The Conversation U.S. - News written by researchers and scientists to help you understand

A man in a suit standing in front of a podium points to his head.

Latest attack threatening President Trump reflects rising political violence in US

James Piazza, Penn State

A man running, arms spread out, at a finishing line showing 1:59:30

Kenya’s Sawe breaks the 2-hour barrier: what’s next for the men’s marathon world record?

Simon D. Angus, Monash University

Potential signs of life on distant planets sound exciting – but confirmation can take years

Olivia Harper Wilkins, Dickinson College

Star-filled sky with orange nebula spanning from bottom left to top right of image

Perseverance doesn’t always pay off for companies – sometimes it’s better to ‘fail fast’

Scott Friend, University of Dayton and Kumar Rakesh Ranjan, EDHEC Business School

A Slack icon, with its trademark blue, green, yellow and red pattern, is displayed against a dark screen with a message notification on its upper right.

Donkeys are a symbol of endurance for Palestinians – they are also a target of settler violence and care

Irus Braverman, University at Buffalo

Texas proposes Bible readings for K-12 students, reigniting century-old legal battle over their place in public schools

Charles J. Russo, University of Dayton

A book that says 'Holy Bible' on the cover rests on the top of a desk in a room full of desks attached to blue plastic chairs.

America’s founding promise of religious freedom has long coexisted with prejudice, even as many Christians have worked to confront it

David Mislin, Temple University

Several people view artwork displayed on screens outside a brick building.

Older Americans who vote live longer than those who don’t – new research

Sara Konrath, Indiana University and Femida Handy, University of Pennsylvania

An older man fills out his ballot in an election kiosk.

Sora’s downfall signals broader problems with AI’s creative utility

Ahmed Elgammal, Rutgers University

Why is water wet?

Yunyao Li, University of Texas at Arlington

Child in swimsuit grinning with eyes squeezed shut while being hit by several streams of water

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Dozens of people lift their right hands and take an oath.

Justice Department’s effort to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans could face widespread judicial pushback

Cassandra Burke Robertson, Case Western Reserve University and Irina D. Manta, Hofstra University

Close-up of several China flags overshadowing two US flags in the foreground

China surpasses US in research spending – the consequences extend far beyond scientific ranking and clout

Caroline Wagner, The Ohio State University

You probably wouldn’t notice if an AI chatbot slipped ads into its responses

Brian Jay Tang, University of Michigan and Kang G. Shin, University of Michigan

What to know about sex trafficking as Pittsburgh hosts the NFL draft

Mary Burke, Carlow University and Rachel Seamans, Carlow University; Case Western Reserve University

Close-up of a stage with a sign that reads 'NFL Draft Pittsburgh.'

‘Affordable’ Pittsburgh doesn’t have enough affordable housing – here’s why

Selena E. Ortiz, Penn State

A tight row of brick homes under a blue sky.

How Israel’s history has shaped the way it wages war

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

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A large, stately building with pillars against a dark sky.

Supreme Court’s ‘shadow docket’ brings hasty decisions with long-lasting implications, outside of its usual careful deliberation

Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University

Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die

Tanya D. Marsh, Wake Forest University

A rolling field with yellow flowers and headstones.

What is black garlic? How heat and humidity turn a pungent ingredient mild and slightly sweet

Mavra Javed, Michigan State University

A whole bulb of black fermented garlic and both a peeled and unpeeled clove on a dark wooden table.

‘Just war’ has guided Catholic thinking on conflict for centuries – including criticism of Iran war

Valerie Morkevičius, Colgate University

A man in ornate white robes and a tall gold-colored hat waves and holds a staff.

What the Declaration of Independence does – and doesn’t – say about God

Thomas Tweed, University of Notre Dame

A black and white illustration shows a crowd of well-dressed people in 18th century garb milling outside a stately building.

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U.S.-Iran war

a small delta-wing aircraft flies against a blue sky

One-way attack drones: Low-cost, high-tech weapons ‘democratize’ precision warfare

Michael C. Horowitz, University of Pennsylvania and Lauren Kahn, Georgetown University

Iran’s military forces combine state-of-the-art drones and hackers with out-of-date conventional weapons

Paul J. Springer, Air University

People stand under an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Strait of Hormuz: Why the US and Iran are sailing in very different legal waters

Elizabeth Mendenhall, University of Rhode Island

The Islamabad talks were doomed to failure – and Hormuz blockade has thrown another obstacle to any Iran-US deal

Farah N. Jan, University of Pennsylvania

A man in a suit waves as he boards an airplane

4 ways the war in Iran has weakened the United States in the great power game

Jeffrey Taliaferro, Tufts University

A zoom lens captures a man at a lectern during a press conference.

