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My brothers text messages can read like fragments of an ancient code: hru, wyd, plztruncated, cryptic, and never quite satisfying to receive. Ill often find myself second-guessing whether gr8 means actual excitement or whether its a perfunctory nod. This oddity has nagged at me for years, so I eventually embarked upon a series of studies with fellow researchers Sam Maglio and Yiran Zhang. I wanted to know whether these clipped missives might undermine genuine dialogue, exploring the unspoken signals behind digital shorthand. As we gathered data, surveyed people and set up experiments, it became clear that those tiny shortcutssometimes hailed as a hallmark of efficient communicationundermine relationships instead of simplifying them. Short words lead to feeling shortchanged Most people type ty and brb (for thank you and be right back) without batting an eye. In a survey we conducted of 150 American texters ages 18 to 65, 90.1% reported regularly using abbreviations in their daily messages, and 84.2% believed these shortcuts had either a positive effect or no meaningful impact on how the messages were perceived by the recipients. But our findings suggest that the mere inclusion of abbreviations, although seemingly benign, start feeling like a brush-off. In other words, whenever a texter chops words down to their bare consonants, recipients sense a lack of effort, which causes them to disengage. Its a subtle but pervasive phenomenon that most people dont intuit. We started with controlled lab tests, presenting 1,170 participants ages 15 to 80 with one of two near-identical text exchanges: one set sprinkled with abbreviations, the other fully spelled out. In every single scenario, participants rated the abbreviating sender as less sincere and far less worthy of a reply. The deeper we dug, the more consistent the pattern became. Whether people were reading messages about weekend plans or major life events, the presence of truncated words and phrases such as plz, sry, or idk for please, sorry, or I dont know made the recipients feel shortchanged. The phenomenon didnt stop with strangers. In more experiments, we tested whether closeness changed the dynamic. If youre texting a dear friend or a romantic partner, can you abbreviate to your hearts content? Evidently not. Even people imagining themselves chatting with a longtime buddy reported feeling a little put off by half-spelled words, and that sense of disappointment chipped away at how authentic the interaction felt. From Discord to dating apps Still, we had nagging doubts: Might this just be some artificial lab effect? We wondered whether real people on real platforms might behave differently. So we took our questions to Discord, a vibrant online social community where people chat about everything from anime to politics. More importantly, Discord is filled with younger people who use abbreviations like its second nature. We messaged random users asking them to recommend TV shows to watch. One set of messages fully spelled out our inquiry; the other set was filled with abbreviations. True to our lab results, fewer people responded to the abbreviated ask. Even among digital nativesyouthful, tech-savvy users who are well versed in the casual parlance of text messaginga text plastered with shortcuts still felt undercooked. If a few missing letters can sour casual chats, what happens when love enters the equation? After all, texting has become a cornerstone of modern romance, from coy flirtations to soul-baring confessions. Could plz call me inadvertently jeopardize a budding connection? Or does u up? hint at more apathy than affection? These questions guided our next foray, as we set out to discover whether the swift efficiency of abbreviations might actually short-circuit the delicate dance of courtship and intimacy. Our leap into the realm of romance culminated on Valentines Day with an online speed dating experiment. We paired participants for timed dates inside a private messaging portal, and offered half of them small incentives to pepper their replies with abbreviations such as ty instead of thank you. When it came time to exchange contact information, the daters receiving abbreviation-heavy notes were notably more reluctant, citing a lack of effort from the other party. Perhaps the most eye-opening evidence came from a separate study running a deep analysis of hundreds of thousands of Tinder conversations. The data showed that messages stuffed with abbreviations such as u and rly scored fewer overall responses and short-circuited conversations. Its the thought that counts We want to be clear: Were not campaigning to ban lol. Our research suggests that a few scattered abbreviations dont necessarily torpedo a friendship. Nor does every one of the many messages sent to many people every day warrant the full spelling-out treatment. Dont care about coming across as sincere? Dont need the recipient to respond? Then by all means, abbreviate away. Instead, its the overall