Ending the COVID-19 emergency declaration | Top 10

+ the Super Bowl, legal betting and taxes US Edition - Today's top story: A journey from work to home is about more than just getting there – the psychological benefits of commuting that remote work doesn't provide [View in browser]( US Edition | 12 February 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( I’ve had commutes I’ve loved. Pushing my son in a stroller to catch a ferry across Boston Harbor. A long subway ride into Manhattan with plenty of time to read. A commuter rail ride from the Boston suburbs where I often found a friend to chat with in the crowded seats. The COVID-19 pandemic killed that last routine – and while the switch to working at home was sensible and had its unexpected upsides, I do sometimes miss the ritual of making my way into the office and back home again. So I wasn’t surprised that a story about how many Americans missed commuting was our most popular story of the week. Matthew Piszczek and Kristie McAlpine are management scholars at Wayne State University and Rutgers University who wanted to understand [how people felt when their commutes suddenly disappeared](. Commuting is “a time free of both home and work roles that provides an opportunity to … mentally switch gears,” they write. Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Experts expect a record-breaking 50 million bettors to wager $16 billion on the game. In New Jersey, state law requires yearly evaluations of the relationship of online gambling to problem gambling. Lia Nower conducts those annual evaluations as part of her work. The fastest-growing group of sports bettors is young adults, Nower writes. And the federal government is doing nothing about [advertising that glamorizes gambling](. Later this week, we’ll bring you stories about how the most diverse Supreme Court in history may rule on affirmative action, earthquake risks faced by nations around the world and the rural right-to-repair movement. Also check out [our latest ebook]( examining the rise of sports gambling in the U.S. Emily Costello Managing Editor Readers' picks Commuting can create a ‘liminal space.’ mikroman6/Moment via Getty Images [A journey from work to home is about more than just getting there – the psychological benefits of commuting that remote work doesn’t provide]( Matthew Piszczek, Wayne State University; Kristie McAlpine, Rutgers University It turns out that there are some benefits to all the time we spend commuting. - [Chinese spy balloon over the US: An aerospace expert explains how the balloons work and what they can see]( Iain Boyd, University of Colorado Boulder A Chinese high-altitude balloon violated U.S. airspace, a serious enough breach to nix a high-level diplomatic meeting in Beijing. The balloon itself, however, was not much of a threat. - [Large numbers of Americans want a strong, rough, anti-democratic leader]( Tarah Williams, Allegheny College; Andrew Bloeser, Allegheny College; Brian Harward, Allegheny College A large proportion of Americans is willing to support leaders who would violate democratic principles. - [Biden’s plan for ending the emergency declaration for COVID-19 signals a pivotal point in the pandemic – 4 questions answered]( Amy Lauren Fairchild, The Ohio State University; Marian Moser Jones, The Ohio State University President Joe Biden’s intention to end the national COVID-19 emergency will have long-lasting ripple effects on federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. - [ChatGPT is great – you’re just using it wrong]( Jonathan May, University of Southern California ChatGPT and other AI chatbots seem remarkably good at conversations. But you can’t believe anything they say. Sometimes, though, reality isn’t the point. Editors' picks Fans celebrate at the William Hill Sports Book in Atlantic City, N.J. Lisa Lake/Getty Images for William Hill US [Data from New Jersey is a warning sign for young sports bettors]( Lia Nower, Rutgers University Researchers who analyzed every sports bet placed online since 2018 found that young adults are the fastest-growing group of bettors, with more than 70% of them placing in-game bets. - [Lack of diversity in clinical trials is leaving women and patients of color behind and harming the future of medicine – Podcast]( Daniel Merino, The Conversation; Nehal El-Hadi, The Conversation Medicine works better when the treatments are tailored to fit each individual person’s biology and history. A first step is increasing diversity in clinical trials, but the end goal is precision medicine. - [Memphis police numbers dropped by nearly a quarter in recent years – were staffing shortages a factor in the killing of Tyre Nichols?]( Ian T. Adams, University of South Carolina; Justin Nix, University of Nebraska Omaha; Scott M. Mourtgos, University of Utah Police departments have faced recruitment and retention problems since the 2020 George Floyd protests. It has meant some agencies have had to lower standards to attract new officers. - [W.E.B. Du Bois, Black History Month and the importance of African American studies]( Chad Williams, Brandeis University As the 20th century’s preeminent scholar-activist on race, W.E.B. Du Bois would not be surprised by modern-day attempts at whitewashing American history. He saw them in 1930s and 1940s. - [State of the Union address is Biden’s chance to shine – and a speechwriter’s burden to get voters to listen]( Mary Kate Cary, University of Virginia How does a State of the Union speech get written? A former White House presidential speechwriter describes the many hands in this process. News Quiz 🧠- [The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz]( Test your reading with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week on the State of the Union, earthquake in Turkey, Black History Month and New Zealand’s surprising new tax. --------------------------------------------------------------- Download the new e-book edition We are providing a magazine version of our series examining the rise of sports gambling in the U.S. [Check it out]( and reply to this email to tell us what you think. Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails: [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](