Thursday, June 05, 2025

Russia using museums for ideological indoctrination about the Ukraine invasion, study shows

University of Exeter

Russian leaders have increasingly used museums and their digital collections to show propaganda about Slavic unity and deny Ukrainian identity since the 2022 invasion, analysis shows.

The research shows the increasing ideological indoctrination of Russian museums and digital spaces, a tightening of access to digital collections, and using copyright to limit and control how online collections are accessed and reused.

Russian museum websites and online collections have portrayed Ukraine, its history, and culture as inseparable from Russia before 2022. During the past three years they have hosted exhibitions which represent occupied territories as historically and culturally Russian, framing the invasion of Ukraine as a fight against Nazism and NATO, and glorifying the invasion and individuals who served in the Russian Army.

Ksenia Lavrenteva, from the University of Exeter, examined activities organised by Russian museums before and after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as well as legislation, cultural policies, and museum practices.

This included four museums - Russian Museum, State Hermitage Museum, the State Historical Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, and the State Catalogue, a national database of digitised museum objects, as well as 25 Russian museum websites.

She found Russian museums are functioning as components of the state’s ideological apparatus. This means researchers using them should prioritize non-Russian sources, particularly those from Ukrainian and other perspectives, to ensure a more critical and balanced approach to cultural heritage.

Ms Lavrenteva found since 2022 there have been at least 50 online exhibitions addressing Ukraine—its history, culture, and the Russian invasion—hosted by Russian museums and museums in occupied Ukrainian territories.

Before 2022 the State Catalogue, a national database of digitised museum objects, had restricted provenance information and museum-controlled usage policies that hindered academic and creative endeavours. After the invasion there was more overt mechanisms of ideological indoctrination, tighter information control, and the closure of data related to Russia.

Ms Lavrenteva said: “The research shows how museums within authoritarian regimes can be weaponized to reinforce state ideology, suppress dissent, and obscure the history of those who do not conform to state narratives.

“Open access can help to ensure greater diversity in representations, expressions, and cultures. But it can enhance the spread of ideological narratives with the reuse of Russian-produced data.

“This study underscores the need to scrutinize who controls access to cultural data and for what purposes. There is a need for a more critical and context-sensitive approach to open access —one that balances its potential for inclusivity with safeguards to prevent the amplification of oppressive ideologies.”

Numerous museum exhibitions and events have depicted heroes of the Russian invasion and soldiers. Belongings of individuals serving in the Russian Army during the invasion are included in the museum collections.

The “Angels of Donbas” project commemorates children who died between 2014 and 2023 in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This project, created by the Donetsk Republican Local History Museum (under the control of the occupying government), regularly appears on the websites of various museums in Russia and in occupied territories, as well as on museum social media networks. Although labelled as an exhibition, the project consists of only 18 slides featuring photographs and brief textual descriptions.

During the first year of the invasion, Russian museums hosted 58 events on “Nazism,” with some focusing on World War II and others drawing parallels with contemporary issues, specifically discussing “Ukrainian neo-Nazism”. Exhibitions such as “Evidence of Crimes by Ukrainian Nazis in Donbas” and “Ordinary Nazism,” trace the “history of Ukrainian Nazism” and portray Ukraine as a Nazi state, thereby justifying the Russian invasion as a fight against Nazism akin to World War II. Exhibitions such as “NATO: History of Lies” and “NATO: Chronicles of Cruelty” aim to present the Russian war in Ukraine as a war against NATO.

“Donbas — Russia: History and Modernity” aims to showcase “authentic documents and other material evidence of the centuries-old inseparable connection between Donbas and Russia. The exhibition begins its historical narrative only after the region became part of the Russian Empire, while disregarding previous history in the region. This exhibition is featured both online and physically by over 50 museums, libraries, and galleries in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Russian museums and those in occupied Ukrainian territories have marked occupation anniversaries by presenting these regions as part of Russian history and culture.

The Russian Ministry of Culture has launched the 2023 Guidelines for Creating Exhibitions on the History of the Special Military Operation. These exhibitions are expected to focus on the occupied regions of Ukraine from 2022, emphasize these regions’ historical significance as integral parts of Russia, highlight alleged anti-Russian sentiments in Ukraine, and present the purported reasons for Russia’s invasion. These reasons include the “ongoing terrorist shelling of Donbas” and “NATO’s involvement in enhancing the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”.

