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5 ways students can think about learning so that they can learn more − and how their teachers can help

5 ways students can think about learning so that they can learn more − and how their teachers can help

During my years teaching science in middle school, high school and college, some of my students have resisted teaching that educators call higher-...

yesterday 7

The Conversation

Jerrid Kruse

Does anyone go to prison for federal mortgage fraud? Not many, the numbers suggest

Does anyone go to prison for federal mortgage fraud? Not many, the numbers suggest

Mortgage fraud is back in the news. Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, is being investigated by the Department of Justice for allegedly making...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Jay L. Zagorsky

Fed, under pressure to cut rates, tries to balance labor market and inflation – while avoiding dreaded stagflation

Fed, under pressure to cut rates, tries to balance labor market and inflation – while avoiding dreaded stagflation

The Federal Reserve is in a nearly impossible spot right now. Markets are expecting a quarter-point interest rate cut to a range of 4% to 4.25%...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Jason Reed

Ukraine is starting to think about memorials – a tricky task during an ongoing war

Ukraine is starting to think about memorials – a tricky task during an ongoing war

Three and a half years after Russia invaded Ukraine, there are few immediate signs of a cessation to the ongoing hostilities. Yet amid the steady...

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Kerry Whigham

After Charlie Kirk’s murder, the US might seem hopelessly divided – is there any way forward?

After Charlie Kirk’s murder, the US might seem hopelessly divided – is there any way forward?

Shortly following the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, many politicians and pundits were quick to highlight the importance of...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Lee Bebout

US women narrowed the pay gap with men by having fewer kids

US women narrowed the pay gap with men by having fewer kids

Women in the U.S. typically earned 85% as much as men for every hour they spent working in 2024. However, working women are faring much better than...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Alexandra Killewald

Identifying as a ‘STEM person’ makes you more likely to pursue a STEM job – and caregivers may unknowingly shape kids’ self-identity

Identifying as a ‘STEM person’ makes you more likely to pursue a STEM job – and caregivers may unknowingly shape kids’ self-identity

Employers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – commonly called the STEM industries – continue to struggle to attract female...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Remy Dou

Molecular ‘fossils’ offer microscopic clues to the origins of life – but they take care to interpret

Molecular ‘fossils’ offer microscopic clues to the origins of life – but they take care to interpret

The questions of how humankind came to be, and whether we are alone in the universe, have captured imaginations for millennia. But to answer these...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

Caroline Lynn Kamerlin

Emergency alerts may not reach those who need them most in Colorado

Emergency alerts may not reach those who need them most in Colorado

Many Coloradans may never get an alert that could save their life during a disaster. And the alerts that go out may not easily be understood by the...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Carson Macpherson-Krutsky

How a corpse plant makes its terrible smell − it has a strategy, and its female flowers do most of the work

How a corpse plant makes its terrible smell − it has a strategy, and its female flowers do most of the work

Sometimes, doing research stinks. Quite literally. Corpse plants are rare, and seeing one bloom is even rarer. They open once every seven to 10...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

Delphine Farmer

Harm-reduction vending machines offer free naloxone, pregnancy tests and hygiene kits

Harm-reduction vending machines offer free naloxone, pregnancy tests and hygiene kits

In the lobby of the YMCA in Reading, Pennsylvania, stands a row of vending machines – but one machine is different from the rest. Instead of...

previous day 20

The Conversation

Alice Zhang

Xi’s show of unity with Putin and Kim could complicate China’s delicate diplomatic balance

Xi’s show of unity with Putin and Kim could complicate China’s delicate diplomatic balance

If the purpose of a rare joint appearance of the leaders of Russia, North Korea and China on Sept. 3, 2025, was to foster unity among allies, then...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Linggong Kong

Even professional economists can’t escape political bias

Even professional economists can’t escape political bias

Republican-leaning economists tend to predict stronger economic growth when a Republican is president than Democrats do – and because of this...

previous day 5

The Conversation

Aeimit Lakdawala

Solving the world’s microplastics problem: 4 solutions cities and states are trying after global treaty talks collapsed

Solving the world’s microplastics problem: 4 solutions cities and states are trying after global treaty talks collapsed

Microplastics seem to be everywhere – in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. They have turned up in human organs, blood,...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Sarah J. Morath

The Moon is getting slightly farther away from the Earth each year − a physicist explains why

The Moon is getting slightly farther away from the Earth each year − a physicist explains why

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...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Stephen Dikerby

Transgender policies struggle to balance fairness with inclusion in women’s college sports

Transgender policies struggle to balance fairness with inclusion in women’s college sports

With two executive orders related to school sports, President Donald Trump recently tried to settle the growing legal conflict over the right of...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Amanda Siegrist

