Linguistics Professor Philip Resnik (below) is testing whether machine learning could help uncover messages and subtle cues in social media postings that could indicate a user is at risk of committing suicide, giving mental health professionals a new tool to monitor patient well-being. (Illustration by Stocksy) Amid the poorly lit food pictures, duck-lipped selfies and political disinformation that swamp social media, imagine something else: a hope for saving lives.

In a new report, an international panel of experts on police use of force that included a University of Maryland researcher called for increased legal accountability, as well as enhanced training and more mental health treatment for officers.

How did the Taliban seize power so quickly? While the weakness of the Afghan state was no secret, the speed of the Taliban’s victory stemmed from a little-appreciated factor: their ability to use Afghanistan’s human geography to exploit that state fragility. In particular, the country’s low population density empowers fast-moving and cohesive attackers.