Latest news with #TheUniversityofTexasatAustin


New York Post
02-07-2025
- Science
- New York Post
The key to solving your relationship problems might come down to your emojis, new study reveals
Emojis can improve relationships, according to new research. Using the digital representations of emotions and ideas in text and social media messages boosts closeness and relationship satisfaction by complementing face-to-face interactions, say American scientists. Although emojis are highly prevalent in texting and social media, no previous studies had looked at their potential as a tool for fostering interpersonal connection. Advertisement Using the digital representations of emotions and ideas in text and social media messages boosts closeness and relationship satisfaction by complementing face-to-face interactions, say American scientists. ifeelstock – Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin investigated how emojis influence relationship perceptions in an era dominated by online interactions. The participants included 260 adults ranging in age from 23 to 67 who were randomly assigned to read 15 text message exchanges that varied only in the presence or absence of emojis in the text. Advertisement They were instructed to imagine themselves as the sender of each message and to focus on their partner's replies. Participants rated partners who used emojis as more responsive than partners who communicated through text alone. Study author Sally Huh said: 'This perceived partner responsiveness through emoji use was positively associated with closeness and relationship satisfaction. 'Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between face and non-face emojis, suggesting that the type of emoji may be less critical than previously assumed. Advertisement 'Rather, it may be the presence of emojis that drives perceptions of greater partner responsiveness and better relationships.' The design of the study, published in the journal PLOS One, focused only on one partner in an inherently two-way relationship. Participants rated partners who used emojis as more responsive than partners who communicated through text alone. ifeelstock – The researchers say the design helped to isolate the effects of emoji use on friendship dynamics, moving beyond the correlational approaches that dominate much of the existing literature. Advertisement They believe the findings show that emojis may serve not only as expressive devices but also as signals of attentiveness and emotional engagement. Ms Huh added: 'The study revealed that emojis can boost relationship satisfaction by signalling emotional attentiveness. 'Interestingly, it's not the type of emoji but simply their presence that makes people feel closer to their partner.'


Time of India
16-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Indian-origin professor wins Gödel Prize: Eshan Chattopadhyay and David Zuckerman awarded; breakthrough research in Computer Science
Eshan Chattopadhyay (left) and David Zuckerman (right) (Image credit: Cornell University official website & The University of Texas at Austin official website) Eshan Chattopadhyay, associate professor at Cornell University and David Zuckerman, professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin have been awarded the 2025 Gödel Prize. The prize was awarded for their research paper, 'Explicit Two-Source Extractors and Resilient Functions,' which presents a landmark solution to a central open problem in randomness extraction. Originally published in 2019, the paper introduced a novel method for constructing explicit two-source extractors—mathematical tools used to generate high-quality randomness from two weakly random sources. Eshan Chattopadhyay, an Indian-origin professor, completed his PhD at The University of Texas at Austin before joining Cornell University. His research focuses on pseudorandomness, circuit complexity, and communication complexity. In 2021, he received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Expressing his gratitude, Chattopadhyay said, 'This recognition is truly an incredible honor. The Gödel Prize has celebrated some of the most beautiful and foundational work in our field. It feels surreal—and deeply gratifying—that our paper is being placed in that category.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo David Zuckerman earned his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He is widely recognized for his foundational contributions to pseudorandomness and computational complexity. His impact in the field was earlier recognized with the 30-Year Test of Time Award at FOCS 2021. Zuckerman on being conferred the award said, 'Previously, most research on randomness extraction focused on seeded extractors.' 'Now, our work—and the works that followed—have demonstrated major advances in two-source extractors and Ramsey graphs. I hope this attracts young talent to the field,' he added. Named after the renowned logician Kurt Gödel, the Gödel Prize is jointly awarded by ACM SIGACT and the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science. It will be formally presented at the ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) in Prague this June.

