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The issue: Some of America’s most politically sensitive issues concern our health: abortion, stem cell research, firearm safety and contraception, for example. In many cases, Democrats and Republicans split on these questions down party lines. So do doctors, according to a new study, depending on their political affiliation. These biases may be influencing how doctors treat patients.

The Issue: Need directions? Or a restaurant recommendation? These days, you’d probably seek help on your smartphone — a handy know-it-all device that can spit out answers to almost anything anywhere at any time. But a mere ten years ago, you may have asked someone — a neighbor, a stranger — for help. A new paper looks at the unseen social costs of this change in how we obtain information and interact with others.