reliance on condensed phrases that consistently lowers our impression of the senders sincerity. When we type plz a dozen times in a conversation, we risk broadcasting that the other person isnt worth the extra letters. The effect may be subtle in a single exchange. But over time, it accumulates. If your ultimate goal is to nurture a deeper connection, be it with a friend, a sibling, or a prospective date, taking an extra second to type thanks might be a wise investment. Abbreviations began as a clever workaround for clunky flip phones, with its keypad texting (recall tapping 5 three times to type the letter L) and strict monthly character limits. Yet here we are, long past those days, still trafficking in omg and brb, as though necessity never ended. After all of those studies, Ive circled back to my brothers texts with fresh eyes. Ive since shared with him our findings about how those tiny shortcuts can come across as half-hearted or indifferent. He still fires off brb in half his texts, and Ill probably never see him type Im sorry in full. But somethings shifting: He typed thank you a few times, even threw in a surprisingly heartfelt hope youre well the other day. Its a modest shift, but maybe thats the point. Sometimes, just a few more letters can let someone know they really matter. David Fang is a PhD student in marketing at Stanford University. Sam Maglio, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Toronto, contributed to the writing of this article. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The Easter holiday is celebrated by billions of Christians around the world. But even if you are not partaking in the festivities, store closures or reduced store hours might impact you. Heres what to expect on Easter Sunday. Grocery store closures Whether you need to stock up on eggs and chocolate bunnies at the last minute or simply run out of milk, be aware that many supermarkets are closed for Easter Sunday, including Aldi, Costco, H-E-B, and Sam’s Club. For last-minute purchases, try a Trader Joe’sunless you live in Portland, Maine, where the local stores will be closed. Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Vons, and Tom Thumb will all be open. Clothing store closures Plan to shop ahead for your Easter outfit, as retailers JCPenney, Macys, Marshalls, Target, Kohls, and TJ Maxx will close their doors Sunday, as will HomeGoods, Sierra, and Homesense locations. Walmart will remain open for business. For the status of other major retailers today, you can find a nice roundup from USA Today. Home improvement and crafting store closures Some hobbies might have to wait as well. If Lowes is your home improvement store of choice, know that it will be closed on Easter. Home Depot is a good alternative. In a similar vein, if Michaels or Hobby Lobby are your craft supply spots, stock up ahead of the holiday, as neither will be staffed for your creative pursuits. Pharmacy closures Major pharmacy chains such as Walgreens and CVS will be open for Easter but may have reduced hours, so check ahead if you need medication. A brief look at religious affiliation in America The U.S. remains a predominantly Christian nation. A 2023 Gallup Poll found 68% of the country considered themselves Christian. There is diversity of denomination in that figure. Breaking it down further, 33% identify as Protestant, 22% are Catholic, and 13% are considered other or just prefer the Christian label.
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Around the U.S., about 90,000 tons of nuclear waste is stored at more than 100 sites in 39 states, in a range of different structures and containers. For decades, the nation has been trying to send it all to one secure location. A 1987 federal law named Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, as a permanent disposal site for nuclear wastebut political and legal challenges led to construction delays. Work on the site had barely started before Congress ended the projects funding altogether in 2011. The 94 nuclear reactors currently operating at 54 power plants continue to generate more radioactive waste. Public and commercial interest in nuclear power is rising because of concerns regarding emissions from fossil fuel power plants and the possibility of new applications for smaller-scale nuclear plants to power data centers and manufacturing. This renewed interest gives new urgency to the effort to find a place to put the waste. In March 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments related to the effort to find a temporary storage location for the nations nuclear waste; a ruling is expected by late June. No matter the outcome, the decades-long struggle to find a permanent place to dispose of nuclear waste will probably continue for many years to come. I am a scholar who specializes in corrosion; one focus of my work has been containing nuclear waste during temporary storage and permanent disposal. There are generally two forms of significantly radioactive waste in the U.S.: waste from making nuclear weapons