250th anniversary of American revolution

Declaration of Independence with a feather quill on wood surface.

1776’s Declaration of Independence inspired Washington’s troops to fight against the odds – and also helped bring in powerful allies

Christopher Magra, University of Tennessee

What James Madison can teach Americans about religious freedom today

Corey D. B. Walker, Wake Forest University

A historical painting shows a group of formally dressed men in long coats, breeches and white wigs gathered in discussion, with one seated at a table while others stand around having conversations.

What Betsy Ross’ real story tells us about women’s work in the Revolution − and why it still matters 250 years later

Marla Miller, UMass Amherst

An illustration of a group of men and women in colonial dress with the man in the center holding a U.S. flag with 13 stars

Philadelphia’s founding years were rife with conspiracy fears about ‘godless’ Freemasons and the Illuminati

Derek Arnold, Villanova University

An illustration of George Washington wearing a suit and sash and standing in an ornate building

Trump administration replaces America 250 quarters honoring abolition and women’s suffrage with Mayflower and Gettysburg designs

Seth T. Kannarr, University of Tennessee

An American flag, with US coins and a model of the White House sitting on top of it.

Philosophy and ethics

A bearded man seems to speak gently as he holds an upset, angry-looking toddler.

Meekness isn’t weakness – once considered positive, it’s one of the ‘undersung virtues’ that deserve defense today

Timothy J. Pawl, University of St. Thomas

The good life requires two things, self-knowledge and friends – you can’t have one without the other

Ross Channing Reed, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Two boys each reach a hand toward each other as they stand on rocks divided by some shallow water.

Many churches, synagogues and mosques are built around families – and they’re struggling to respond to rising singles

Peter McGraw, University of Colorado Boulder

A young Asian woman with wavy brown hair sits in a church pew, looking into space.

Moral metrics: Are corporate algorithms becoming our new moral authorities?

Beth DuFault, University of Portland

Hands type on a keyboard, as the words 'credit score' and a colored chart float above.

What an ancient Chinese philosopher can teach us about Americans’ obsession with college rankings

Stephen Chen, Wellesley College

A girl in a red skirt looks up at a wall full of Chinese script in large characters, against a white background.

Extreme weather and natural disasters

Firefighters stand on a dirt road watching smoke rise above rows of pine trees.

Why the Southeast is burning – extreme drought is only part of the cause

Zachary Handlos, Georgia Institute of Technology

Heavy rain on snow is testing aging dams across Michigan and Wisconsin – this is the future in a warming world

Richard B. (Ricky) Rood, University of Michigan

A city worker in reflective clothes stands knee-deep in a flooded street.

Water conservation works, but climate change is outpacing it: Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas offer a glimpse of the future

Renee Obringer, Penn State and Dave White, Arizona State University

A woman sits in a yard with xeriscaping, a landscaping practice that uses rocks and water efficient plants.

Winter’s alarmingly low snowpack reflects the changing rhythm of water in the western US

Imtiaz Rangwala, University of Colorado Boulder

A few across a mountain stream near Lake Tahoe and land covered in snow.

What if Texas’ destructive Tax Day storm had centered on inner Houston instead? It’s why cities should plan for the improbable

James R. Elliott, Rice University; Dominic Boyer, Rice University, and Yilei Yu, Rice University

A man in a reflective jacket reaches for a woman's hand as they try to walk through waist-deep water. A car behind them is in water up to its windows.

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ICE and immigration

Two people stand in doorway of church underneath an arch with stained-glass window

Philadelphia’s 40-year history of protecting undocumented immigrants began with churches hiding refugees from El Salvador

Menika Dirkson, Morgan State University

We teach at a Florida university that agreed to cooperate with ICE – and we worry that it is making our students feel less safe

Anindya Kundu, Florida International University and Ryan W. Pontier, Florida International University

People are seen in shorts and shirts and backpacks walking along a cobblestone path with trees around them.

US refugee policy for white South Africans is part of a century-long effort to keep some English-speaking nations white

John Broich, Case Western Reserve University

Dozens of people, some holding U.S. flags, listen to a man speak.

