Should you accept internet cookies?

A new study finds ad revenue that supports digital publishers and content creators tumbles when internet cookies are removed.

It’s a choice you may face multiple times a day—and, at this point, your reaction is probably reflexive. Are you going to accept those internet cookies, reject them, or spend a little time customizing your settings?

Increasingly, internet users are pushing back against cookies—the digital crumbs used by websites and advertisers to spot returning customers—by choosing privacy-enhancing browsers or clicking that reject button.

But ditching the cookies may have big implications for the free web.

If digital companies, content creators, and advertisers aren’t making money from our surfing, the quality and usefulness of the products they offer might suffer too.

In the new study, Boston University researchers highlight the potential impact the loss of cookies has on advertisers and how alternative systems designed to balance privacy and revenue fail to recoup the costs.

They analyzed 200 million ad impressions—or views—worldwide and found that removing cookies cut website publishers’ revenue by more than a third. They also discovered that privacy-enhanced alternatives, notably a major Google project called Privacy Sandbox, only clawed back a small portion of that lost revenue.

The findings appear in PNAS.

“Internet cookies—especially third-party cookies—have been central to how online advertising works,” says Garrett Johnson, a BU Questrom School of Business associate professor of marketing. Third-party cookies are those placed by an organization, like an advertiser, not connected to the site you’re on.

“In our study, removing third-party cookies reduced publisher ad revenue by about 35%—and about 66% in the European Union—showing that cookies still play a major economic role in supporting the open web.”

The European Union has tougher online privacy rules than much of the rest of the world.

According to Zhengrong Gu, a Questrom PhD candidate, because cookies help advertisers spot users around the web, they can better target and measure their ads. That makes advertisers’ spending more efficient, putting more ad money in the pockets of content creators and publishers.

“If more users decline cookies, it would likely reduce the effectiveness of digital advertising and the revenue that supports much of the open web,” says Gu.

The downside of cookies: no one really likes being followed.

“Website cookies are online surveillance tools,” writes Wayne State University researcher Elizabeth Stoycheff in a Conversation article, “and the commercial and government entities that use them would prefer people not read those notifications too closely.”

There have been a couple of different responses to the decline in cookie use. One is the implementation of paywalls and subscriptions to keep the cash flowing; another is requiring customers to use log-ins that work across multiple sites. Tech companies are also experimenting with privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) that try to balance advertising needs with user privacy concerns. One of the best known PETs is Privacy Sandbox, Google’s now-defunct six-year experiment in cookie alternatives, which included innovations such as a browser tool that shared a customer’s interests rather than their detailed online history.

“In our study, Privacy Sandbox recovered only about 4% of the revenue lost when cookies were removed,” says Shunto J. Kobayashi, a Questrom assistant professor of marketing. That weak impact was in part due to the limited adoption of the new tools and because they changed the user experience, he says, introducing “technical frictions, especially slower ad loading times.”

In their paper, the researchers write that their findings, alongside those from other studies, “informed Google’s decision to abandon its plan to replace cookies with Privacy Sandbox. The episode underscores the difficulty of aligning privacy, performance, and competition goals in digital markets.”

To examine privacy technologies in a real-world setting, the BU team used data from ad management firm Raptive, and leveraged an experiment conducted by Google and overseen by the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority. During the study, Chrome users were randomly assigned to one of three groups: cookies-enabled, cookies-disabled, or cookies replaced by Privacy Sandbox. The study included around 60 million desktop and mobile Chrome users.

“The experiment created a rare opportunity for independent, large-scale evaluation open to external participants,” says Johnson, an expert on digital marketing who has studied privacy regulations, online ad effectiveness, and the economics of digital advertising.

He adds that many European regulators are considering even tighter online privacy rules, which could have a negative impact: “Our results provide unusually strong evidence—from a global, industry-wide field experiment—that restricting cookies carries significant economic downsides that regulators should consider.”

