New Zealand needs to better communicate just how much and how quickly sea levels are rising. A new study shows that many New Zealanders are overestimating sea levels now and in the future, how quickly sea levels are rising, and what's behind it.

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/accurate-climate-change-information-is-critical

Researchers spoke to over two hundred people about their experiences with online discussions. People are cautiously optimistic that social media platforms can design themselves in a way that fosters a more civil discussion. But companies musn't get too enthusiastic. For example, a forced 30-second timeout feature might be considered too much or too creepy.

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/making-a-more-civil-social-media-space

Almost a quarter of surveyed women who gave birth at the Ottawa Hospital during last spring's COVID lockdown - that is between March and June 2020 - experienced controlling or abusive behaviour from their partners one year before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and one year after birth...

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/intimate-partner-violence-during-COVID19

If you're slamming the political opposition, chances are your post will go viral. Researchers analyzed almost 3 million Tweets and Facebook posts published by American liberal and conservative media outlets and Members of Congress from across the political spectrum...

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/posts-slamming-political-opposition-go-viral

A new report asks the UK government to support libraries to reduce digital inequalities. Government services are increasingly online and digital. But this digital transformation is leaving marginalised people behind...

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/libraries-welcome-those-lacking-digital-skills-or-access

In many communities today, child victims and witnesses are being supported by justice facility dogs. These are highly trained and accredited service dogs who assist children who have been victims of violence and harassment...

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/justice-facility-dogs

Almost 5 percent of our population lives with aphantasia. They cannot visualize things. Researcher Mathew MacKisack spoke to artists, designers, and architects who have aphantasia - how do they work as visual artists without being able to visualize inside their head?

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/visual-artists-who-cannot-picture-things

A new study estimates that 75 percent of the world’s medicinal plant applications are only known in one language. These languages have allowed indigenous people to describe and pass on their knowledge of medical plants. But if their languages go extinct, valuable medical knowledge will be lost. Forever.

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/save-indigenous-languages-to-save-precious-medical-knowledge

How does witnessing or hearing about hate crime change people's view on ethnic minorities?Researchers found, for example, that people reporting second-hand information about hate crimes - which are often exaggerated and unreliable - were more likely to think negatively about migrants, exclude them from their communities, and wouldn't be too keen moving into a neighbourhood where new migrants lived.

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/witnessing-hate-crimes

When Europeans arrived in the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries, they brought colonial rule but also diseases that wiped out most local populations, many of whom were farmers. The theory goes that fewer numbers of locals meant less land cultivation, and this could have caused forests to grow back. A new study says we need to re-think this theory...

http://researchstoryteller.com/espressoknowledge/history-can-help-conserve-tropical-forests