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

A person rides a bike down a quiet street in front of a red sign that says in white lettering 'Cornell University.'

Cornell 7 case puts a spotlight on fraternity misconduct – and the limits of universities’ power to stop it

Pietro A. Sasso, Old Dominion University

More than 50 years after a North Dakota school district burned copies of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ the anti-war novel is still being censored

Susan Farrell, College of Charleston

Image of book with charred pages as a fire burns in background.

Want to use AI to improve your work? Have it disagree with you

Monideepa Tarafdar, UMass Amherst

cartoon image of a humanoid robot and a man both wearing boxing gloves and facing each other, arms raised

Two Hadza children play atop a rocky outcrop, with bushland and clouds in the background

Hunter-gatherer societies are often put on a pedestal as paragons of equality – but the reality is more complicated

Duncan Stibbard Hawkes, Baylor University and Christopher von Rueden, University of Richmond

The chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, poses during a closing bell ceremony at the Nasdaq, with an American flag behind him.

US regulators want to make corporate earnings reports less frequent, but investors have doubts

Tzachi Zach, The Ohio State University

Young men's arms with plastic cups on bar

Dozens of men failed to stop an alleged gang rape at Cornell – here’s the misperception that keeps bystanders from intervening and how to short-circuit it

Catherine A. Sanderson, Amherst College

How Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is helping kids start reading when they’re very young

Alex H. Poole, Drexel University

Dolly Parton beams behind two tall stacks of children's books.

White nationalism’s appeal runs deeper than partisan politics

Patrick Egan, New York University; James Bisbee, Vanderbilt University, and Joshua A. Tucker, New York University

Men in white face coverings, dark jackets and khaki pants stand in a line holding flags in front of the Washington Monument as another man walks past.

Physicists who uncovered the first particle accelerator were honored with a Nobel Prize 75 years ago – their work shaped physics, medicine and even art research

Artemis Spyrou, Michigan State University and Andrea Richard, Ohio University

A large, long metal tube in a warehouse-like hallway. Three scientists wearing hard hats are speaking in a group in the foreground.

How well have you been following the news?

Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation's Quizmaster

Take the quiz

jumble of disparate images like question marks, supreme court building, two silhouettes kissing and smiley faces

An advertisement featuring Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition leader of the Yashar centrist political party Gadi Eisenkot

Could a former IDF chief break Benjamin Netanyahu’s grip on power in Israel?

Isabella Podwinski, The Conversation and Justin Bergman, The Conversation

An ambulance drives through a gated entrance at night.

Christa Pike survived a lethal injection attempt – the latest person to endure a failed execution

Austin Sarat, Amherst College

A tall white building with ornate pillars is seen through a hole in a row of trees.

A Colorado preschool case will be the Supreme Court’s latest to test boundaries of LGBTQ rights and religious freedom

Mark Satta, Wayne State University; Institute for Humane Studies and Claire browserstack

Get context to understand the news, in your inbox daily or weekly

Subscribe to our newsletters

Figures dressed in black burkas carry large guns.

From suicide bombers to positions of authority – the changing role of women in jihadi groups

Sara Harmouch, George Washington University

Young Black woman wearing a white, fishnet dress and long, dangling, silver earrings sits in front of a piano on a stage and looks out into the crowd.

Nina Simone, Langston Hughes and their forgotten creative collaboration

Jason Miller, North Carolina State University

3 iconic animals show the value of the US Endangered Species Act – and the harm in stripping it away

Timothy Randhir, UMass Amherst

Too many males to choose from can overwhelm female frogs – and change who gets to mate

Claire Therese Hemingway, University of Tennessee; Smithsonian Institution

As private equity, politics and prediction markets reshape sports, is the press box up to the task?

Alex Volonte, University of Florida

Middle-aged bald man wearing a suit raises his arms while speaking at a podium surrounded by fans.

The trouble with Flock cameras is the surveillance system’s architecture, not just some of its users

Henry F. Fradella, Arizona State University

Several cameras are attached to a light post as clouds and blue sky appear in the background.

Can development happen without displacement? Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood is a test case

Ira Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania

A neighborhood of older homes surrounded by a hill and trees.

Up-and-down progress of voting rights in America has been shaped by these 10 key moments

Gibbs Knotts, Coastal Carolina University and Christopher A. Cooper, Western Carolina University

A group of people waiting to vote in a long line outside a country store named the 'Sugar Shack.'

Question of whether taxpayers or fossil fuel companies pay for climate change damage heads to Supreme Court

Patrick Parenteau, Vermont Law & Graduate School

A sprinkling of snow covers the remains of homes destroyed in a wildfire.

100 years ago, Schrödinger’s equation shed light on quantum physics – scientists use it today to fine-tune chemical reactions

Sophya Garashchuk, University of South Carolina

Ron DeSantis’ 2 terms in office fundamentally altered Florida’s political landscape, cementing conservative policies through strategic control of state institutions

Liv Coleman, University of Tampa

man in a suit standing in front of the flag of the state of Florida

Latest videos

This is a pile of white and green pills on a black background.

Watch

Are too many Americans taking antidepressants?

Midterms 2026

A black-and-white photo of three men dressed in black.

2 midterm elections that brought on new eras in US politics

Robert A. Strong, University of Virginia

Why Hispanic Americans are losing faith in the American Dream

Diana Orcés, American University

Two people wearing and holding American flags walk down the middle of a street in a parade, facing away from the camera.

