About The Study: Using passive sensing on a sample of U.S. adolescents, this study found half of adolescents use their smartphones during school for at least 66 minutes daily, primarily using messaging and social media. These findings extend a prior study limited to Android devices that found adolescents spent a median of 43 minutes on their phones during school.

The State of the Nation Project, a bipartisan collaboration of former appointees and advisors from the past five presidential administrations, released its first comprehensive "State of the Nation" report to shed light on how the United States is doing in key areas — the economy, education, health, the environment, civic engagement, trust in major institutions — compared to historical trends and peer countries. 

In a recent article published in the Journal of Marketing, researchers from the University of Vaasa (Finland), Arizona State University (United States), and Hanken School of Economics (Finland) offer a new perspective on how immersive services, such as residental care, affect consumer agency. Their discovery expands marketing theory and offers actionable implications for organizations to improve the service experiences of their customers. The researchers define immersive service as a service that consumers are embedded in and surrounded by, in the sense that their life experience is within the service and, in great part, constructed by it for some period of time. Consumers frequently experience immersive service in healthcare (e.g., hospital stays, residential care), education (e.g., school/university attendance) or hospitality (e.g., air travel, resorts) among others. 

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) was designed to solve problems, enhance productivity, and push the boundaries of innovation. But since the rise of generative AI such as CHATGPT and DALL-E, people have had concerns about its potential to overshadow or replace key human skills. University of South Australia researchers have explored the complex relationship between AI and human creativity finding that while AI can generate creative outputs, it fundamentally relies on human intervention.

Okayama University of Science Recognized in THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025

Okayama University of Science (OUS) has achieved recognition in the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025, published by Times Higher Education (THE) on January 22. OUS was ranked in the 1001+ category globally in both Physical Sciences and Life Sciences, marking a significant milestone for the institution. Nationally, the university tied for 18th in Physical Sciences and 45th in Life Sciences among Japanese universities.

A total of 57 Japanese universities were included in these rankings. In Physical Sciences, OUS shares its ranking with institutions such as Tokyo University of Science, Yokohama National University, and Okayama University, while in Life Sciences, it tied with Kitasato University and Meiji University. Notably, OUS is the only private university in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions to be recognized in these subject rankings.

This achievement follows OUS's inclusion in the THE World University Rankings 2025, where it ranked 1501+ globally and 63rd nationally. These rankings reflect the university's commitment to excellence in research and education across various scientific disciplines.