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How to make social media work for you: Scroll less, connect more

Published: December 12, 2024

Latest stories in Science & Technology

A cyclist wearing a red and black jacket rides quickly down a city street, carrying a large green delivery backpack, with blurred buildings in the background.

Gig platform workers need better health and well-being protections

Gig economy workers face job insecurity, a lack of human interaction and more

A padlock with a fingerprint scanner on a blue digital background.

What is Indigenous data sovereignty and why does it matter?

Control over data related to Residential Schools and more is crucial to truth and reconciliation in Canada

A robot in a retirement home with a happy old woman.

How AI social robots could support people living with dementia and their care providers

Artificial intelligence could help personalize care at home and in long-term settings

A weekly pill organizer with several happy pills arranged around it.

New genetic testing could tell you which antidepressant works best for you

Pharmacogenomic testing could help find effective treatment for depression faster

A photo of Professor Karen Bakker on the TED stage with an orca on the LCD screen behind her.

How AI could transform our relationship with the natural world

Technology could help us decode the sounds of nature and non-human communication

An image of a bearded man holding a phone that is focused on looking at a clone of himself in a dark room

AI clones made from user data pose uncanny risks

It’s imperative to recognize the implications of AI clone technologies

Lady justice on digital background

Will AI revolutionize the legal profession? The jury is still out

AI could change how people access legal services and the approach to legal aid

An illustration of a hand holding scissors cutting a day off the work week

Could AI help bring about the four-day workweek?

Increasing productivity could lead to layoffs or a better quality of life for all

An image of a woman and an AI robot facing off

How to compete with AI and win in the job market

These human skills and qualities will become more valuable as AI changes the way we work

A photo of a man sitting in an airplane seat looking out the window with rocket debris flying past

Airplanes face a growing risk of being hit by uncontrolled re-entries of rockets used to launch satellites

While the probability of an airplane being struck by space debris is extremely small, it could justify regulatory action

Is AI coming for white-collar jobs? A psychology professor finds out the hard way

You might be surprised by what AI can do, possibly better than you

A collage shown a driver, a cell phone, and a delivery worker

What is the difference between the gig economy and the platform economy?

Gig work is much broader than Uber drivers and food-delivery workers

A gig economy delivery worker coming out from a cell phone supported by a finger

Working in the gig economy? What you don’t know might hurt you

Gig workers must balance the risks and benefits as employment law starts to catch up

Using drone deliveries to enhance health care in rural, remote and Indigenous communities

A UBC partnership could make health care more accessible to isolated communities across Canada

A woman wearing a mask in the driver's seat looking at a cell phone.

Delay and deflect: How women gig workers respond to sexual harassment

The design of apps allows delivery drivers to be harassed with impunity

A collage showing a woman using a virtual reality headset as well as code.

What is the metaverse?

If you don’t know what the “metaverse” is, you’re not alone. A UBC computer science expert explains.

A family in the forest with social media ads popping up around them

How much privacy is there in the age of AI and the metaverse?

Artificial intelligence is increasingly influencing consumer behaviour, putting privacy at risk

What you might not know about cryptocurrencies

Investing in Bitcoin and NFTs comes with financial risks – and environmental costs

Understanding blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFTs

What is a blockchain? How do cryptocurrencies work? What is an NFT? Here’s a quick rundown

BC heat waves threaten survival of bee colonies

Insulated bee hives could protect bees from heat stress

A young child with autism plays with colourful building blocks

Exploring the genetics of autism

UBC researcher explains how a new initiative could alter the future of autism diagnosis and treatment

Photo illustration of an aerial view of cars that are powered by green hydrogen on a highway.

Why green hydrogen — but not grey — could help solve climate change

Green hydrogen could allow us to drive for 1,000 kilometres on a single tank of fuel without any emissions

A doctor and a senior patient look at the patient's personalized genomic sequencing results on a tablet in a doctors office

How genomics is changing health care

Genomic sequencing is creating a new age of health and medicine that is more personalized and targeted than ever before

A collage showing a scientific illustration of DNA, the results of genome sequencing and a person working in a genomics lab

What is genomics?

UBC Faculty of Medicine associate professors explain the study of genes

Photo illustration of fire coming out of a wine glass to illustrate smoky tasting wine

How wildfires are tainting grapes with smoke and threatening the wine industry

A chemistry professor at UBC Okanagan explains why wildfire smoke poses a massive threat to BC’s wine industry

A photo illustration depicting a bird about to fly into a window

How to prevent birds from hitting windows

Windows crashes are much more common than you might think, but there is plenty you can do to help

An illustration showing birds and windows that they could potentially fly into

Why do birds fly into windows?

How can we prevent birds from flying into windows? Understanding the causes can lead to easy fixes

Illustration showing how pollination works with insects, and how it leads to fruit and vegetables

How fruits and vegetables have sex

What exactly is pollination? UBC’s Dr. Claire Kremen breaks it down

An illustration showing how insect biodiversity affects the foods we eat

With biodiversity under siege, even blueberries and chocolate could be at risk

When pollinators like native bees are threatened, so is the abundance and diversity of foods we eat

A medical professional gives a COVID-19 vaccination to a senior

Protection provided by COVID-19 vaccination

UBC vaccine expert Anna Blakney addresses the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and choosing among them

Illustration showing population groups that are not yet approved for the COVID-19 vaccine, including children and pregnant women

COVID-19 vaccinations, pregnancy and kids

A UBC vaccine expert explains why there’s no vaccine for these groups yet

A medical professional gives a COVID-19 vaccine to an adult

How vaccines work

UBC vaccine expert Anna Blakney explains how vaccines work and what to consider when deciding whether to get vaccinated

A photo illustration of the mental health toll that the pandemic is taking on individuals

Weighing the pandemic’s psychological toll

Worldwide survey seeks input on everyone’s mental health

Two syringes with the COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccinations: what you need to know about the second dose

UBC’s Dr. Manish Sadarangani explains why some people are harder to vaccinate

An illustration showing COVID-19 mutations and variants

Why new COVID-19 variants are on the rise and spreading around the world

Viruses often change, and some mutations are more alarming than others

UBC astrophysicist Gary Hinshaw is exploring the universe with a new telescope, CHIME

Why questioning the universe matters to life on Earth

Attempts to answer the eternal questions have led to economically beneficial spin-offs, such as Wi-Fi

Student and a professor discuss an augmented reality app about the Syrian civil war during a UBC geography class

Beyond gaming: augmented reality app teaches empathy

App allows UBC students to walk through the experiences of Syrian refugees

Dr. Claudia Krebs shows the human brain in a UBC neuroanatomy video

You don’t have to be a neuroscientist to understand your brain

UBC neuroanatomy professor created YouTube videos to make medical education more accessible