Top research coverage of 2023

Whisky, contraception, cannabis: many of the Washington State University studies that garnered the most attention from news media in 2023 seemed to involve human pleasures—and their consequences. That focus may say something about the global mood in the first post-pandemic year, but it also speaks to the real-world impact of WSU’s research enterprise.

Three initiatives led by College of Arts & Sciences faculty were among the 10 leading stories from 2023 with the highest potential reach numbers, and another 22 news stories were in top

• Faster postal service linked to better voter turnout
  851.84 MILLION KBOI/KLEW, OPB, Study Finds, Yahoo News
  All the false claims in 2020 about mail-in voter fraud in the U.S. likely spurred interest in this connection between the post office speed and voter turnout found by WSU political scientist Michael Ritter. The story hit many U.S. online, print and broadcast outlets. Yahoo News carried the story multiple times, reprinting stories across its worldwide outlets including in Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, and the U.K.

• Urban light pollution linked to smaller eyes in birds
  427.72 million BBC, Earth.com, Forbes, Scribd, Yahoo News
  The unexpected insight that human activities may be changing the very eyes of common birds gave this story wings. This study, led by WSU wildlife ecologist Jennifer Phillips, also has implications for migrating birds whose eyes are not evolving to city lights as well as the more familiar painted buntings and northern cardinals often seen at backyard bird feeders across the country.

• Cannabis users appear to be relying less on conventional sleep aids
  420.75 million Forbes, KOIN-TV, High Times, New Atlas
  The curiosity about cannabis remains strong since so little is known about the popular drug as this story proves again. This study, from a team led by WSU psychology researcher Carrie Cuttler, found an interesting practice among current cannabis users that may hold a potential benefit for better sleep. That news woke up media outlets across the country.

These trends emerged from an analysis of the 79 scientific research press releases from 2023. WSU News staff used Meltwater media tracking software to calculate each story’s “potential reach.” This figure, which combines estimated audience of all media outlets where the story appeared, provides a rough estimate of how many times a story could have been seen rather than the number of actual people who saw it.

Read the full list of the 10 most-read stories.

Following are the additional 22 CAS research releases from last year ranked in order of total potential reach.

• Small differences in mom’s behavior may show up in child’s epigenome
• Few people seem to find real joy in JOMO
• Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops
• Dry lightning can spark wildfires even under wetter conditions
• Study indicates likely cause of common birth defect
• Elk hoof disease likely causes systemic changes
• Pacific Northwest snowpack endangered by increasing heatwaves
• Glacier National Park could be climate haven for Canada lynx
• Ticks prove resilient to extreme temperatures
• Pandemic pushed half-million kids into grandparents’ homes
• Low-impact human recreation changes wildlife behavior
• Bear genes show circadian rhythms even during hibernation
• High winds can worsen pathogen spread at outdoor chicken farms
• Preschoolers show cultural differences in generosity, competitiveness
• Epigenetic signature for obesity found in study of twins
• Bisexuals use cannabis more frequently for coping, enhancement
• Alcohol harm reduction can also reduce other substance use
• Stormwater biofiltration increases coho salmon hatchling survival
• Asian clams’ spread in Columbia River warns of worse invaders
• Gender gap found in research grant award amounts, re‑applications
• Exposure to soft robots decreases human fears about working with them
• New study suggests Mayas utilized market-based economics

By Sara Zaske, WSU Insider