As for users faced with that daily accept or reject decision, Johnson recognizes that everyone will make the call that works for them—but he leans toward clicking “accept.”

“From my perspective, accepting cookies creates substantial benefits for the advertising ecosystem and the publishers I care about,” he says, “with what I perceive to be little personal risk.”

This research received financial support from the Center for Industry Self-Regulation.

Source: Boston University

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Losing pollinator insects puts human health at risk

Biodiversity loss is directly threatening human health and welfare, according to new research.

The study in Nature reveals for the first time how the decline of insect pollinators undermines essential ecosystem services that support human nutrition and livelihoods.

It’s been long known that insect pollinators are vital for producing many of the fruits, vegetables, and legumes that supply essential vitamins and minerals in our diets, yet clear evidence of how their decline affects people has been limited.

Working in 10 smallholder farming villages and their surrounding landscapes in Nepal, researchers traced the full chain of connections between wild pollinators, crop yields, and the nutrients families rely on. By tracking diets, crop nutrients, and the insects visiting those crops over a year, the research team showed how pollinators directly support both nutrition and livelihoods.

“This study directly connects the crops that local pollinators visit with people’s diets, nutrition, and income,” says Matt Smith, a research scientist in the environmental and occupational health sciences department at the University of Washington.

“It was a real collaborative effort across many partners to collect and analyze a large body of data, making it possible to explore these links.”

The study found insect pollinators were responsible for 44% of people’s farming income and contributed more than 20% of their intake of vitamin A, folate, and vitamin E. When pollinators decline, families risk poorer nutrition leading to higher vulnerability to illness and infections, and deeper cycles of poverty and poor health. One quarter of the global population currently suffer from this “hidden hunger.”

The research shows there is real potential for positive change—nutrition and income can improve when communities support pollinators. Simple steps like planting wildflowers, using fewer pesticides, or keeping native bees can help boost pollinator numbers, strengthening both nature and people’s wellbeing.

Even though smallholder farmers are highly vulnerable to biodiversity loss, these practical local actions could enhance their food security and economic resilience. The findings could also help improve the health and livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers around the world.

“Our study shows that biodiversity is not a luxury—it is fundamental to our health, nutrition, and livelihoods,” says lead author Thomas Timberlake, who completed the research while at the University of Bristol and is now a postdoctoral research associate at the University of York, both in the United Kingdom.

“By revealing how species like pollinators support the food we eat, we highlight both the risks of biodiversity loss for human health and the powerful opportunities to improve human lives by working with nature.”

The research shows that human health is deeply tied to the health of nature. By tracking how pollinators support food production and diets, the study reveals that biodiversity loss isn’t just an environmental problem, it threatens public health and economic stability—as highlighted in the recent UK government national security assessment on global biodiversity loss.

With around 2 billion people relying on smallholder farming and with many facing vitamin deficiencies, protecting the ecosystems that support nutritious food is essential and crucial for sustainable development.

The study’s findings offer a practical framework to help policymakers and farmers design more nature‑positive farming systems. Although the research is focused on Nepal, the same connections shape food systems everywhere. Diets, even in industrialized countries, still depend on the pollinators and ecosystems that sustain global agriculture.

The researchers—spanning universities and non-governmental organizations across Nepal, the UK, the US, and Finland—are now putting their findings into action across Nepal to tackle pollinator declines and repair the pollination systems that support food production. Working with farmers, local organizations, researchers, and government partners, they are helping people understand the value of pollinators and how to support them in everyday farming.

By demonstrating why pollinators matter, and sharing simple, practical techniques to support them, the researchers are already seeing farmers adopt changes that boost crop yields, nutrition, and income.

“A ‘win-win’ scenario exists where we can simultaneously improve conditions for both biodiversity and people,” says coauthor Jane Memmott, professor of ecology at the University of Bristol.

“It takes ecological understanding, but it costs remarkably little and there are significant gains for both parties.”

This story was adapted from a press release by the University of Bristol.

