Wake Forest News

Yahoo Life

Is my brain wired to never see a ghost? A psychologist on three factors that make a paranormal experience more likely

“Around 1 in 5 Americans say they’ve seen a ghost. I’m not one of them, and I probably never will be. I blame my brain,” writes Teaching Professor of Psychology Melissa Maffeo. “In my new book, ‘Science of the Supernatural,’ I explore the idea that the human brain might be creating an experience of the supernatural by misinterpreting the external world…Belief alone might not create a ghost, but belief combined with at least one haunted factor – environmental stimuli, neurological hiccups or psychological conditions – might be enough to make a ghost real.”

This article originally appeared in The Conversation and was reprinted in news outlets nationwide, including Phys.org, Inkl and Idaho Press.

May 28, 2026

Wisconsin Examiner

Trump ‘slush fund’ echoes scorned 19th-century spoils system, academics say

The Trump administration’s push to reward its supporters also harkens back to an earlier era of American cronyism, experts say, while expanding the frontiers of political favoritism. “It seems to me that may be the common element here,” said law professor Sidney Shapiro. “It appears President Trump is thinking about using the fund to reward people unfairly punished, but I think in his mind, it’s unfairly punished because they were trying to support him.”

This article originally appeared in The Conversation and was reprinted in news outlets nationwide, including the Utah News Dispatch, NC Newsline and Washington State Standard.

May 31, 2026