Recommendations for museum displays include illustrating “Ukrainian nationalist ideologies,” depicting Ukrainian soldiers as Nazis and drug addicts, and documenting civilian experiences through artifacts such as “children’s toys with blood stains or damage,” “instruments of torture,” and “oral testimonies from residents of liberated territories”.

The recently adopted Federal Law No. 63-FZ (2023) stipulates that museum objects located in occupied territories are part of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation. The law requires objects taken from Ukrainian museums or located in the occupied territories and illegally held by Russia to be digitized and presented in accordance with Russian ideology.

Journal

Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

DOI

10.31274/jlsc.18274

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Gatekeeping Access: Exploring Open Access Challenges for Museum Collections Held in Russia

How and for whom using generative AI affects creativity: a field experiment

Tulane University

A new study led by Tulane University researchers reveals that generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can enhance employees' creativity — but only if they know how to think critically about their own work and utilize the tools effectively.

The study, set to be published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, is one of the first field experiments to test how large language models (LLMs) impact creativity in real-world work settings. Researchers worked with a technology consulting firm and randomly assigned 250 employees to either use ChatGPT or not during a regular workweek. Supervisors and outside reviewers evaluated their creativity.

Employees with access to AI performed better — generating more novel and useful ideas — than those who didn’t use the tool. But the boost wasn’t equal across the board.

The employees who benefited most weren’t just using ChatGPT passively. They were actively thinking about how to approach their work, what problems they were trying to solve, and how best to use the AI to support their goals. In short, they were skilled at managing their own thinking — planning, reflecting, and adjusting their approach as needed.

“Generative AI use doesn't automatically make people more creative. It boosts creativity only for employees who use ‘metacognitive strategies’ — those who actively analyze their tasks, monitor their thought processes and adjust their approaches,” said lead author Shuhua Sun, who holds the Peter W. and Paul A. Callais Professorship in Entrepreneurship at Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business.

These findings have major implications for companies investing in AI to drive innovation. Simply rolling out tools like ChatGPT isn’t enough, the researchers say. To achieve results, companies also need to help employees develop better thinking habits — including how to assess problems, adjust strategies, and utilize new resources.

“Even the most advanced generative AI systems won’t enhance creativity if employees are passive consumers of their output and lack the metacognitive strategies needed to engage with them effectively. To unlock AI’s potential for boosting workplace creativity, organizations must go beyond simply deploying new tools—they also need to invest in developing employees’ metacognitive skills and promote thoughtful, strategic use of AI to acquire the cognitive job resources that support creative thinking,” Sun said.

The good news, according to the study, is that these thinking skills can be taught. The researchers point to short training programs that help workers become more intentional in how they plan, monitor, and adapt their work — all of which make them more effective at using AI tools creatively.

The study’s implications extend beyond the workplace. Sun and his coauthors urge educators and policymakers to treat metacognitive skill development as a core priority in preparing students and workers for the age of AI. While education systems have long emphasized cognitive skills, they have often paid less attention to developing metacognitive abilities—skills that will be essential as AI becomes an everyday tool in the future of work.

“If we want people to thrive alongside AI, we need to start treating metacognitive skill development as a foundational part of education and professional training in the AI era,” Sun said.

The study also included researchers from Renmin University of China, Nanyang Technological University, Rice University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Journal

Journal of Applied Psychology

DOI

10.1037/apl0001296

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

How and for Whom Using Generative AI Affects Creativity: A Field Experiment

New USF study: Why fake online reviews still fool consumers

Are consumers naturally skeptical of online reviews, or do they tend to believe them? The answer lies in what psychologists call a “truth bias”

University of South Florida

TAMPA, Fla. (June 5, 2025) – Despite growing awareness of fake online reviews, a new University of South Florida study finds that consumers still overwhelmingly trust what they read — even when they shouldn’t.

The article, “The Illusion of Authenticity in Online Reviews: Truth Bias and the Role of Valence,” was recently published online in the premier journal Information Systems Research.

The research investigates a key question: Are consumers naturally skeptical of online reviews, or do they tend to believe them? The answer lies in what psychologists call a “truth bias” — the tendency to assume information is truthful unless there’s strong evidence otherwise.

“Our research is among the first to examine how consumers make real or fake judgments of online reviews,” said study co-author Dezhi Yin, an associate professor at the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. “A better understanding of the consumer perspective is critical, as it is consumers who are the ultimate target of review manipulation.”

Other co-authors include Samuel D. Bond of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Han Zhang of Georgia Tech and Hong Kong Baptist University.

