainment center, leading to a teen girl shooting it under the belief it was a prop.
Officer loses gun at entertainment center, teen shoots it thinking it was a prop: police
An officer allegedly lost his gun at an entertainment center, leading to a teen girl shooting it under the belief it was a prop.
Officer loses gun at entertainment center, teen shoots it thinking it was a prop: police
An officer allegedly lost his gun at an entertainment center, leading to a teen girl shooting it under the belief it was a prop.
Sunday Science: Spring leaf out
It's been quite the rollercoaster ride this spring season in terms of temperatures, and we aren't the only ones who think that.The USA Phenology Network tracks
Should you debloat Windows 11? The custom ISO scene is bigger than you think
"Debloating" Windows 11 addresses concerns about the user experience, but it can also introduce security flaws.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: 5G, Satellite SOS, and the AI upgrade we’ve been waiting forthink
Discover the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Featuring the new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip, 5G connectivity, and Satellite SOS,
I Fell in Love With My Best Friend. I Could Never Have Predicted How It Ended.
Everyone used to think we were dating. I thought it was only a matter of time until we were.
Overnight Science Digest: Rethinking thinking by examining animal and AI intelligences
This week’s science news theme—the convoluted relationships between humans and non-human intelligences—arose from an unexpected combination of two dichotomous groups, wildlife and AI. I’ve added in a…
EDITORIAL: Is Science Good or Bad?
The answer to this isn’t as obvious as you might think. According to some Christians, science is bad when it tells us the earth came into being over millions of years. But other times science is good, such as when it gives the church tools to evangelize, and when it helps us travel around to […]
Broncos expect 'strong' NFL draft class in 2027
“I think everyone feels like next year is going to be a strong draft," Broncos GM George Paton said of the 2027 class.
Weekend reads: What paper mills charge for author slots; UK Biobank data breached; what researchers think of the future of science
If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: 10 years ago, Elisabeth Bik published a preprint heard around the wor…
Josh Duhamel Says "Nobody Cares What I Think" on Politics
Josh Duhamel says "Nobody Cares What I Think" when it comes to politics.
A Precolonial Paradox? Rethinking Political Centralization and Its Legacies -
A Precolonial Paradox? Rethinking Political Centralization and Its Legacies By Martha Wilfahrt, University of California, Berkeley A paradox has emerged in the growing literature on the legacies of the precolonial past: areas home to precolonial [...]
The Science of the Times: A Project Hail Mary Commentary
Nothing beats sitting at the cinema watching a movie for the first time and thinking to yourself, “Wow, this is why I love movies.” Project Hail Mary did that for me.
Astronomers may have found a strange new kind of cosmic explosion
A mysterious cosmic explosion has astronomers buzzing, as a strange event may hint at an entirely new kind of stellar cataclysm. After detecting ripples in space-time, scientists spotted a fast-fading red glow that initially looked like a rare kilonova—the kind of collision that forges gold and uranium. But just days later, the signal shifted, behaving more like a supernova, leaving researchers puzzled. Now, some think they may have witnessed something never seen before: a “superkilonova.”
Medina school board considers new resources for science curriculum
The Medina Board of Education is considering the adoption of new resources for science students in the fourth through ninth grade. Members of the district’s curriculum committee are confident these new resources will help students to think like scientists in the classroom.
Sports columnist gives final opinions nobody really cares about
Hello, and welcome to my final story for The Daily Texan! I’ve procrastinated writing this, as we are currently 50 minutes out from the deadline, but I’ve done this because I didn’t really want to write it. But now here I am, writing it, because I think it’s the right thing to do, and also...
This 100 million-year-old snake had hind legs and a lost bone that changes evolution
Nearly 100 million years ago, snakes weren’t the sleek, limbless creatures we know today—they still had hind legs and even a cheekbone that has almost vanished in modern species. A remarkably preserved fossil of Najash rionegrina from Argentina has reshaped how scientists think about snake origins, suggesting early snakes were large, wide-mouthed predators rather than tiny burrowers.
