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This study examines how members of the public frame artificial intelligence (AI) along with how news use predicts “frames in mind” for AI. The study also tests whether news use, science fiction viewing, and discussing technology influence attitudes toward AI independently and in conjunction with one another. The analyses use data from a nationally representative online panel survey. Respondents invoked social progress and Pandora’s box frames for AI, and technology news use predicted mentioning each frame. Use of technology news also predicted change in support for AI, while science fiction viewing and discussing technology were conditionally related to such change.

This research note examines how framing influences attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI). It uses an experiment embedded in a nationally representative online survey to test the effects of text-based frames and visuals on opinion about developing, funding, and banning AI. Participants exposed to a “social progress” frame reported greater support for AI than those exposed to a “Pandora’s box” frame. Images (virtual assistants, personal robots, menacing movie AIs, or none) did not influence opinion by themselves but interacted with textual frames to do so. The results extend our understanding of framing effects on public attitudes toward emerging technologies.

Soil-atmosphere exchange significantly influences the global atmospheric abundances of carbon dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ), and nitrous oxide (N2 O). These greenhouse gases (GHGs) have been extensively studied at the soil profile level and extrapolated to coarser scales (regional and global). However, finer scale studies of soil aggregation have not received much attention, even though elucidating the GHG activities at the full spectrum of scales rather than just coarse levels is essential for reducing the large uncertainties in the current atmospheric budgets of these gases. Through synthesizing relevant studies, we propose that aggregates, as relatively separate micro-environments embedded in a complex soil matrix, can be viewed as biogeochemical reactors of GHGs. Aggregate reactivity is determined by both aggregate size (which determines the reactor size) and the bulk soil environment including both biotic and abiotic factors (which further influence the reaction conditions). With a systematic, dynamic view of the soil system, implications of aggregate reactors for soil-atmosphere GHG exchange are determined by both an individual reactor's reactivity and dynamics in aggregate size distributions. Emerging evidence supports the contention that aggregate reactors significantly influence soil-atmosphere GHG exchange and may have global implications for carbon and nitrogen cycling. In the context of increasingly frequent and severe disturbances, we advocate more analyses of GHG activities at the aggregate scale. To complement data on aggregate reactors, we suggest developing bottom-up aggregate-based models (ABMs) that apply a trait-based approach and incorporate soil system heterogeneity.

The grassland biome is an important sink for atmospheric methane (CH4), a major greenhouse gas. There is considerable uncertainty in the grassland CH4 sink capacity due to diverse environmental gradients in which grasslands occur, and many environmental conditions can affect abiotic (e.g., CH4 diffusivity into soils) and biotic (e.g., methanotrophy) factors that determine spatial and temporal CH4 dynamics. We investigated the relative importance of a soil's gas diffusivity versus net methanotroph activity in 22 field plots in seven sites distributed across the US Great Plains by making approximately biweekly measures during the growing seasons over 3 years. We quantified net methanotroph activity and diffusivity by using an approach combining a gas tracer, chamber headspace measurements, and a mathematical model. At each plot, we also measured environmental characteristics, including water‐filled pore space (WFPS), soil temperature, and inorganic nitrogen contents, and examined the relative importance of these for controlling diffusivity and net methanotroph activity. At most of the plots across the seven sites, CH4 uptake rates were consistently greatest when WFPS was intermediate at the plot level. Our results show that variation in net methanotroph activity was more important than diffusivity in explaining temporal variations in net CH4 uptake, but the two factors were equally important for driving spatial variation across the seven sites. WFPS was a significant predictor for diffusivity only in plots with sandy soils. WFPS was the most important control on net methanotroph activity, with net methanotroph activity showing a parabolic response to WFPS (concave down), and the shape of this response differed significantly among sites. Moreover, we found that the WFPS level at peak net methanotroph activity was strongly correlated with the mean annual precipitation of the site. These results suggest that the local precipitation regime determines unique sensitivity of CH4 uptake rates to soil moisture. Our findings indicate that grassland CH4 uptake may be predicted using local soil water conditions. More variable soil moisture, potentially induced through predicted future extremes of rainfall and drought, could reduce grassland CH4 sink capacity in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study builds on cultivation theory to consider how use of different media – including television, social media, and podcasts – may predict belief in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and extraterrestrials. Extending previous research on media use and belief in paranormal phenomena, the study tests whether consumption of specific television genres, television news outlets, social media platforms, and podcast programs is linked to greater belief in UFOs. An analysis of national survey data (N = 1,035) collected two months after the widely publicized release of a US government report on 'unidentified aerial phenomena' shows that paranormal documentary and reality television viewing, Fox News viewing, YouTube use, and Joe Rogan Experience listening were positively associated with belief in UFOs. By illuminating how specific forms of media use predict public beliefs about one type of purported paranormal phenomena, the findings suggest future directions in investigating beliefs about other topics on the fringes of conventional inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite broad skepticism within the scientific community regarding paranormal phenomena such as ghosts and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), many members of the public believe in these phenomena. Previous studies have argued that viewing paranormal-themed television—including documentary, reality, and news programming—can cultivate such beliefs. In addition, recent research suggests that the online video-sharing platform YouTube may serve as an important source of messages about fringe phenomena. With that in mind, this study builds on theoretical accounts of genre-specific cultivation and social media affordances to examine how YouTube videos present paranormal topics and whether YouTube use predicts belief in the paranormal. A content analysis of 50 highly viewed YouTube videos about paranormal topics (25 about hauntings and 25 about UFOs) showed that a large majority of these videos featured paranormal claims and that a majority included purported footage of paranormal phenomena. Scientific sources appeared in only a quarter of UFO videos and almost no haunting videos, while government sources appeared in most UFO videos, but few haunting videos. An analysis of data from a survey of the U.S. public (n = 1,035), in turn, found that paranormal documentary or reality television viewing, paranormal news use, and YouTube use predicted belief in hauntings, controlling for a range of other media use variables and background factors. These results highlight the potential for video-sharing platforms such as YouTube to reinforce paranormal beliefs among the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a Commentary on the Virtual Issue 'Methane emissions from tree stems – current knowledge and challenges' that includes the following papers: Barba et al. (2019), Bréchet et al. (2021), Covey & Megonigal (2019), Feng et al. (2022), Flanagan et al. (2021), Jeffrey et al. (2019, 2021, 2023), Kohl et al. (2019), Machacova et al. (2021a,b, 2023), Megonigal et al. (2020), Pangala et al. (2013, 2014), Pitz & Megonigal (2017), Plain et al. (2019), Putkinen et al. (2021), Sjögersten et al. (2020), Takahashi et al. (2022), Tenhovirta et al. (2022), Wang et al. (2016), and Yip et al. (2018). Access the Virtual Issue at www.newphytologist.com/virtualissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]