The findings are derived from five experimental studies conducted between 2018 and 2023, in which Yin and his co-authors gave study participants a collection of reviews and asked them to classify each review as “real” or “fake.”

Even when told in advance that half the reviews were fabricated, participants consistently classified the majority of reviews as real.

In one example, participants were shown 20 restaurant reviews and told that only 10 of the reviews were authentic. All the reviews were presented on a single screen, making it easy for participants to go “back and forth” to calibrate their judgments. Nonetheless, they still classified an average of 11.38 reviews as authentic.

“This illustrates the power of truth bias in this context,” Yin said.

The researchers also explored how the tone of reviews — positive or negative — affects perceptions of authenticity. Real-world data from a variety of online platforms shows that negative reviews are more likely to be fake than positive reviews.

However, participants in the studies were substantially more likely to trust negative reviews than positive reviews. “Our findings suggest a striking contrast between reality and perception,” Yin said.

The research has significant implications for platforms and marketplaces that rely heavily on consumer reviews. The researchers argue that relying on users to “report” suspicious content is largely ineffective. Instead, platforms should prioritize identifying and mitigating fake negative reviews and labeling potentially fraudulent content.

They also suggest that interface design can play a role in reducing deception, for example, by grouping positive and negative reviews separately or providing rating-based sorting tools.

Yin and his co-authors hope to inspire more research that builds on theories of deception and consumer psychology to combat misinformation in the digital marketplace.

###

About the University of South Florida

The University of South Florida, a high-impact research university dedicated to student success and committed to community engagement, generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. Across campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health, USF serves approximately 50,000 students who represent nearly 150 different countries. U.S. News & World Report has ranked USF as one of the nation’s top 50 public universities for six consecutive years and, for the second straight year, as the best value university in Florida. In 2023, USF became the first public university in Florida in nearly 40 years to be invited to join the Association of American Universities, a group of the leading 3% of universities in the United States and Canada. With an all-time high of $738 million in research funding in 2024 and a ranking as a top 20 public university for producing new U.S. patents, USF is a leader in solving global problems and improving lives. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.

Journal

Information Systems Research

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The Illusion of Authenticity in Online Reviews: Truth Bias and the Role of Valence

WhaleSETI:

Curious humpback whales approach humans and blow bubble “smoke” rings

Newly documented behavior in a recently published paper by SETI Institute and UC Davis team members may offer insights into nonhuman intelligence—and help shape the search for life beyond Earth

SETI Institute
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image:
Bubble ring created by a humpback whale named Thorn.
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Credit: © Dan Knaub, The Video Company

June 5, 2025, Mountain View, CA -- A team of scientists from the SETI Institute and the University of California at Davis documented, for the first time, humpback whales producing large bubble rings, like a human smoker blowing smoke rings, during friendly interactions with humans. This previously little studied behavior may represent play or communication. Humpback whales are already known for using bubbles to corral prey and creating bubble trails and bursts when competing to escort a female whale. These new observations show humpback whales producing bubble rings during friendly encounters with humans. This finding contributes to the WhaleSETI team’s broader goal of studying non-human intelligence to aid in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
“Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrial intelligence and life will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers,” said Dr. Laurance Doyle, SETI Institute scientist and co-author on the paper. “This important assumption is certainly supported by the independent evolution of curious behavior in humpback whales.”
“Humpback whales live in complex societies, are acoustically diverse, use bubble tools and assist other species being harassed by predators,” said co-lead author Dr. Fred Sharpe, UC Davis Affiliate. “Now, akin to a candidate signal, we show they are blowing bubble rings in our direction in an apparent attempt to playfully interact, observe our response, and/or engage in some form of communication.”
“Humpback whales often exhibit inquisitive, friendly behavior towards boats and human swimmers,” said co-lead author Jodi Frediani, marine wildlife photographer and U.C. Davis Affiliate. “We’ve now located a dozen whales from populations around the world, the majority of which have voluntarily approached boats and swimmers blowing bubble rings during these episodes of curious behavior.”
The team’s findings were recently published in Marine Mammal Science in a paper titled “Humpback Whales Blow Poloidal Vortex Bubble Rings.” The study analyzes 12 bubble ring–production episodes involving 39 rings made by 11 individual whales.
Similar to studying Antarctica or other terrestrial analogs as a proxy for Mars, the Whale-SETI team is studying intelligent, non-terrestrial (aquatic), nonhuman communication systems to develop filters that aid in parsing cosmic signals for signs of extraterrestrial life. As noted by Karen Pryor, “patterns of bubble production in cetaceans constitute a mode of communication not available to terrestrial mammals” (Pryor 1990).
Other team members and coauthors of the paper are Dr. Josephine Hubbard (Postdoc, U.C. Davis), Doug Perrine (Doug Perrine Photography), Simon Hilbourne (Marine Research Facility, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), Dr. Joy Reidenberg (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY) and Dr. Brenda McCowan, ( U.C. Davis, Veterinary Medicine), with specialties in animal intelligences, photography and behavior of humpback whales, whale anatomy, and the use of AI in parsing animal communication, respectively. An earlier paper by the team was published in the journal, PeerJ, entitled, “Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as a Tool for Detecting and Exploring Nonhuman Intelligence: “Conversing” with an Alaskan Humpback Whale.” The authors would like to acknowledge the Templeton Foundation Diverse Intelligences Program for financial support of this work.
For more information, visit WhaleSETI.
The paper is available here: Humpback Whales Blow Poloidal Vortex Bubble Rings.
The team previously published a paper on humpback whale communication here: Interactive bioacoustics playback as a tool for detecting and exploroing nonhuman intelligence: “conversing” with an Alaskan humpback whale.
About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages data analytics, machine learning, and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia, and government agencies, including NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Composite image of at least one bubble ring from each episode.