Sometimes Science Needs A Brilliant Bastard
In the 1970s, after 12 decades of on-again-off-again enthusiasm, a couple of near-death experiences, and ongoing dismissal as a series of just-so stories, the Darwinian idea seemed finally to be coming to a triumphant vindication: a Grand Unified Theory of biology. Thinking like a Darwinian either could explain everything, or soon would, from why butterfly […]
No. 11 on the list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians: Bob Gualtieri
In the age of politics dominated by Donald Trump’s priorities, Gualtieri has stood out as both an ally and independent thinker.
Want to live a longer, happier life? Science says work to be more successful (but not in the way you might think)
A decades-long (and counting) study reveals happiness lies not necessarily in the achievement, but in the pursuit.
Regions Bank + Dash Solutions Collaborate on New Treasury Management Solution to Modernize Client Payment Operations
Regions ReimbursePro delivers fast, flexible and convenient options to help clients initiate real-time money movement. Regions Bank on Thursday announced the launch of Regions ReimbursePro , the bank’s latest Treasury Management innovation designed to help business clients modernize their payment processes and expedite real-time money movement. Regions ReimbursePro is a new, forward-thinking Treasury Management solution designed to help business clients accelerate refunds, modernize their payment processes and fuel growth. Regions ReimbursePro is powered by Dash Solutions , a leading payments enablement company also headquartered in Birmingham. The solution provides Regions’ Treasury Management clients access to a modern, secure digital platform that helps transform refund operations away from older, manual, time-consuming processes that include paper documents and physical checks. Key upgrades include: Once a reimbursement is initiated through this new solution, recipients can choose
Scientists Think the Solution to an Infamous Paradox Could Be Hiding in the 7th Dimension
By stopping black holes from fully evaporating, hidden dimensions may solve a cosmological paradox.
New issue: Mirrorlife | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Mirror life could end all life on Earth. That sounds dramatic, but senior biologists have raised the alarm about experiments happening all around the world. It sounds like something in a Doctor Who plot, but no – mirror life is a real possibility. So why do scientists want to create something that’s potentially apocalyptic? Well, it could also have huge benefits (think back to splitting the atom). The first thing to say, however, is that mirror organisms are still a little way away yet – but only decades, not centuries. So far, scientists have only made mirror molecules, one of life’s building blocks. What for? Life works because its building blocks fit together. Imagine drilling a screw into a piece of wood. The screw cuts a hole with a thread that snugly matches its own. If, for some reason, the Doctor showed up and handed you a mirror version of the screw, its thread would be in reverse. It wouldn’t twist into the hole you’d just made as the threads wouldn’t match. That said, the mirror screw would still work; you’d just have to create a mirror hole for it. Mirror molecules, including DNA, work a bit like that. They follow the same principles as the biology around us, but they’re entirely incompatible with traditional biological functions. In medical terms, this means they’re effectively invisible to your body’s systems. Our biology doesn’t have the tools to recognise these molecules and break them apart. And if someone took these mirror molecules and put them together to make a cell and then an organism… you’d have mirror life. But we don't have any way of breaking it down. If it escaped the lab, we’d just have to hope it didn’t have an appetite.
'Big loss' for F1 if Verstappen quits, say McLaren rivals
If four-time world champion Max Verstappen were to quit Formula One, as he has hinted on numerous occasions, it would be a "big loss" for the sport, his McLaren rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri said on Wednesday."I think it would be a big loss for the sport as a whole.
Are malls dying? University Park Mall shoppers, business owners weigh in
Some shoppers say they think malls are dying, but the general manager for University Park mall suggests it is very much alive.
Europe’s Most Active Volcano Just Got Stranger – Here’s Why Scientists Are Rethinking It
New research suggests Mount Etna forms from deep mantle magma pockets, possibly classifying it as a rare “petit-spot” volcano rather than a typical tectonic or hotspot volcano.
DoD seeks to split Defense Health Program into two accounts in fiscal 2027
Prioritization of payments to health insurance companies degraded medical readiness platforms and military medical staff skills," DoD wrote.
AI-driven sports technology from Carnegie Mellon students draws interest from Mark Cuban
More than 68 million Americans play a racquet sport, but improving their skills can be difficult. Costs for lessons are becoming increasingly expensive, and feedback for technique isn’t always individualized. But three Carnegie Mellon University students think they have an answer. They launched a company called ServeSense. Pitching their technology
Behind every crunch: The surprising science of potato chips
Behind the humble potato chip are researchers constantly thinking up new ways to make potatoes tastier, hardier and more adaptable.