ICE buys $87M warehouse in Pennsylvania − can local officials block a detention facility?

Aaron Walayat, University of Dayton

Black woman wearing a medical mask holds sign that reads, "ICE Out Of Pennsylvania."

Why ICE’s body camera policies make the videos unlikely to improve accountability and transparency

Stephanie Lessing, UMass Boston

Trump administration

A man in a dark suit and a woman in a lilac blazer stand on a stage.

Meloni and Trump’s cooling relationship marks the failure of an EU-MAGA middle ground

Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Colorado State University

Trump administration’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center breaks with norms – and may lack evidence of criminal wrongdoing

Beth Gazley, Indiana University

Two men stand at a lectern with an official U.S. seal emblazoned upon it.

If Justice Alito resigns before the midterms, a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court is likely to sail through confirmation

Paul M. Collins Jr., UMass Amherst

Is Trump heading to a Pyrrhic victory in Iran?

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

A man in a suit stands in front of a helicopter.

Why Trump can’t just decree changes to voting by mail – a former federal judge explains how the president’s executive order is ‘a solution looking for a problem’

John E. Jones III, Dickinson College

International

A man with a machine and wires stands next to an old red car.

Chernobyl at 40: Secret Stasi files reveal extent of Soviet misinformation campaign over nuclear disaster

Lauren Cassidy, Binghamton University, State University of New York

NATO’s internal cohesion is being threatened (again) – but in pushing for support on Iran, Trump may risk eroding US influence on the alliance

Michael A. Allen, Boise State University; Carla Martinez Machain, University at Buffalo, and Michael E. Flynn, Kansas State University

Mozambique relies on Rwanda’s troops to fight terrorism: what happens if they leave?

Kaitlyn Rabe, The Ohio State University

An arm in the foreground of a man dressed in military fatigues with the map of Rwanda on the sleeve, and holding a gun

How debate about gender identity could undermine global efforts to protect victims of violence

Jenna Norosky, Binghamton University, State University of New York

A demonstrator in a black veil walks down a street.

80 years later, scholarship is breaking silence on women’s suffering and strength at Treblinka – including their role in its uprising

Chad S.A. Gibbs, College of Charleston

A large stone monument stands in grass, with people standing on the edge of the grass and woods in the distance.

New research in health and science

People in protective clothing work on a sloped roof.

Research at Chernobyl and Fukushima shows how radioactive materials move in the environment

Eduardo B. Farfán, Kennesaw State University

Placebo effect can work as well as real medicine – but your body may need permission to use it

Phil Starks, Tufts University

Umbilical cord blood may hold clues for a child’s risk of developing Type 1 diabetes

Angelica P. Ahrens, University of Florida; Eric W. Triplett, University of Florida, and Johnny Ludvigsson, Linköping University

Close-up of child's arm with small round device attached

Using atomic nuclei could allow scientists to read time more precisely than ever – what this research could mean for future clocks

Eric R. Hudson, University of California, Los Angeles and Andrei Derevianko, University of Nevada, Reno

A large machine in the dark with bright optical lasers running through it

Ads for GLP-1 drugs are flooding the internet – here’s how to know if it’s safe to buy them online

Sujith Ramachandran, University of Mississippi and Liang-Yuan (Claire) Lin, University of Mississippi

Wegovy tablets with injectable prescription weight loss medicines, Ozempic, Victoza and Wegovy on a white background

Artificial intelligence

An image of Amazon's AI shopping assistant, Rufus, appears on a computer monitor to greet shoppers at a store in New York City.

What we lose when artificial intelligence does our shopping

Mark Bartholomew, University at Buffalo and Samuel Becher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Most people do not realize when a personal message they receive was written by AI, study finds

Andras Molnar, University of Michigan

cartoon image of a typewriter with text on a piece of paper in it

Thousands of AI-written, edited or ‘polished’ books are being sold – an eerie echo of Orwell’s ‘novel-writing machines’

Laura Beers, American University

An open book with text in binary code, set against a red background.

AI companions can give constant support – but distort ideas about what a relationship really is

Oluwaseun Damilola Sanwoolu, University of Kansas

A brunette man in a sweatshirt holds a bowl as he smiles, looking toward a woman's image projected on a screen.

AIs have ‘personalities’ – here’s how they affect you more deeply than you may realize

Tamilla Triantoro, Quinnipiac University

illustration of a woman sitting in front of a computer screen that has a large smiling face

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