Credit

Photo attributions: (a) D. Knaub, (b) F. Nicklen, (c) D. Perrine, (d) W. Davis, (e) G. Flipse, (f) A. Henry, (g) M. Gaughan, (h) H. Romanchik, (i) D. Patton, (j) D. Perrine, (k) S. Istrup, (l) S. Hilbourne

Journal

Marine Mammal Science

DOI

10.1111/mms.70026

Article Title

Humpback Whales Blow Poloidal Vortex Bubble Rings

UN-backed global research shows benefits of tracking ocean giants for marine conservation

WHOI researchers part of collaborative, international effort to increase Marine Protected Areas and other strategies

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Shark — image:
A team of international scientists, including from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, have tracked over 100 marine megafauna species, identifying the most critical locations in our global oceans for better marine conservation efforts, and the establishment of effective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
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Credit: (Photo by Ryan Daly)

Woods Hole, Mass. (June 5, 2025) -- A team of international scientists, including from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, have tracked over 100 marine megafauna species, identifying the most critical locations in our global oceans for better marine conservation efforts, and the establishment of effective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), according to new research published in Science.

The global UN-endorsed research project, MegaMove, involves almost 400 scientists from over 50 countries, showing where protection could be implemented specifically for the conservation of marine megafauna. Current Marine Protection Areas include only 8 per cent of the world’s total oceans, which the UN High Seas Treaty seeks to expand to 30 per cent.

The research found that the targets of the current Treaty which have been signed by 115 countries but still to be ratified, are a step in the right direction. These will be key to assisting conservation but insufficient to cover all critical areas used by threatened marine megafauna, suggesting that additional threat mitigation measures are also needed.

Some of the ocean’s best-known creatures – known as marine megafauna – include sharks, whales, turtles, and seals. They are typically top predators with critical roles in marine food webs, but face growing threats from humans’ environmental impact.

“The impacts of a changing ocean on marine megafauna are already evident,” said Camrin Braun, assistant scientist and ocean ecologist at WHOI, and a co-author of the study. “Our recent work tracking marine predators, including an earlier WHOI-led study, indicates changes in the ocean are expected to fundamentally alter the status quo for where these species are and how they live.”

Simon Thorrold is a senior scientist in biology at WHOI, and a co-author on the study. “Conservation and management efforts need to plan for ongoing changes in ocean ecosystems. Bringing together data from hundreds of scientists is a really effective way to collectively address the international protections needed for these important species.”

The Australian National University (ANU) marine ecologist and research lead author, Associate Professor Ana Sequeira, said the study’s goal is to identify areas used by marine megafauna for important behaviors like foraging and corridors used for migration, and these areas can only be identified by tracking animal movements.

“We found that the areas used by these animals overlap significantly with threats like fishing, shipping, warming temperatures, and plastic pollution,” she said. “The 30 per cent protection goal is seen as helpful but insufficient to protect all important areas, meaning that additional mitigation strategies are needed to alleviate pressures beyond areas that will be protected.”

The research also links to UN Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 14 on water, and specifically, to Goal A of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to halt human-induced extinction of threatened species.

Sequeira is the research director and founder of MegaMove, a global scientific project she launched in 2020. “MegaMove brings together an international network of researchers to provide innovative research to advance the global conservation of marine megafauna.”