Michigan football's biggest weakness may not be what you think
ESPN identified Michigan football's strengths and weaknesses after the spring game, but the Wolverines' true challenge may lie elsewhere.
I asked ChatGPT to use Charlie Munger’s ‘Inversion rule' to rethink my goals — and it beat every productivity app
AI made me see my own behaviors as "success killers" and it was the reality check I needed
Trump-aligned think tank goes after hospitals
Paragon Health claims government policy has led to today's problems.
What does it take to protect brain health? 10 habits to start now
Most U.S. adults think brain health is at least as important as physical health, according to a new survey from the Alzheimer’s Association.
Mozilla Used Anthropic’s Mythos to Find and Fix 151 Bugs in Firefox
The Firefox team doesn’t think emerging AI capabilities will upend cybersecurity long term, but they warn that software developers are likely in for a rocky transition.
Cubs Manager Craig Counsell Thinks the Ohtani Rule is 'Bizarre'
Cubs manager Craig Counsell thinks a Major League Baseball rule that allows the Los Angeles Dodgers to carry 14 pitchers because of Shohei Ohtani is “bizarre."
Warsh vows to keep monetary policy independent of politics
STORY: :: Fed chief nominee Warsh vows to keep monetary policy independent of politics:: Washington, D.C. / April 21, 2026:: Kevin Warsh, Federal Reserve chief nominee“Monetary policy independence is essential. Monetary policymakers must act in the nation's interest. Their decision is the product of rigor, deliberation and unclouded decision-making. And as Senator Warren said, I do not believe that independence of monetary policy is threatened when elected officials state their views on rates. Fed independence is up to the Fed." // :: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Democrat on Senate Banking Committee“So, independence takes courage. Let's check out your independence and your courage. We'll start easy. Mr. Warsh, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”WARSH: “Um, we try to keep politics, if I’m confirmed, out of the Federal Reserve.”WARREN: “I’m just asking you a factual question. I need to know. I need to measure your independence and your courage.”WARSH: “Senator, I believe that this body certified that election many years ago.”WARREN: “That’s not the question I’m asking. I’m asking did Donald Trump lose in 2020?”WARSH: “And I’m suggesting to you in 2020…”WARREN: “I’m suggesting you can’t answer that.”WARSH: “… the Fed had a huge inflation problem, and you certified the election…[crosstalk]… let’s keep the politics out of monetary policy.” //WARREN: "Just one little place where you disagree with Donald Trump.”WARSH: “Well, I do have a disagreement actually, Senator, with the president. I think even this morning, he said that he thought I was out of central casting. I think central casting, I'd look older, grayer, maybe show up here with a cigar of sorts.”WARREN: “Quite adorable. But, you know, we need a Fed chair who is independent. That's the only way we preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve. If you can't answer these questions, you don't have the courage and you don't have the independence.”In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee that quickly hinted at major changes to come at a Warsh-led Fed, the 56-year-old lawyer and financier blamed the central bank for an inflation surge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to hurt U.S. households.Warsh's hearing quickly turned contentious. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Warsh on his independence and "courage", saying President Donald Trump had made clear Warsh would be his "sock puppet".
Oberlin Launches Rotberg Lecture in African Politics with April 22 Inaugural Talk | Oberlin College and Conservatory
Oberlin College and Conservatory has established the Robert I. Rotberg ’55 and Fiona J. Y. Rotberg ’90 Annual Lecture in African Politics, a new endowed series that will bring leading scholars to campus each year.The lecture series is designed to expand opportunities for students and the broader community to engage with the study of political development across the African continent—past, present, and future—while also reflecting Oberlin’s longstanding connections to influential African leaders and thinkers.
‘Is it life? We can’t tell’: Nasa’s Curiosity rover finds organic molecules on Mars
Scientists think they are looking at chemical building blocks of life preserved for 3.5bn years
Places in the US everyone should see, according to frequent traveler
As someone who's visited all 50 US states and every major national park, I think everyone should visit places like Northern New Mexico at least once.
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
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