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2025 Arctic Report Card shows a region transforming faster than expected

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:27:04 +0000

2025 Arctic Report Card shows a region transforming faster than expected Megan M Rogers Mon, 12/22/2025 - 13:27

The 20th anniversary of the annual report tracks how sea ice, snow cover and other vital signs of the Arctic have changed, and the impact that's having on people and wildlife. Read from CU experts Matthew Druckenmiller and Twila Moon and colleague Rick Thoman on The Conversation.

Read the Article The Conversation on CUBT

The Conversation

The Conversation is an independent, nonprofit publisher of commentary and analysis, authored by academics and edited by journalists for the general public. On a mission “to promote truthful information and strengthen journalism by unlocking the rich diversity of academic research for audiences across America,” they publish short articles by academics on timely topics related to their research. CU Boulder provides funding as a member of The Conversation U.S.

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Research charts the pathway from thought to emotion

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 19:02:35 +0000

Research charts the pathway from thought to emotion Megan M Rogers Mon, 12/22/2025 - 12:02

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

CU Boulder scientist Roselinde Kaiser and research colleagues seek to understand the connection between executive functioning and mood problems.

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Precious waterways: How contaminated mountain streams could power American-made technology

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:56:12 +0000

Precious waterways: How contaminated mountain streams could power American-made technology Megan M Rogers Mon, 12/22/2025 - 11:56

INSTAAR

Diane McKnight and Tom Marchitto are collaborators on a new project looking for a way to extract rare earth metals from contaminated Colorado streams. The goal is to improve water quality while also increasing the domestic supply of raw materials for advanced technologies.

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Why a boy and his tiger still matter

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:54:11 +0000

Why a boy and his tiger still matter Megan M Rogers Mon, 12/22/2025 - 11:54

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson's beloved comic strip, ended three decades ago this month, yet its magic endures, says William Kuskin, CU Boulder English professor and expert on comics and graphic novels.

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Record heat, ice loss and rust-stained rivers mark another year of Arctic change

Elizabeth Lock — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 23:49:30 +0000

Record heat, ice loss and rust-stained rivers mark another year of Arctic change Elizabeth Lock Tue, 12/16/2025 - 16:49

The 2025 Arctic Report Card shows record heat, record-low sea ice, shrinking glaciers, rivers turning rusty orange, a typhoon, the continued warming of Arctic seas and more.

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Murder and the microbiome

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:29:46 +0000

Murder and the microbiome Megan M Rogers Tue, 12/16/2025 - 13:29

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

A paper co-authored by CU Boulder researcher Christopher Lowry draws upon the infamous "Twinkie defense" to explore the relationship between ultra-processed foods and human behavior.

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Tiny new device could enable giant future quantum computers

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:24:40 +0000

Tiny new device could enable giant future quantum computers Megan M Rogers Tue, 12/16/2025 - 13:24

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Researchers have developed a device that can precisely control laser light using a fraction of the power and space required today. This tiny device could unlock quantum computers capable of solving problems far beyond the reach of today's technologies.

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CIRES research reconstructs ancient Indus River flow to understand a disappeared civilization

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:20:44 +0000

CIRES research reconstructs ancient Indus River flow to understand a disappeared civilization Megan M Rogers Tue, 12/16/2025 - 13:20

CIRES

Research co-authored by Balaji Ragagopalan of CIRES helped identify hydrologic records that are key to understanding a disappeared civilization.

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The science behind successful holiday fundraising stories

Katy Hill — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 15:47:08 +0000

The science behind successful holiday fundraising stories Katy Hill Tue, 12/16/2025 - 08:47

Katy Marquardt Hill

The holidays bring out generosity, and for fundraisers, that’s an opportunity. But the right message can mean the difference between an appeal that goes unnoticed and one that inspires people to give. New research shows that the key to success lies in storytelling—specifically, the emotional journey of the story.

“People are often convinced by the heart, not just the brain,” said Liu Liu, assistant professor of marketing at the Leeds School of Business and co-author of the working paper, “Building Persuasive Stories With Emotional Sequences.” “Emotional storytelling reaches where reason sometimes can’t, so building empathy and a sense of connection is what turns a story into action.”

Liu Liu

The researchers, who included Leeds marketing professor Laura Kornish and Samsun Knight, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Toronto, analyzed more than 14,000 medical fundraising pitches on GoFundMe. They measured emotions across stories using an AI tool that detects emotion in text. They focused on three key emotional categories that are important to online fundraising: sadness, fear and caring. A fourth category–neutrality–was included to capture overall emotionality.

The findings were clear: Stories that start with sadness and end with caring are the most likely to reach their fundraising goals. For example, a fundraiser might begin by describing a patient’s sadness upon receiving a difficult diagnosis, then shift to expressions of caring and gratitude as friends and family rally around them, highlighting the support that a broader community, including donors, can provide.

Other story arcs, such as those that stay caring throughout or shift from sadness to a neutral tone, also tended to appear in higher-earning campaigns, according to the study. But the researchers caution that these trends are based on observational GoFundMe posts rather than controlled experiments, meaning they should be interpreted as correlations, not proof that these emotions cause donors to give more.

It’s not just which emotions a story evokes, Liu said; it’s the way those emotions unfold throughout the narrative.

“The order matters. A sad beginning captures attention and builds empathy. Ending with caring fosters identification with the person asking for help, which motivates donations,” she said.

Testing emotional storytelling

Measuring the emotional impact of stories is not easy. “Stories are complex and subjective. We wanted to capture narrative and language patterns in a scalable, accurate way,” Liu said.

To make sure the study’s results weren’t influenced by other factors that could affect emotional perception and fundraising success, the researchers developed a testing method involving crowd-sourced, large-language-model (LLM) assisted rewrites that include humans. LLMs generated rewritten fundraising narratives at scale, while humans ensured factual accuracy and natural-sounding emotional progression, Liu said.

The team first selected real fundraising pitches on GoFundMe and identified their baseline emotional arcs, then used the LLM to create rewrites targeting specific emotional sequences, such as sadness to caring. Human reviewers corrected any inaccuracies the LLM introduced and refined the text, then both the original and rewritten pitches were evaluated for persuasiveness and emotional impact.

Why the sadness-to-caring arc resonates

The researchers also explored why stories that move from sadness to caring seem to resonate with donors. “Sadness may signal the problem, while caring may highlight the humanity and gratitude of the person asking. That combination makes donors feel close to the protagonist, and that identification increases donations,” Liu said.

In other words, people are more likely to give when they can see themselves in the story and connect with the person or cause.

Even short-form stories like social media posts or email appeals can benefit from this approach, Liu said. And although the study centered on medical fundraising, the findings can be used as a blueprint that other types of nonprofits can adapt to craft more compelling calls for donations.

“Our work identifies one powerful sequence for medical fundraising, but the method can be applied more broadly: Nonprofits can find the sequence that resonates most with their audience,” Liu said.

New research shows that donation appeals work best when they follow certain emotional arcs.

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Code Reddit: How community guidelines, moderation can impede internet incivility

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:30:51 +0000

Code Reddit: How community guidelines, moderation can impede internet incivility Megan M Rogers Mon, 12/15/2025 - 11:30

College of Communication, Media, Design and Information

A new paper finds subreddits with clearly defined rules and active volunteer moderators do well at limiting incivility and encouraging expression.

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