Simply Stated

PSL PSA: science and sentiment of the fall flavor phenomenon

September 15, 2025 by

The chemistry, neuroscience, and psychology of how pumpkin spice seasonal products captivate customers across America.
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Simply Stated: 4 psychologist-approved methods to savor your summer

July 31, 2025 by

Summer is a season of competing priorities: a narrow window to rest, recharge, and hustle, resulting in feelings of perpetual business and "time pressure" that make the months feel even faster. But by...
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Simply Stated: Do brain organoids show signs of human consciousness?

July 21, 2025 by

Scientists have discovered that organoids possess both the molecular and cellular characteristics of a developing brain. These experiments pose questions about what it means to be aware, feel and exis...
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Simply Stated: The health implications of soaking up the summer sun

July 11, 2025 by

Outdoor activities in the sun paired with longer days, less protective clothing and an increase in the ultraviolet index can all contribute to greater amounts of sun exposure, causing both costs and b...
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Simply Stated: Green growth vs. degrowth?

June 26, 2025 by

Can our economies grow even as natural resources dwindle? Or will we need to reimagine prosperity itself by prioritizing life over profits? These questions have laid the foundation for a debate on po...
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Simply Stated: Do you need high-protein everything?

May 1, 2025 by

The International Food Information Council’s 2024 Food & Health Survey suggests that the hunger for protein has become even more pronounced in recent years, perhaps due to American adults’ extensi...
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Simply Stated: Can nature have legal rights?

April 24, 2025 by

As the planet faces intensifying climate disasters, a growing number of legal scholars, activists and governments are calling for a radical shift in how we think about environmental protection — by ...
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Simply Stated: ‘Trash pandas’ on our campus: can we coexist?

April 17, 2025 by

Spotting a raccoon at night is an experience shared frequently by students at UC Santa Barbara but what brings them onto our campus? 
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Simply Stated: Is the ‘frat flu’ part of the college experience?

February 27, 2025 by

For students outside of Greek life, fraternity lingo can feel like a foreign language, yet one term has transcended the Greek glossary: “frat flu” colloquially describes the wave of viral upper re...
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Simply Stated: Siblings or dating? The science behind attraction

February 13, 2025 by

While doom-scrolling through posts on social media, you may have come across cheeky posts captioned: “siblings or dating?” The photos depict look-alike pairs and invite viewers to guess if the duo...
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Simply Stated: Companionship in the age of AI

February 6, 2025 by

Artificial intelligence (AI) companions are rapidly gaining popularity, created to mimic meaningful relationships and serve as personalized mental health support, often feeling unnaturally human.
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Simply Stated: Is gossiping a nasty habit or human nature?

January 16, 2025 by

While gossiping is often portrayed as a malicious activity, science shows that “spilling the tea” has significant roots in both evolutionary biology and social psychology.
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Simply Stated: What is 3D printing and how is it being used on campus?

December 19, 2024 by

If you have ever taken a peek inside the UC Santa Barbara Makerspace before, you might have seen a cluster of identical machines lined up against a wall, quietly at work creating parts of all shapes a...
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Simply Stated: How is randomness in nature plotted to form a simple bell curve?

November 21, 2024 by

Nature’s design can seem random upon first glance; however, a closer look reveals a common pattern that ties it all together, from the growth of a tree bark to the toss of a coin — the bell curve....
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Simply Stated: Can AI predict politics? Investigating the mathematics of election forecasting

November 5, 2024 by

Despite the overwhelming surplus of election predictions, many voters remain skeptical about whether it’s even possible to interpret the current political landscape through a scientific perspective....
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