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

A person stands between a gas pump and a vehicle, with gas prices of $4.29 for a gallon of regular displayed in the background.

What’s in the price of a gallon of gas?

Robert I. Harris, Georgia Institute of Technology

A TV screen in a restaurant displaying a man in a suit and tee making a public address.

Why the 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline doesn’t actually constrain presidents

Jasmine Farrier, University of Louisville

AI chatbots can prioritize flattery over facts – and that carries serious risks

Nir Eisikovits, UMass Boston and Cody Turner, Bentley University

A young woman with dark, thick hair grins as she holds a cellphone and looks into a screen full of icons and chats.

How Harriet Tubman and Philadelphia abolitionists coordinated dangerous journeys to freedom

Nilgun Anadolu-Okur, Temple University and Jeremy Mennis, Temple University

Statue of woman wearing handkerchief on head and holding fists over heart

England’s ‘once in a generation’ housing law takes effect as US housing legislation sits in congressional purgatory

Allyson Gold, Wake Forest University

Hundreds of residential rowhouses are seen from the air.

When immigration detention becomes a system of concentration: Lessons from research on 150 historical cases

Alex Braithwaite, University of Arizona and Rachel D. Van Nostrand, Louisiana State University

A large building surrounded by barbed wire is lit up by strong lights in the night.

Synthetic biology promised to rewrite life – with the death of its pioneer, J. Craig Venter, how close are scientists?

André O. Hudson, Rochester Institute of Technology

Illustration of three DNA molecules floating in a circle above a glowing platform against a dark blue backdrop

What is a just war? Inside the war of words between the Trump administration and the Catholic church

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

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Pope Leo during a ceremony at the Vatican.

Syphilis cases in expectant mothers have dramatically risen since the pandemic – here’s what’s driving the trend

Casey Pinto, Penn State

Male doctor holds the arm of a pregnant woman who has a bandage on her arm from a shot.

Gerrymandering is unpopular with Florida voters – my recent survey shows why DeSantis pushed it through anyway

Daniel A. Smith, University of Florida

Woman speaks into a megaphone on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives.

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an irridecent rainbow pattern reflects off a shiny surface covered with repeated patterns of rectangles of various sizes

AI data center boom is leaving consumer electronics short of chips − even though they don’t use the same kinds

Vidya Mani, University of Virginia; Cornell University

Shown from above, a table with dishes of nuts, seeds, oats, veggies, lentils, beans and fruits

Fiber’s structural integrity keeps plants strong – and its indigestibility keeps your digestive system healthy

Julie Pollock, University of Richmond

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Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation's Quizmaster

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Cheers! Welcome to the Nepalese village where everybody knows how to distill

Geoff Childs, Washington University in St. Louis

Two large pots are seen next to someone looking out the window

Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling makes it harder to protect minority voting power and alters the landscape of future elections

Sam D. Hayes, Simmons University

A tall white man in a suit hands a pen to a shorter Black man in a suit, in a room crowded with people.

‘A study showed…’ isn’t enough – scientific knowledge builds incrementally as researchers investigate and revisit questions

Jeffrey A. Lee, Texas Tech University

older woman lowers her glasses to look quizzically at her phone

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A hazy ring of light visible from behind the darkness of the Moon, in a dark sky.

Seeing an eclipse from Earth is awe-inspiring – for astronauts seeing one from space, the scene was even more grand

Deana L. Weibel, Grand Valley State University

What Trump’s post as a Jesus-like figure tells us about political messianism

Austin Sarat, Amherst College

A light shines on a man speaking at a lectern on stage.

Supreme Court bolsters donors’ free speech rights in unanimous crisis pregnancy center ruling

Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University

A woman sorts baby and toddler clothing in a showroom.

Warmer temps bring soaring tick populations – here’s how to stay safe from Lyme disease

Lakshmi Chauhan, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Father kneels with two young kids on a path in the forest, pointing to something up above.