“Our research shows that, in addition to protected areas, implementing mitigation strategies like changing fishing gear, using different lights in nets, and traffic schemes for ships will be key to alleviating current human pressure on these species,” she added.

Study co-lead author Dr Jorge Rodríguez, from Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos, added: “We’ve outlined the top areas for 30 per cent protection, ranking them based on their use by marine megafauna species. Our analysis identifies which areas in the global ocean these species are using as residencies or migratory corridors. We specifically focused on ranking higher those areas used for these important behaviors by the largest number of species.

“But the bottom line is, even if the whole 30 per cent protection were selected in key areas used by marine megafauna, it would still not be enough to conserve them,” Associate Professor Sequeira added.

“Adaptive management approaches, and stronger mitigation strategies are critical components of the coordinated international approach necessary to conserve these species into the future,” added Braun. “We need all the tools we can if we are going to successfully balance conservation goals with human uses in a changing ocean.”

About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate an understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. Top scientists, engineers, and students collaborate on more than 800 concurrent projects worldwide—both above and below the waves—pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility.

As a member of the Marine Predators Group, WHOI assistant scientist Camrin Braun attaches satellite tags to sharks to track the movements and behavior of sharks. Braun has tracked sharks traveling as far as 10,000 miles and diving more than 3,000 feet.

Credit

(Photo credit: Tane Sinclair-Taylor)

Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adl0239

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets

Article Publication Date

5-Jun-2025

Groundbreaking study maps the movements of marine megafauna

Virginia Tech joined a global research team that tracked more than 100 species and identified ocean hotspots critical for protecting threatened marine megafauna that fall beyond current conservation zones

Virginia Tech

image:
Global efforts like MegaMove can also help inspire the next generation of researchers and showcase how Virginia Tech connects local talent to worldwide impact.
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Credit: Photo courtesy of Francesco Ferretti.

A sweeping new study is helping pinpoint where whales, sharks, turtles, and other ocean giants need the most protection and where current efforts fall short.

Led by Ana Sequeira of Australian National University and supported by the United Nations, the research synthesized data from 12,000 satellite-tracked animals across more than 100 species. It reveals how marine megafauna move globally and where their migratory, feeding, and breeding behaviors intersect with human threats such as fishing, shipping, and pollution.

Virginia Tech contributed to the effort, called MegaMove, a massive collaboration of nearly 400 scientists across more than 50 countries. The project used biologging data collected using satellite tags to inform a new blueprint for ocean conservation.

“This is one of the largest marine tracking data sets ever assembled,” said Francesco Ferretti, a marine ecologist at Virginia Tech who contributed to the study. “It’s not just about drawing lines on a map. We need to understand animal behavior and overlap that with human activity to find the best solutions.”

The research was published today in the journal Science.

From the open ocean to Virginia waters

Though global in scope, the findings hold direct relevance for Virginia and the East Coast.

“Virginia’s coastline is part of a major migratory corridor for marine species,” Ferretti said. “Sharks, for example, play a critical role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems, which in turn support fisheries and recreation. What happens to apex predators can ripple across the food web and impact local economies.”

Past collapses of shellfish fisheries in North Carolina and impacts on seagrasses meadows, important for fisheries, carbon sequestration, and to prevent coastal erosion, have shown how predator loss can shift entire ecosystems.

Ferretti said understanding these dynamics is critical to protecting both wildlife and the communities that rely on them.

A global conservation puzzle

MegaMove aimed to inform the United Nations' 30x30 target: a global goal to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030. The team used optimization algorithms to propose which areas should be prioritized for protection based on how marine species use the space.

But the findings show that even if all 30 percent of protected areas were perfectly placed, it wouldn’t be enough.

“Sixty percent of the tracked animals’ critical habitats would be still outside these zones,” Ferretti said. “In addition to protected areas, we need targeted mitigation, changing fishing practices, rerouting shipping lanes, and reducing pollution.”

Building global science at Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech’s participation to initiatives such as the MegaMove project reflects a broader push to contribute to international, data-driven science.

“This project shows where the field is heading,” Ferretti said. “We’re seeing a revolution in big data approaches in marine science. Students need to be trained not only in fieldwork but in data science to meet future challenges.”

He said global efforts like MegaMove can also help inspire the next generation of researchers and showcase how Virginia Tech connects local talent to worldwide impact.

Journal

Science

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Publication Date

5-Jun-2025