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PFAS in pregnant women’s drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds

An innovative study mapped preterm births, low birth weights and infant mortality to municipal water wells downstream from PFAS-contaminated sites....

yesterday 6

The Conversation

Derek Lemoine

Are sanctuary policing policies no more than a public relations facade?

Are sanctuary policing policies no more than a public relations facade?

In early 2025, in an effort to facilitate its deportation goals, the Trump administration entered into hundreds of agreements with local police...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Nick Lehr

What does it mean to be a new national park? Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia may soon find out

What does it mean to be a new national park? Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia may soon find out

Ocmulgee Mounds, a site in central Georgia with 12,000 years of Indigenous history, may be on the verge of becoming the newest U.S. national park....

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Seth T. Kannarr

How keeping down borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans is built into the Fed’s ‘dual mandate’

How keeping down borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans is built into the Fed’s ‘dual mandate’

What’s the point of monetary policy? For most of us, the main impact tends to be how much we have to pay to borrow to buy a house or car. But for...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Arabinda Basistha

The law meets its limits – what ‘Nuremberg’ reveals about guilt, evil and the quest for global justice

The law meets its limits – what ‘Nuremberg’ reveals about guilt, evil and the quest for global justice

The film “Nuremberg” depicts events surrounding the post-World War II International Military Tribunal – the first and best-known of the Nuremberg...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

B.b. Blaber

Putting pig organs in people is OK in the US, but growing human organs in pigs is not – why is that?

Putting pig organs in people is OK in the US, but growing human organs in pigs is not – why is that?

In a Maryland operating room one day in November 2025, doctors made medical history by transplanting a genetically modified pig kidney into a...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Monika Piotrowska

Florida’s new reporting system is shining a light on human trafficking in the Sunshine State

Florida’s new reporting system is shining a light on human trafficking in the Sunshine State

Most Americans imagine human trafficking as a violent kidnapping or a “stranger danger” crime – someone abducted from a parking lot or trapped in a...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Shelly M. Wagers

Why can’t I wiggle my toes one at a time, like my fingers?

Why can’t I wiggle my toes one at a time, like my fingers?

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...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

Steven Lautzenheiser

From evil to upheaval and beyond: How the ‘axis’ metaphor shaped modern geopolitics

From evil to upheaval and beyond: How the ‘axis’ metaphor shaped modern geopolitics

The plural of “axis” is “axes,” apparently. And foreign policy types with axes to grind have been making good use of this other meaning, too....

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Andrew Latham

Health insurance premiums rose nearly 3x the rate of worker earnings over the past 25 years

Health insurance premiums rose nearly 3x the rate of worker earnings over the past 25 years

Health insurance premiums in the U.S. significantly increased between 1999 and 2024, outpacing the rate of worker earnings by three times,...

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Vivian Ho

Merry Jewish Christmas: How Chinese food and the movies became a time-honored tradition for American Jews

Merry Jewish Christmas: How Chinese food and the movies became a time-honored tradition for American Jews

There is a meme that circulates every holiday season, an image of a sign in a restaurant window. “The Chinese Restaurant Association of the United...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

Samira Mehta

What 38 million obituaries reveal about how Americans define a ‘life well lived’

What 38 million obituaries reveal about how Americans define a ‘life well lived’

Obituaries preserve what families most want remembered about the people they cherish most. Across time, they also reveal the values each era chose...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

Stylianos Syropoulos

Netflix-Warner deal would drive streaming market further down the road of ‘Big 3’ domination

Netflix-Warner deal would drive streaming market further down the road of ‘Big 3’ domination

When it comes to major U.S. industries, three tends to be the magic number. Historically, auto manufacturing was long dominated by Chrysler, Ford...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

David R. King

Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase

Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase

The Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2025, agreed to review the long-simmering controversy over birthright citizenship. It will likely hand down a ruling...

saturday 30

The Conversation

Morgan Marietta

Far-right extremists have been organizing online since before the internet – and AI is their next frontier

Far-right extremists have been organizing online since before the internet – and AI is their next frontier

How can society police the global spread of online far-right extremism while still protecting free speech? That’s a question policymakers and...

05.12.2025 20

The Conversation

Michelle Lynn Kahn

Buying a gift for a loved one with cancer? Here’s why you should skip the fuzzy socks and give them meals or help with laundry instead

Buying a gift for a loved one with cancer? Here’s why you should skip the fuzzy socks and give them meals or help with laundry instead

The season of gifting is in full swing – a time when people scour the internet and shops of all kinds for items that appropriately symbolize their...

05.12.2025 10

The Conversation

Ellen T. Meiser

‘Yes’ to God, but ‘no’ to church – what religious change looks like for many Latin Americans

‘Yes’ to God, but ‘no’ to church – what religious change looks like for many Latin Americans

In a region known for its tumultuous change, one idea remained remarkably consistent for centuries: Latin America is Catholic. The region’s...

05.12.2025 20

The Conversation

Matthew Blanton

Girls and boys solve math problems differently – with similar short-term results but different long-term outcomes

Girls and boys solve math problems differently – with similar short-term results but different long-term outcomes

Among high school students and adults, girls and women are much more likely to use traditional, step-by-step algorithms to solve basic math...

05.12.2025 30

The Conversation

Sarah Lubienski

3 states are challenging precedent against posting the Ten Commandments in public schools – cases that could land back at the Supreme Court

3 states are challenging precedent against posting the Ten Commandments in public schools – cases that could land back at the Supreme Court

As disputes rage on over religion’s place in public schools, the Ten Commandments have become a focal point. At least a dozen states have...

05.12.2025 1

The Conversation

Charles J. Russo

A culinary educator and local dining expert breaks down Michelin’s debut Philly list − and gives zero stars to the inspectors

A culinary educator and local dining expert breaks down Michelin’s debut Philly list − and gives zero stars to the inspectors

Working in restaurants is physically, mentally and emotionally taxing and often thankless work. So it was wonderful to see so many hardworking...

05.12.2025 1

The Conversation

Jonathan Deutsch

Hope and hardship have driven Syrian refugee returns – but many head back to destroyed homes, land disputes

Hope and hardship have driven Syrian refugee returns – but many head back to destroyed homes, land disputes

Close to 1.5 million Syrian refugees have voluntarily returned to their home country over the past year. That extraordinary figure represents...

05.12.2025 2

The Conversation

Sandra Joireman

2025’s words of the year reflect a year of digital disillusionment

2025’s words of the year reflect a year of digital disillusionment

Which terms best represent 2025? Every year, editors for publications ranging from the Oxford English Dictionary to the Macquarie Dictionary of...

05.12.2025 2

The Conversation

Roger J. Kreuz

The Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one phrase

The Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one phrase

The Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2025, agreed to review the long-simmering controversy over birthright citizenship. It will likely hand down a ruling...

05.12.2025 3

The Conversation

Morgan Marietta

Vaccine committee votes to scrap universal hepatitis B shots for newborns despite outcry from children’s health experts

Vaccine committee votes to scrap universal hepatitis B shots for newborns despite outcry from children’s health experts

The committee advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy voted on Dec. 5, 2025, to stop recommending that all...

05.12.2025 2

The Conversation

David Higgins

Pete Hegseth could be investigated for illegal orders by 5 different bodies – but none are likely to lead to charges

Pete Hegseth could be investigated for illegal orders by 5 different bodies – but none are likely to lead to charges

News reports about a U.S. military attack on a boat in the Caribbean allegedly carrying drugs have raised critical questions about the military...

04.12.2025 5

The Conversation

Joshua Kastenberg