Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Professor Anson Ma takes the Shinkansen (high-speed train) from Tokyo to Kyoto, during a five-day trip to Japan with the Young Scientist Exchange. (Photos courtesy of Anson Ma)UConn researcher Anson Ma recently participated in a prestigious U.S.-Japan Young Scientist Exchange Program that enabled him to spend five days visiting top Japanese universities and research centers, where he presented his research on rheology and processing of nanofluids and met with fellow young researchers.The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, & Technology in Japan (MEXT) initiated the science diplomacy-style exchange program in 2003 to foster collaborations among U.S. and Japanese researchers in strategic areas. Leading young Japanese academics visit U.S. universities and researchers, and U.S. academics reciprocate.The trip included a visit to the National Institute for Materials Science, including laboratories associated with the institute’s nanotechnology platform.Ma, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was nominated by a senior researcher for his contributions in understanding the flow behavior and processing of complex fluids for biomedical and energy applications. During day-long workshops from Dec. 9 to 13, Ma and his fellow U.S. and Japanese scientists delivered and attended presentations, toured laboratories, and discussed avenues for collaboration.The group visited the National Institute for Materials Science, including laboratories associated with the institute’s nanotechnology platform; the University of Tokyo; Osaka University; and Kyoto University. Among the technology highlights that particularly impressed Ma was the remarkable ultra-high voltage Hitachi electron microscope housed at Osaka University, which is more than 13 meters high.The ultra-high voltage electron microscope at Osaka University.The delegates also enjoyed one day of sightseeing, when they took the high-speed Shinkansen train (also known as the ‘bullet train’) from Tokyo to Kyoto for a tour of the 17th-century Kodaiji Temple.The research trip was organized and led by Alexander Revzin, currently a program director in the Biosensing Division at the National Science Foundation and a University of California-Davis professor, and Dino Di Carlo, associate professor of bioengineering at UCLA.“The goal is to unveil areas of mutual interest and to build collaborative research bridges in transformative research arenas,” says Di Carlo.
Professor Hidetoshi Kotera, executive vice-president of Kyoto University for external strategy, knowledge, and technology transfer and innovation, speaks about current research activities and future plans for the university.The exchange program focuses on bio-nano-micro technologies, and while the themes have remained constant since 2003, the application areas – for example, manufacturing, sensing, and energy – of the visits vary from year to year. When Japanese delegates come to the U.S., they visit various different U.S. universities during their exchange tours; in recent years, these have included UCLA, Caltech, MIT, Harvard, Northwestern, and the University of North Carolina.Ma says the experience was extremely worthwhile, noting that he met potential collaborators among the U.S. delegates as well as among the Japanese faculty. He found the work of three Japanese researchers particularly compelling. One is involved in biomechanics research focusing on the motion of cells, and another is developing a bioadhesive for creating 3-D tissue using cells as building blocks – “just like playing with Lego blocks,” says Ma. A third is developing advanced biomimetic materials.A visit to Tokyo University, where shoes are not allowed in many labs; visitors must exchange their shoes for slippers.Ma was also impressed with the laboratories and cleanroom facilities, which he says were organized and efficient. However, he was surprised to find that in Japanese laboratories, as in living spaces, scientists must don slippers before entering research spaces – a custom that is forbidden in U.S. labs.