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There’s an intensifying kind of threat to academic freedom – watchful students serving as informants

Texas A&M University told philosophy professor Martin Peterson in early January 2026 that he could not teach some of Greek philosopher Plato’s...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Austin Sarat

The ‘drug threat’ that justified the US ouster of Maduro won’t be fixed by his arrest

Donald Trump has flagged Venezuelan drug trafficking as a key reason for the U.S. military operation on Jan. 3, 2026, that captured President...

yesterday 40

The Conversation

Eduardo Gamarra

Broncos say their new stadium will be ‘privately financed,’ but ‘private’ often still means hundreds of millions in public resources

The Denver Broncos announced in early September 2025 their plan to build a privately financed football stadium. The proposal received a lot of...

yesterday 20

The Conversation

Geoffrey Propheter

For some Jewish women, ‘passing’ as Christian during the Holocaust could mean survival – but left scars all the same

Travel case in hand, dressed in fashionable clothing and wearing a practiced, coquettish smile, Hela Schüpper Rufeisen sat aboard the train to...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Hana Green

From a new flagship space telescope to lunar exploration, global cooperation – and competition – will make 2026 an exciting year for space

In 2026, astronauts will travel around the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era, powerful new space telescopes will prepare to survey...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Grant Tremblay

Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy

The FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14, 2026, was a rare and intimidating move by an administration focused on repressing...

yesterday 8

The Conversation

Konstantin Zhukov

Could ChatGPT convince you to buy something? Threat of manipulation looms as AI companies gear up to sell ads

Eighteen months ago, it was plausible that artificial intelligence might take a different path than social media. Back then, AI’s development...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Bruce Schneier

US military has a long history in Greenland, from mining during WWII to a nuclear-powered Army base built into the ice

President Donald Trump’s insistence that the U.S. will acquire Greenland “whether they like it or not” is just the latest chapter in a...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Paul Bierman

Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – our new study examines each method’s risks

Climate change is already fueling dangerous heat waves, raising sea levels and transforming the oceans. Even if countries meet their pledges to...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Kelsey Roberts

Reddit and TikTok - with the help of AI - are reshaping how researchers understand substance use

When you think of tools for studying substance use and addiction, a social media site like Reddit, TikTok or YouTube probably isn’t the first thing...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Layla Bouzoubaa

Building ‘beloved community’: Remembering the friendship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh

Before Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, he asked several of his friends to continue his life’s work building what he called “beloved...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Jeremy David Engels

South Florida’s Brightline has highlighted an old problem – every year for the past decade, 900 pedestrians were killed by trains

In 2018, high-speed passenger trains branded as Brightline started running along the formerly freight-only Florida East Coast Railway. Initial...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Ian Savage

Rural areas have darker skies but fewer resources for students interested in astronomy – telescopes in schools can help

The night sky has long sparked wonder and curiosity. Early civilizations studied the stars and tracked celestial events, predicted eclipses and...

previous day 20

The Conversation

Emma Marcucci

Research institutions tout the value of scholarship that crosses disciplines – but academia pushes interdisciplinary researchers out

The most exciting landmark scientific achievements don’t happen without researchers sharing and collaborating with others outside their field. When...

previous day 9

The Conversation

Bruce Weinberg

From flammable neighborhoods to moral hazards, fire insurance maps capture early US cities and the landscape of discrimination

Imagine a map that allows you to see what your neighborhood looked like a century ago in immense detail. What you’re thinking of is probably very...

previous day 6

The Conversation

Jack Swab

Iran’s protests have spread across provinces, despite skepticism and concern among ethnic groups

When Iran’s ongoing protests began in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Dec. 28 2025, the government initially treated them as manageable and temporary....

previous day 5

The Conversation

Shukriya Bradost

Why unlocking Venezuelan oil won’t mean much for US energy prices

In the wake of U.S. forces’ arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is taking over Venezuelan...

previous day 6

The Conversation

Amy Myers Jaffe

Colorado ranks among the highest states in the country for flu – an emergency room physician describes why the 2025-26 flu season is hitting hard

Colorado is in the midst of a record-breaking flu season. In the week ending Dec. 27, 2025, 831 people were hospitalized with influenza – the most...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Jean Hoffman

Wars without clear purpose erode presidential legacies, and Trump risks political consequences with further military action in Venezuela