The US has long used economic coercion to achieve foreign policy goals — the war in Iran shows how that power has declined

Charmaine N. Willis, Old Dominion University and Keith A. Preble, East Carolina University

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U.S.-Iran war

Can the nearly $1 trillion-a-year US military really be depleting key weapons in Iran?

Michael A. Allen, Boise State University

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

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

a small delta-wing aircraft flies against a blue sky

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

250th anniversary of American revolution

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

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

Thomas Tweed, University of Notre Dame

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

Declaration of Independence with a feather quill on wood surface.

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

Philosophy and ethics

A digitally generated image of a young man wearing a suit, standing within a multicolored circular data pattern against a blue background.

Americans care more about future generations than many think – and that gap could matter for policy

Kyle Fiore Law, Arizona State University and Stylianos Syropoulos, Arizona State University

How much should politics influence science, and vice versa? National Science Board’s ousting resurrects an existential debate

Caroline Wagner, The Ohio State University and James Olds, George Mason University

Illustration of microscope silhouette in the center of a gear, surrounded by molecular structures against an American flag backdrop

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.

‘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.

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

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

Extreme weather and natural disasters

A dramatic storm cloud lit up by lightning over a rural area.

Your local storm forecast is likely based on weather miles away – we’re trying to bring it closer to home

Chris Vagasky, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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

Zachary Handlos, Georgia Institute of Technology

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

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.

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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 large, columned white building in the dark.

Supreme Court ruling: The latest in history of diminishing minority voting rights

Robert D. Bland, University of Tennessee

Supreme Court considers how much states can protect consumers when federal agencies won’t

Sarah J. Morath, Wake Forest University

Plastic containers of the Roundup weed killer sit on a store shelf.

Supreme Court considers whether police can use Big Tech data to capture info from all cellphone users in a place and time

Anne Toomey McKenna, Penn State

aerial view of commercial and retail buildings and parking lots

Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown may sound sensible, but it could harm Americans who require long-term care

Marc Cohen, UMass Boston; Alison Barkoff, George Washington University; Jane Tavares, UMass Boston, and Sara Rosenbaum, George Washington University

Mehmet Oz stands at a presidential podium alongside JD Vance.

How the concept of ‘medical freedom’ is reshaping the military’s decades-long stance on the flu vaccine mandate − and endangering troops’ readiness

Katrine L. Wallace, University of Illinois Chicago

Army medic injecting a female soldier with a vaccine, the American flag hangs in the background.

International

A man in traditional Emirati dress looks out to a large oil pipeline.

UAE’s OPEC exit has been long in the works – and may mark the beginning of a Gulf realignment

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University

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

Irus Braverman, University at Buffalo

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

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

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

Lauren Cassidy, Binghamton University, State University of New York

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

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

New research in health and science

Medical marijuana buds in large prescription bottle with branded cap on black background.

Reclassification of marijuana opens doors for much-needed medical research into the benefits and risks of the drug

Carey S. Cadieux, Binghamton University, State University of New York

More than 140,000 Americans die from COPD each year – here’s why survival depends on more than avoiding smoking

Olamide Asifat, Georgia Southern University

Side view of a man wearing a breath nebulizer and mask.

Wearable glucose monitors offer real-time data, but for healthy people no guidelines exist to interpret the numbers

Liao Yue, University of Texas at Arlington

A man in a gym shirt wears a sensor for a continuous glucose monitor on his upper arm and shows his mobile phone displaying his glucose numbers.

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

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.

Artificial intelligence

A man in a muddy tanktop holds a large chunk of greenish stone.

The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor

Abraham Nunbogu, United Nations University and Kaveh Madani, United Nations University

Facial recognition data is a key to your identity – if stolen, you can’t just change the locks

Jonathan S. Weissman, Rochester Institute of Technology

computer screen showing a street scene with green rectangles outlining people's faces

Tapping your genome with AI and quantum computing could deliver on the promise of personalized medicine – but practical and ethical hurdles remain

Gary Skuse, Rochester Institute of Technology and Sherry Dadgar, George Washington University

Illustration of twisting ribbon composed of digital particles against a purple-blue gradient backdrop

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

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

Ahmed Elgammal, Rutgers University

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