Experts for the Media

With the recent presidential comments on potential alien life, UFO enthusiasts have new hope that finally we’re going to get federal “disclosure” of UFOs, aliens and the great government conspiracy surrounding both. But, as a scientist who studies the search for life in the Universe, the question I have is much simpler: What would disclosure really need to disclose? What is required for actual, factual proof that aliens exist and they’ve been visiting Earth?

We’ve already had three years of Congressional hearings on UFOs that have produced zero proof of anything. What we need now is simple: hard physical evidence. That is what disclosure needs to deliver. Not stories about alien spaceships being held by the government, but the actual spaceships themselves. Not stories about alien bodies but the actual icky, gooey bodies with their icky gooey tentacles. If disclosure provides physical evidence that independent laboratories and independent scientists all over the world can verify, then it will live up to its hype. That would make “Disclosure Day” truly history-making.

As teenagers push for independence, many parents respond by trying to become their friends and confidants.

University of Rochester psychologist Judi Smetana says blurring the line between warmth and authority can backfire.

“It’s great if kids want to disclose to you,” Smetana explains. “But it would be weird for parents to talk about their private lives with their kids. When parents start revealing things about themselves, it’s slippery. Your child should not be your confidant.”

Smetana, an expert in adolescent development and parent-teen relationships, emphasizes that closeness and trust are essential — but they are not the same as “friendship.” Teenagers need structure, limits, and clear boundaries as they test autonomy. When parents overshare they risk shifting roles in ways that reduce parental influence.

That doesn’t mean parent-child relationships remain rigid forever. The dynamics naturally evolve as children mature into early adulthood.

“Let the child take the lead,” Smetana says. “There may show a willingness to become more like friends when parents don’t have the same authority. But there will still be some boundaries.”

Her research underscores that healthy parent-teen relationships balance openness with guidance. Trust grows not from collapsing boundaries, but from maintaining them with consistency and care.

For reporters covering parenting and adolescent behavior, Smetana is available to discuss:

• Healthy boundaries in parent-teen relationships
• Oversharing and role confusion in families
• Adolescent autonomy and authority
• How parent-child dynamics shift in early adulthood

Click her profile to connect with her.

After more than 50 years studying close relationships, University of Rochester psychologist Harry Reis has reached a deceptively simple conclusion: Happy people feel loved.

That conclusion became the jumping-off point for a new book Reis co-wrote, “How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most” (Harper 2026), which blends decades of research on happiness and human connection.

In it, Reis and his co-author, Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, outline five research-backed mindsets that strengthen connection: sharing authentically, listening to people, practicing radical curiosity, approaching others with an open heart, and recognizing human complexity.

The book was recently featured in The New York Times, which noted that the authors contend giving and receiving love function together like a seesaw: You lift a person up with the weight of your curiosity and attentiveness — and they do the same in turn.

“The other side is very important also,” Reis told The Times. “To be sharing what’s important to you, to be sharing what you’re concerned about, so it can really become a two-way street.”

Reis, who leads groundbreaking research on close relationships, is available to discuss:

• The science of feeling loved vs. being loved
• How digital distraction undermines connection
• AI companionship and its psychological limits
• Practical ways to build stronger, more resilient relationships
• The link between love, happiness, and health

Journalists writing about love and relationships can contact Reis by clicking on his profile.