Source: University of Washington

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What do teachers really think of AI in the classroom?

Artificial intelligence has swept into American schools, and more is sure to come.

This year, both Google and Microsoft—the two biggest companies at the forefront of the AI boom—announced major investments in AI training for teachers.

But what do teachers think of this transformation of their work?

Katie Davis, a University of Washington professor in the Information School and codirector of the Center for Digital Youth, studies how technology affects young people’s learning and development. Davis has also been teaching for over two decades—first as an elementary school teacher and now as a professor—so she’s acutely aware of how earlier technological revolutions in teaching have not always played out as hoped.

Davis and a UW-led team of researchers interviewed 22 teachers in Aurora Public Schools in Colorado—a district that’s investing heavily in AI through systems like Google’s Gemini and MagicSchool, an AI tool that helps teachers plan.

Overall, teachers were ambivalent about the technology. They liked that it could reduce workload, especially for rote tasks, but worried that it could erode the social aspects of teaching.

The team presented its research at the Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Barcelona.

Here, Davis talks about the study and how ostensibly democratizing technologies can widen disparities in schools:

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Reducing fear is key to improving trust in police

Reducing fear is critical for improving trust in law enforcement, according to a new study.

Law enforcement is a critical aspect of ensuring safety in communities. However, unjustified harm has been associated with law enforcement throughout history, resulting in tension between police and communities.

Fear of unjustified police harm remains prevalent, especially in minoritized communities. However, research on this fear has not typically focused on the importance of psychology when it comes to understanding community perceptions of law enforcement.

The new research from Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice sought to understand some of the explanations for fear of unjustified police harm.

Published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, the research suggests that the perceived likelihood and severity of an incident explain why some people fear law enforcement.

“We pursued this project in hopes of contributing to the knowledge base regarding fear of police,” says Keara Werth, lead investigator on the project and doctoral student at the MSU School of Criminal Justice.

“By seeking to understand the reasons behind differences in fear of the police, we hope our findings will be used to increase the quality of relationships between police and the community members they serve.”

Conversations about police staffing and training are important for improving trust, but perceptions rooted in fear are hard to change, especially when communities have experienced unjustified harm.

Existing research has highlighted demographic differences surrounding fear. For example, Black/African American individuals typically report the greatest fear of being killed by law enforcement. Regarding political beliefs, pro-police attitudes are usually much higher among Republicans compared to Democrats.

Working with Associate Professor Joe Hamm, the research team sought to develop a psychological understanding of fear of crime through three key factors: control, likelihood, and severity of the fear of crime. They created a survey to measure these three factors and collected data from participants who have both racial and political differences.

They found that fearful participants tended to believe that it was likely that an officer would harm them and that, if they did, the harm would be severe.

The study did not find a strong link between fear and a person’s sense of control over these situations. That may suggest people feel they have little influence over encounters involving police force, or that “control” is difficult to define in these situations. The researchers say more work is needed to better understand and measure how people perceive control during police interactions.

The researchers also examined whether these patterns differed across racial and ethnic groups. While the factors linked to fear were somewhat stronger among white participants than other groups, the overall findings were similar: Regardless of background, people tended to feel fear for many of the same underlying reasons, especially how likely or severe they believed unjustified police harm could be.

The findings highlight the need to address police violence by better preparing officers to recognize and respond appropriately to threats, while limiting the use of more harmful tactics and weapons that can escalate encounters. The researchers note, however, that even if the actual risk and severity of police violence decrease, public perceptions and fears may take longer to change.

To strengthen relationships between the public and law enforcement, trust is key. Law enforcement must consistently demonstrate to the public—in word and action—that police can do their jobs appropriately and that they are serving and acting in the public’s best interest.

Additionally, the study suggests that people may not understand how they can establish meaningful control during interaction with law enforcement, therefore, important to create opportunities to expand the public’s understanding of strategies for deescalating situations or lawfully avoiding unjustified police harm to further mitigate fear.