during the Cold War, and waste from generating electricity at nuclear power plants. There are also small amounts of other radioactive waste, such as that associated with medical treatments. Waste from weapons manufacturing Remnants of the chemical processing of radioactive material needed to manufacture nuclear weapons, often called defense waste, will eventually be melted along with glass, with the resulting material poured into stainless steel containers. These canisters are 10 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter, weighing approximately 5,000 pounds when filled. For now, though, most of it is stored in underground steel tanks, primarily at Hanford, Washington, and Savannah River, South Carolina, key sites in U.S. nuclear weapons development. At Savannah River, some of the waste has already been processed with glass, but much of it remains untreated. At both of those locations, some of the radioactive waste has already leaked into the soil beneath the tanks, though officials have said there is no danger to human health. Most of the current efforts to contain the waste focus on protecting the tanks from corrosion and cracking to prevent further leakage. Waste from electricity generation The vast majority of nuclear waste in the U.S. is spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants. Before it is used, nuclear fuel exists as uranium oxide pellets that are sealed within zirconium tubes, which are themselves bundled together. These bundles of fuel rods are about 12 to 16 feet long and about 5 to 8 inches in diameter. In a nuclear reactor, the fission reactions fueled by the uranium in those rods emit heat that is used to create hot water or steam to drive turbines and generate electricity. After about three to five years, the fission reactions in a given bundle of fuel slow down significantly, even though the material remains highly radioactive. The spent fuel bundles are removed from the reactor and moved elsewhere on the power plants property, where they are placed into a massive pool of water to cool them down. After about five years, the fuel bundles are removed, dried, and sealed in welded stainless steel canisters. These canisters are still radioactive and thermally hot, so they are stored outdoors in concrete vaults that sit on concrete pads, also on the power plants property. These vaults have vents to ensure air flows past the canisters to continue cooling them. As of December 2024, there were more than 315,000 bundles of spent nuclear fuel rods in the U.S., and 3,800-plus dry storage casks in concrete vaults above ground, located at current and former power plants across the country. Even reactors that have been decommissioned and demolished still have concrete vaults storing radioactive waste, which must be secured and maintained by the power company that owned the nuclear plant. The threat of water One threat to these storage methods is corrosion. Because they need water to both transfer nuclear energy into electricity and to cool the reactor, nuclear power plants are always located alongside soures of water. In the U.S., nine are within 2 miles of the ocean, which poses a particular threat to the waste containers. As waves break on the coastline, saltwater is sprayed into the air as particles. When those salt and water particles settle on metal surfaces, they can cause corrosion, which is why its common to see heavily corroded structures near the ocean. At nuclear waste storage locations near the ocean, that salt spray can settle on the steel canisters. Generally, stainless steel is resistant to corrosion, which you can see in the shiny pots and pans in many Americans kitchens. But in certain circumstances, localized pits and cracks can form on stainless steel surfaces. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Energy has funded research, including my own, into the potential dangers of this type of corrosion. The general findings are that stainless steel canisters could pit or crack when stored near a seashore. But a radioactive leak would require not only corrosion of the container but also of the zirconium rods and of the fuel inside them. So it is unlikely that this type of corrosion would result in the release of radioactivity. A long way off A more permanent solution is likely years, or decades, away. Not only must a long-term site be geologically suitable to store nuclear waste for thousands of years, but it must also be politically palatable to the American people. In addition, there will be many challenges associated with transporting the waste, in its containers, by road or rail, from reactors across the country to wherever that permanent site ultimately is. Perhaps there will be a temporary site whose location passes muster with the Supreme Court. But in the meantime, the waste will stay where it is. Gerald Frankel is a distinguished professor of materials science and engineering at the Ohio State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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