Infotrak

They call it the great dechurching, as many Americans no longer regularly attend their house of worship. Is it due to a cultural shift, a loss of faith, lack of time? Or another reason? Sociologist Ryan P. Burge, PhD, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Eastern Illinois University, co-author of "The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?" shares results of a groundbreaking study.

A recent New York Life survey found that Americans believe they need $4.3 million to retire comfortably. Unfortunately, the average person has around $135,000 saved. Chris Carosa, MBA, Certified Trust & Financial Advisor, Senior Contributor to Forbes.com, author of "Hey! What's My Number: How to Improve the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort" explains how to determine how much money will really be needed for a comfortable retirement, along with simple steps to get there.

Grocery costs for Americans have skyrocketed in the past two years. We’ll learn how you can fight back against the subtle trend of "shrinkflation." Edgar Dworsky, Founder & Editor of ConsumerWorld.com, explains what products are most commonly affected, and ways that consumers can protect themselves against the tricky practice.

More than ever, children ages 3-10 are struggling with anxiety, depression, and mental health challenges. Caroline Leaf, PhD, clinical and cognitive neuroscientist, podcaster, and author of "How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess" outlines the warning signs should parents watch for.

Car insurance premiums are rising fast. How much privacy would you give up to get lower premiums? Erica Eversman, President of the Automotive Education and Policy Institute, discusses the dilemma.

The internet wasn't created to cause outrage anger and confusion, so why did it turn out that way? Tobias Rose-Stockwell, author of "Outrage Machine: How Tech Amplifies Discontent, Disrupts Democracy―And What We Can Do About It," says a handful of small features quietly launched at social media companies triggered a cascading set of dramatic changes to how media, politics, and society itself operate.

New technology, including AI, is revolutionizing medical science. It may soon allow major advances in treating serious illness. Ground-breaking scientist LeRoy Hood, MD, PhD, author of "The Age of Scientific Wellness," believes this new technology can eventually conquer heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and many other illnesses, with noticeable progress within five years.

The US Forest Service has been given taxpayer funding to plant more than a billion trees across the country in the next nine years. Peter Clark, Applied Forest Ecologist at University of Vermont, explains a troubling bottleneck that could threaten these efforts, and what can be done.

Surveys show that most adults see the value in testing to detect cognitive decline. But a majority of seniors have never been tested. J. Scott Roberts, PhD, from the University of Michigan, explains the results of a recent poll. The poll also found very low awareness of blood tests that can help detect Alzheimer’s disease.

As the new academic year gets underway, some are predicting chaos in college classrooms as few universities are offering clear guidelines and professors grapple with students using and abusing artificial intelligence. Anna Mills, textbook author and member of a joint Artificial Intelligence task force with the Modern Language Association and College Conference on Composition and Communication, explains why there is such great concern.

Inflation has hit the pocketbooks of consumers in a huge way. The greatest impact may be in the car buying market. Karl Brauer, Executive Analyst at IseeCars.com, shared his research that found that while the cost of gas-powered cars has skyrocketed, prices of used electric vehicles have collapsed.

Firearms contribute to the deaths of more children ages 1-17 years in the US than any other type of injury or illness. Sophie Kjærvik, doctoral candidate in communication at Ohio State University, co-authored a recent study that examines an effective tool for parents who own firearms.

Hidden forces and random events can impact how your doctor makes medical decisions regarding your health. Anupam Bapu Jena, MD, PhD, from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital, co-author of "Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health," offers some eye-opening examples.

It's a nightmare that many homeowners across the country are experiencing: squatters move into a house and refuse to leave. Paul Pilibosian, a Houston attorney specializing in real estate law, explains why getting rid of them is difficult, even with the law on your side.

Do vitamin D supplements lower the risk of suffering a major cardiovascular event among older adults? We'll get the answer from Rachel Neale, PhD, from the Population Health Department at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia.

Over 2 million cars in America have been issued urgent safety recalls, but the car owners aren't taking action. is your car at risk? Patrick Olsen, Editor-in-Chief of CarFax, explains how you can see if your car is on the list.

Recent research has found that some low income households using certain taxpayer-funded food assistance programs are consuming excessive amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages. We'll learn what the common denominator is, from Prod. Kate W. Bauer from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

An American child is killed every five days in a train collision. Morag MacKay, Director of Research, Safe Kids Worldwide, says these most of these tragedies are preventable. She outlined the most common scenarios and explained how parents can teach their children to avoid dangerous situations with trains.

Has the traditional doctor-patient relationship been damaged by the lure of big profits? F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator at the Yale University School of Medicine, author of "How Medicine Works and When It Doesn't," explains how and why the doctor-patient relationship has eroded in recent years.

A frightening new scam is sweeping the country: next-gen thieves are utilizing sophisticated new artificial intelligence generated voices--that criminals can now clone from social media profiles--to easily con parents or grandparents out of significant sums of money. Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions' Government Group, suggests three steps every family should take to defend themselves