As police officers across the nation continue to face scrutiny for their role in escalating the severity of interactions with the public, it is essential that fear and other emotions are considered when developing methods and efforts for improving trust.

“Police and community relations have long been an important conversation, but there is a lot of attention being paid right now, especially to the expanding role of federal law enforcement in the day-to-day lives of people across our country,” Hamm says.

“For many, that is—and should be—scary. There is an important balance to strike between protecting communities and motivating fear. It is important to focus attention on the efforts that are most likely to ensure that policing is both effective and appropriately bounded.”

Source: Michigan State University

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Kratom use is on the rise in the US

A national study of kratom use in the US found rising popularity among young adults, and it is linked to addiction and mental health issues, according to new research.

This is the first known national study to examine the use patterns of kratom and its association with mental health and addiction, the researchers say.

Kratom is a plant from southeast Asia that’s sold online and in some stores in powders, liquid shots, pills, and teas. Opponents of kratom argue that it is addictive and widely available to children, while proponents say it is a safe, natural alternative for managing a host of ailments.

Given the changing policy landscape involving kratom in the US, it was an important time to conduct a national study with recent data to examine how many people—including children—use kratom, and its associations with mental health and substance use disorder, says Sean Esteban McCabe, a professor in the University of Michigan School of Nursing, and principal investigator.

The study appears in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Takeaways:

• More than 5 million people in the US say they have used kratom in their lifetime, including more than 100,000 children ages 12-17.
• Kratom use is at an all-time high and is increasing in the US, which is particularly notable given that about half of US states ban or regulate kratom.
• Most people who have used or currently use kratom have a substance use disorder, report cannabis use, and many have serious psychological distress and major depression.
• The findings reinforce that policy action is warranted to limit access to kratom by children and that better addiction and mental health treatment is needed.

The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved kratom for any medical use, and federal agencies have warned about potential risks, including addiction and serious side effects. The US Drug Enforcement Administration has also flagged kratom as a drug or chemical of concern, says McCabe, who is also the director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health, or DASH.

Products like 7-OH, or 7-hydroxymitragynine—a synthetic derivative of the kratom plant—are often sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and online in tablets, gummies, and drinks—can be five to 50 times more potent than regular kratom. It is sometimes marketed as legal morphine.

The researchers emphasized that the study does not prove kratom—whose main psychoactive chemical, mitragynine, comes from the plant’s leaves and stems—causes addiction or mental health problems. Because the survey captures a only a snapshot in time, it cannot determine which came first: kratom use or the mental health symptoms.

While the study examined mental health issues, a striking secondary finding was the increase in use, McCabe says. The share of Americans ages 12 and older who says they had ever used kratom rose from 1.6% in 2021 to 1.9% in 2024.

Adults ages 21-34 reported the highest use: About 3.4% says they had used kratom at least once, and about 1% says they used it in the past year.

“Policy changes regarding kratom and 7-OH products are needed in all states if we are serious about protecting our children,” McCabe says. “Five million people is more than the entire population of the six smallest states in the US combined—Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Delaware.”

Kratom use is likely under-reported in clinical settings because it does not show up on standard drug tests and requires specialized testing, McCabe says. At the same time, rules about kratom vary widely across the US—some states regulate it, while others do not—which can complicate public health and policy decisions, he says.

The study analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health collected from US households from 2021 to 2024.

Additional coauthors are from UM Medical School, DASH, Rush University, and Texas State University.

Support for the study came from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Source: University of Michigan

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Garlic works as birth control for mosquitoes

Researchers have discovered a naturally occurring compound in garlic that halts mating and egg-laying in insects.

Garlic is not a substance that most people consider an aphrodisiac. It turns out that mosquitoes agree.

In fact, the new Yale study finds that garlic also functions as a de facto birth control for mosquitoes and other winged insects. It’s an insight that could lead to eco-friendly pest control strategies.