What Native-held lands in California can teach about resilience and the future of wildfire

What Native-held lands in California can teach about resilience and the future of wildfire

It took decades, stacks of legal paperwork and countless phone calls, but, in the spring of 2025, a California Chuckchansi Native American woman...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Nina Fontana

2 shootings, 2 states, minutes apart − a trauma psychiatrist explains how exposure to shootings changes all of us

2 shootings, 2 states, minutes apart − a trauma psychiatrist explains how exposure to shootings changes all of us

On Sept. 10, 2025, the nation’s attention was riveted by the fatal shooting of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah....

previous day 1

The Conversation

Arash Javanbakht

Charlie Kirk talked with young people at universities for a reason – he wanted American education to return to traditional values

Charlie Kirk talked with young people at universities for a reason – he wanted American education to return to traditional values

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025, at the start of a college campus tour that centered on Kirk discussing...

sunday 8

The Conversation

Daniel Ruggles

How hardships and hashtags combined to fuel Nepal’s violent response to social media ban

How hardships and hashtags combined to fuel Nepal’s violent response to social media ban

Days of unrest in Nepal have resulted in the ousting of a deeply unpopular government and the deaths of at least 50 people. The Gen Z-led protests...

13.09.2025 3

The Conversation

Nir Kshetri

Parasitic worms bury themselves in the brains of moose and elk – a new test can help diagnose these animals to prevent disease spread

Parasitic worms bury themselves in the brains of moose and elk – a new test can help diagnose these animals to prevent disease spread

A moose in Minnesota stumbles onto the road. She circles, confused and dazed, unable to orient herself or recognize the danger of an oncoming...

12.09.2025 1

The Conversation

Richard Gerhold

Proposed cuts to NIH funding would have ripple effects on research that could hamper the US for decades

Proposed cuts to NIH funding would have ripple effects on research that could hamper the US for decades

In May 2025, the White House proposed reducing the budget of the National Institutes of Health by roughly 40% – from about US$48 billion to $27...

12.09.2025 2

The Conversation

Mohammad S. Jalali

Fewer international students are coming to the US, costing universities and communities that benefit from these visitors

Fewer international students are coming to the US, costing universities and communities that benefit from these visitors

American college campuses from Tucson to Tallahassee are buzzing with the familiar routine of students getting settled in classes and dorms. One...

12.09.2025 1

The Conversation

Tara Sonenshine

Beauty sleep isn’t a myth – a sleep medicine expert explains how rest keeps your skin healthy and youthful

Beauty sleep isn’t a myth – a sleep medicine expert explains how rest keeps your skin healthy and youthful

Have you ever woken up after a night of poor sleep, glanced in the mirror and thought, “I look tired?” You’re not imagining it. I am a...

12.09.2025 3

The Conversation

Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse

Social scientists have long found women tend to be more religious than men – but Gen Z may show a shift

Social scientists have long found women tend to be more religious than men – but Gen Z may show a shift

For decades, one of the most consistent findings in religion research has been that women tend to be more religious than men. This holds true...

12.09.2025 1

The Conversation

Ryan Burge

‘Publish or perish’ evolutionary pressures shape scientific publishing, for better and worse

‘Publish or perish’ evolutionary pressures shape scientific publishing, for better and worse

While developing his theory of natural selection, Charles Darwin was horrified by a group of wasps that lay their eggs within the bodies of...

12.09.2025 2

The Conversation

Thomas Morgan

Scientists detected a potential biosignature on Mars – an astrobiologist explains what these traces of life are, and how researchers figure out their source

Scientists detected a potential biosignature on Mars – an astrobiologist explains what these traces of life are, and how researchers figure out their source

As the Perseverance rover traversed an ancient river valley in Mars’ Jezero Crater back in July 2024, it drilled into the surface and extracted a...

12.09.2025 10

The Conversation

Amy J. Williams

How to avoid seeing disturbing content on social media and protect your peace of mind

How to avoid seeing disturbing content on social media and protect your peace of mind

When graphic videos go viral, like the recent fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, it can feel impossible to protect yourself from seeing things you did...

12.09.2025 7

The Conversation

Annie Margaret

Yes, this is who we are: America’s 250-year history of political violence

Yes, this is who we are: America’s 250-year history of political violence

The day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University, commentators repeated a familiar...

12.09.2025 30

The Conversation

Maurizio Valsania

Bolsonaro joins a rogues’ gallery of coup plotters held to account for their failed power grab

Bolsonaro joins a rogues’ gallery of coup plotters held to account for their failed power grab

Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction on Sept. 11, 2025, puts the former Brazilian president in a rogues’ gallery of failed coup plotters to be held to...

11.09.2025 2

The Conversation

John Joseph Chin