Despite public support in the U.S. for deposing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump is unlikely to find that level of support...

previous day 6

The Conversation

Charles Walldorf

3 ways US actions in Venezuela violated international law

Heads of state, policymakers and international law scholars are among those who have labeled U.S. military actions against Venezuela and the Jan....

previous day 5

The Conversation

Mary Ellen O&39Connell

Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall

For Detroit homeowners over 65 who overwhelmingly live on fixed incomes, unexpected costs – increases in grocery prices, rising health care...

previous day 5

The Conversation

Amanda Nothaft

Small businesses say they aren’t planning to hire many recent graduates for entry-level jobs – here’s why

Small businesses are planning to hire fewer recent college graduates than they did in 2025, making it likely harder for this cohort to find entry-...

previous day 5

The Conversation

Murugan Anandarajan

Martin Luther King Jr. was ahead of his time in pushing for universal basic income

Each year on the holiday that bears his name, Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered for his immense contributions to the struggle for racial...

previous day 4

The Conversation

Tarah Williams

Viruses aren’t all bad: In the ocean, some help fuel the food web – a new study shows how

Virus. The word evokes images of illness and fears of outbreaks. Yet, in the oceans, not all viruses are bad news. Some play a helpful, even...

previous day 4

The Conversation

Steven Wilhelm

CPR on TV is often inaccurate – but watching characters jump to the rescue can still save real lives

Television characters who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital are more likely to receive CPR than people in real life. But the CPR on...

monday 9

The Conversation

Beth Hoffman

Trump lawsuits seek to muzzle media, posing serious threat to free press

In December 2025, President Donald Trump filed a US$10 billion lawsuit against the BBC in a federal court in Florida. It was only the latest in a...

monday 10

The Conversation

Kathy Kiely

Venezuela’s oil industry has flailed under government control – Mexico and Brazil have had more success with nationalizing

U.S. President Donald Trump has ignited a contentious debate over who has the right to control Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Speaking on Jan. 3,...

monday 10

The Conversation

Skip York

What is below Earth, since space is present in every direction?

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to...

monday 10

The Conversation

Jeff Moersch

What is Christian Reconstructionism − and why it matters in US politics

Christian Reconstructionism is a theological and political movement within conservative Protestantism that argues society should be governed by...

monday 5

The Conversation

Art Jipson

DOJ criminal probe highlights risk of Fed losing independence – a central bank scholar explains what’s at stake

The Department of Justice’s decision to open a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has reignited concern over the...

monday 6

The Conversation

Cristina Bodea

Ukraine is under pressure to trade land for peace − if it does, history shows it might not ever get it back

Asked in December 2025 what the biggest sticking point was in negotiating peace in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump got straight to the point:...

monday 4

The Conversation

Peter Harris

Eating less ultraprocessed food supports healthier aging, new research shows

Older adults can dramatically reduce the amount of ultraprocessed foods they eat while keeping a familiar, balanced diet – and this shift leads to...

monday 5

The Conversation

Moul Dey

Saudi-UAE bust-up over Yemen was only a matter of time − and reflects wider rift over vision for the region

Years of simmering tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates exploded into the open on Dec. 30, 2025. That’s when Saudi officials...

monday 1

The Conversation

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Financial case for college remains strong, but universities need to add creative thinking to their curriculum

A college degree was once seen as the golden ticket to landing a well-paying job. But many people are increasingly questioning the value of a four-...

monday 6

The Conversation

Caroline Levander

How social media is channeling popular discontent in Iran during ongoing period of domestic unrest

Days of protest across Iran have left hundreds dead and many more injured. Attempts by Iranian authorities to quell dissent through a near-total...

monday 4

The Conversation

Shirvin Zeinalzadeh

NASA’s Pandora telescope will study stars in detail to learn about the exoplanets orbiting them

On Jan. 11, 2026, I watched anxiously at the tightly controlled Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as an awe-inspiring SpaceX Falcon 9...

11.01.2026 10

The Conversation

Daniel Apai

Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty as he moves to dismantle America’s climate protections

On Jan. 7, 2026, President Donald Trump declared that he would officially pull the United States out of the world’s most important global treaty...

10.01.2026 4

The Conversation

Gary W. Yohe