According to research by the lab of Yale’s John Carlson, the presence of garlic blocks mating in mosquitoes and a variety of fly species. It’s not the pungent odor that’s a turnoff for these pests, the researchers found, but the taste. And the reason lies in a receptor inside their teeny taste organs.

The findings appear in the journal Cell.

“We study flies, including harmless ones like the fruit fly, to try to discover new ways of controlling species that pose danger to humans either by spreading disease or damaging crops,” says Carlson, a professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale.

“In this study, we started with fruit flies and then moved on to other species. And to our surprise, we found a natural compound in garlic that shuts down the mating process in these flies.”

Their method of finding this compound, which they call a “phytoscreen,” could spur new pest control strategies that are environmentally friendly, widely available, and inexpensive. Phyto is Greek for “plant.”

In a Q&A, Carlson explains the role of an enterprising postdoc in initiating this research, how it started with a “fruit fly buffet,” and why Victorian author Bram Stoker had it right about garlic and bloodthirsty creatures:

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New map of the cosmic web is the most detailed ever

Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced the most detailed map of the cosmic web ever made.

The work traces the network of galaxies all the way back to when the universe was one billion years old.

The cosmic web is the universe’s vast, skeleton-like framework—a network of interwoven filaments and sheets of dark matter and gas that surround immense, nearly empty voids. It forms the underlying architecture of the cosmos, linking galaxies and clusters into a single, intricate, and far-reaching structure.

The study in The Astrophysical Journal used the largest James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) survey conducted so far—the COSMOS-Web—to trace how galaxies form a network across 13.7 billion years of cosmic history.

Since its launch in 2021, JWST has transformed astronomy with its extraordinary sensitivity and sharpness. Its infrared instruments pick up faint, distant galaxies that were invisible to earlier observatories, allowing scientists to see further back in time than ever before, and through cosmic dust.

To harness this power, an international team designed COSMOS-Web, the largest General Observer (GO) program selected for JWST. The GO program is the primary way astronomers gain access to the telescope for their research. Covering a contiguous area of the sky about the size of three full Moons, the survey was designed to map the cosmic web.

“JWST has completely changed our view of the universe, and COSMOS-Web was designed from the start to give us the wide, deep view we need to see the cosmic web,” says Hossein Hatamnia, a graduate student at University of California, Riverside and Carnegie Observatories, and lead author of the study.

“For the first time we can study the evolution of galaxies in cluster and filamentary structures across cosmic time, all the way from when the universe was a billion years old up to the nearby universe.”

The nearby universe refers to our cosmic neighborhood within approximately 1 billion light-years. Approximately 5.88 trillion miles, a light-year is the distance light travels in one Earth year, used to measure massive distances in space.

Bahram Mobasher, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at UCR and Hatamnia’s advisor, explains that the large-scale structure identified from the JWST cosmic web data is much more informative than earlier maps of the same region of sky taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. A direct side-by-side comparison, he says, shows how much the previous generation of data had been smoothing over structures.

“The jump in depth and resolution is truly significant, and we can now see the cosmic web at a time when the universe was only a few hundred million years old, an era that was essentially out of reach before JWST,” Mobasher says.

“What used to look like a single structure now resolves into many, and details that were smoothed away before, are now clearly visible.”

Hatamnia explains that the improvement comes from two JWST strengths working together.

“The telescope detects many more faint galaxies in the same patch of sky, and the distances to those galaxies are measured far more precisely,” he says. “Each galaxy can therefore be placed into the correct slice of cosmic time, sharpening the map’s resolution.”

In keeping with COSMOS’s long tradition of open science, the team is releasing the large-scale structure maps publicly.

“The pipeline used to build the map, the catalog of 164,000 galaxies and their cosmic density, and a video showing the cosmic web evolving across billions of years, has been released to the public,” Mobasher says.

Mobasher and Hatamnia were joined in the study by scientists in the US, Denmark, Chile, France, Finland, Switzerland, Japan, China, Germany, and Italy.

The study was supported by grants from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

Source: UC Riverside

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