Miami Herald
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
USA Olympian Yared Nuguse Publicly Comes Out, Hard-Launches Relationship
Team USA Olympian Yared Nuguse is giving fans a major look into his love life. The athlete, 25, came out by hard-launching his relationship with his boyfriend, Julian Falco, via Instagram. "Introducing my boyfriend, Julian. Can't believe we're already one year in my love ," he captioned a slideshow of pics of the two on Friday, March 28. He added in parentheses, "Don't act so surprised." The photos included selfies of the pair and pics from their year full of adventures together, from singing karaoke to dinner dates to posing underneath a heart-shaped arch. The post's slide featured a funny clip of Falco flailing his arms around while playing a VR video game. Several of Nuguse's fellow athletes shared their happiness for the couple in the post's comments section. "Awe love this news happy anniversary!!" Canadian long-distance runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford commented. Team USA track-and-field Paralympian Hunter Woodhall left two red heart emojis underneath the post, while Team USA middle-distance runner Nikki Hiltz commented, "Obsessed ." The post marked the first time Nuguse featured his boyfriend on his Instagram, while Falco has his page set to private. According to his LinkedIn profile, Falco graduated with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from The University of Texas at Austin in 2022. Nuguse, for his part, ran cross country at Dupont Manual High Schooll in Louisville, Kentucky, before becoming a student athlete at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to competing for the school's cross country and track and field teams, Nuguse earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 2021 and a master of science degree in management in the following year. Nuguse scored multiple titles during his time at Notre Dame, including the 2021 ACC Men's Outdoor Track Performer of the Year, ACC Men's Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Athlete and multiple national championship titles, per the school's website. Nicknamed "The Goose," Nuguse qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after his graduation but had to pull out of the Games after suffering a quad strain. "It was getting better each day to where I thought I would be fine come race day, but I was still having difficulty running at faster paces before the race," he shared via Instagram in August 2021. "Being honest with myself after my warm-up, I knew I couldn't finish the race. There was no point in making my injury worse than it already was when I knew I couldn't succeed, which is such a hard thing to accept." Luckily, he bounced back and traveled to Paris to compete in the 2024 Olympics, where he earned a bronze medal in the men's 1,500-meter race. "Thank you to everyone who's supported me, even if you didn't know who I was before this," he wrote in an August 2024 Instagram post alongside snaps from his Paris Olympics experience. "I know I'm a little goofy, and probably not your standard medalist, but you continue to cheer me on anyway and I really appreciate that." Among the many Nuguse thanked, he gave a fun shout-out to Taylor Swift "for the inspiration on the amazing shirts." His family and friends sported customized t-shirts inspired by Swift's Eras Tour merch, only they featured pictures of Nuguse instead of the Grammy winner. Copyright 2025 Us Weekly. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UT Austin Professor: US tariffs, threats ‘absolutely' set up China for regional trade takeover
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On again, off again tariffs have been one of President Donald Trump's primary tools of international and domestic economic policy, with the stated means of bringing other countries to negotiations and putting tension on the manufacturing sector. The President announced his tariff plan on April 2, placing 'reciprocal' tariffs on most U.S. trading partners. That followed other tariffs brought against Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports to the US. Jeremi Suri, a public affairs and history professor at The University of Texas at Austin, spoke with KXAN about what impact tariffs could have on the country's international relations. In particular, he highlighted the 'deeply interconnected' connection between the American and European economies. 'These are countries we have worked with so closely for so long. If we sever those relationships, it's like losing your BFFs,' Suri said. 'These were the countries that came forward for us after 911, these are countries that supported us during the war in Yugoslavia. We have worked closely with them in Ukraine. If we don't have our BFFs, we're going to be alone in the world.' A week after his 'Liberation Day' announcement, Trump announced he would pause the reciprocal tariffs, putting most countries at his baseline 10% rate. But this pause only creates uncertainty, Suri said. White House defends tariffs strategy '[Investors] don't know what is going to happen next. It's hard to make investment choices,' he said. 'I've talked to business people here in Austin who say, 'well, I might not want tariffs, but if there are tariffs, I can adjust my business, but I'm not going to make big investments to adjust my business if I don't know the tariffs are permanent, or if I don't know that the pause is permanent.'' 'Scrambling to stay alive': Central Texas businesses impacted by Trump's 145% tariffs China did not receive a pause, and tariffs between it and the U.S. continued to climb into the triple digits. Despite this, Suri said the situation 'absolutely' puts China in an advantageous spot to overtake American trade in Asia. 'For more than a decade, the United States has told countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Japan— 'We're a better trading partner. You can trust us. Don't trust the Chinese, even though the Chinese are a closer market, even though they make more of the things you might want,'' Suri said. 'But now … we have raised our tariffs, which will transform their economies and hurt a lot of their citizens. We didn't consult them, and now we're trying to threaten and coerce them into changing the way they operate.' The professor cited the coverage of tariffs in the foreign press, noting that 'these countries are not happy.' 'They're very angry at the United States. And so that makes China look like a more attractive alternative,' he said. '[China] will make deals that might not even be good for China in the short run — they want to basically get the United States out of the neighborhood. That has been the long-term Chinese plan.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nature's Sunshine Appoints Katie A. May to Board of Directors
LEHI, Utah, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. (Nature's Sunshine) (NASDAQ: NATR), a leading manufacturer of high-quality herbal and nutritional supplements, today announced the appointment of Ms. Katie A. May to its board of directors effective January 30, 2025. Nature's Sunshine's board will now consist of ten directors with nine serving as independent directors. "Katie brings significant experience scaling and leading high-growth B2C, ecommerce and logistics companies," said Richard D. Moss, Chairman of the Board of Nature's Sunshine. "Her deep understanding of the full ecommerce lifecycle will strengthen and enhance our digital capabilities and drive shareholder value." Ms. May was previously the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kidspot, an Australia based online publisher, eventually selling to News Corp in 2011. Katie became Chief Executive Officer at ShippingEasy, a Sydney based start-up in 2012, moved it to Austin, Texas, and built this ecommerce software solution to a leading player in the space, exiting to in mid-2016, joining their board in 2019. Following acquisition of ShippingEasy, Katie also assumed leadership of St. Louis-based Shipworks, overseeing both companies until her retirement in 2020. Ms. May serves on the boards of directors of Vivi International Pty Ltd., Australian education technology company, since February 2020, ROKT Pte Ltd., a global leader in ecommerce marketing technology, since July 2020, and Onramp Funds, Inc., a financing technology platform, since March 2021. Ms. May previously served on the board of directors of Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: STMP), a leading provider of mailing and shipping services, Thinkific Labs, Inc. (TSX: THNC), a cloud-based software company for creators, and Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI), a global shipping and mailing company. Ms. May received an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and B.B.A. in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin. About Nature's SunshineNature's Sunshine Products (Nasdaq: NATR), a leading natural health and wellness company, markets and distributes nutritional and personal care products in more than 40 countries. Nature's Sunshine manufactures most of its products through its own state-of-the-art facilities to ensure its products continue to set the standard for the highest quality, safety, and efficacy on the market today. Additional information about the Company can be obtained at its website, Investor RelationsGateway GroupCody Slach1-949-574-3860NATR@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at