What to do if your vote is challenged: Practical advice for midterm elections

Karen Figueroa-Clewett, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Three voting booths and an American flag.

From the Freedom Caucus to the democratic socialists, small groups inside parties can wreak havoc with leaders’ agenda in Congress

SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, University of Virginia and Charlie Hunt, Boise State University

Supporters for Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier celebrate during an election night watch party, June 23, 2026, in New York.

Why the Supreme Court blocked Trump and the Postal Service from restricting mail-in voting for the midterms

John J. Martin, Quinnipiac University

An illustration with the American flag, scales of justice and a person placing a ballot in a ballot box.

U.S.-Iran war

A lighted sign shows diesel fuel costs $6.39 a gallon.

Iran war pushes diesel – the economy’s lifeblood – to record high prices, with no relief on the horizon

Morgan Bazilian, Colorado School of Mines and Jamie Webster, Colorado School of Mines

Houthi advance boosts Iran’s leverage over the US and Saudi Arabia – but may cost rebel group its legitimacy back in Yemen

Mahad D. Darar, Colorado State University

Armed men patrol in an open-top vehicle.

Rapid Houthi advances in Yemen pose massive strategic risks for Saudi Arabia in the Gulf

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University

A new Houthi front and expanded Iranian attacks risk sinking Gulf nations’ choke-point workaround and widening shipping risks

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University

Men in army fatigues stand with large guns.

Amid grinding war, protesting Ukrainians still want their voices and values heard at home

Sarah Wilson Sokhey, University of Colorado Boulder; Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech, and John O’Loughlin, University of Colorado Boulder

A protester holds up a sign saying 'We support Fedorov.'

Extreme weather and natural disasters

Antarctica’s ice loss is locked in, and extra snowfall won’t save it – that’s bad news for low-lying coastal areas elsewhere

Yucheng Lin, City University of Hong Kong and Robert Kopp, Rutgers University

Why the nor'easter’s storm surge was so high, and what it says about the El Niño winter ahead

Brian Tang, University at Albany, State University of New York

People from a pizza shop pick up equipment from knee-deep flood water.

Another hurricane just sideswiped Hawaii – why the islands’ usual force field seems to be down in 2026

Nicholas Grondin, University of Tampa

A satellite view of the hurricane and Hawaii.

As cities prepare for 2026’s super El Niño, some crucial blind spots can’t be ignored

Bethany Tietjen, Tufts University

A man carrying several items walks through cement passage with water in it under a bridge

Game delays for lightning may be annoying, but they save lives – a sports meteorologist explains the risk

Chris Vagasky, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Lightning strikes near a soccer match, viewed from a safe angle, on Aug. 16, 2025, in Orlando, Florida.

Are you an academic expert who wants to share your knowledge?

Pitch an article

International

Several monks in saffron robes pray with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

What the Eiffel Tower controversy reveals about a Hindu monastic practice – known as ‘brahmacharya’

Bhakti Mamtora, University of Arizona

Ethiopia is sliding back toward war – a look at what is driving the fighting and why it matters

Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, Indiana University

Men in army fatigues walk down the street

The Mecca alliance meets the Red Sea – Saudi Arabia’s new defense pact faces its first major test

John Calabrese, American University

Men in business attire gather at a meeting.

In ‘NAZA,’ Israeli whistleblowers’ revelations about civilian deaths in Gaza reflect a longer history of Palestinian isolation

Drew Paul, University of Tennessee

Push for Creole courses in schools stokes historic anti-Haitian feeling in Dominican Republic

Kendall Medford, Penn State

New research in health and science

Microscopy image of thin, small translucent rods colored purple, blue and white scattered across the screen.

Hibernating bacteria can invade hospitals and survive outer space – but their high energy bill is a weakness that scientists can strike

Canan Karakoç, Georgia Institute of Technology

Menopause is a major health milestone, yet health records barely track it - new research

Audrey Hendricks, University of Colorado Anschutz and Nanette Santoro, University of Colorado Anschutz

A group of middle-aged women lay and talk on a windy beach

Cholesterol control gets personalized – a cardiologist explains how new guidelines tailor treatment to your unique risk profile

William Cornwell, University of Colorado Anschutz

Two large blocks of butter stacked on top of a butter package with a silver knife on the left side.

Fiber is both diet fad and fixture for good health – a doctor explains why there is no one-size-fits-all way to increase your intake

Jean Liew, Boston University

Wooden cutting board with the word 'FIBER' written in flour, surrounded by various high-fiber fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, grains

The higher your body fat %, the less accurate your smartwatch is at measuring calories

Jason Kostrna, Florida International University

two men putting smartwatches on a man wearing mask sitting on a bike

Artificial intelligence

A woman looks at a hand-held computer screen with two men depicted on it.

As AI political deepfakes go viral, lawmakers struggle to keep up – 2 states’ laws show limits of what they can do

Stefani Langehennig, University of Denver

The ‘WarGames’ problem: Computer science has long understood what it takes to keep AI under control

Deven Desai, Georgia Institute of Technology

a dark room with a set of very large display screens

Chatbots as oracles: How AI is giving new life to the ancient practice of seeking answers from inscrutable sources

Webb Keane, University of Michigan and Ambuj Tewari, University of Michigan

Two robotic hands hover above a glowing crystal ball.

Trump frames unregulated AI as a way to keep ahead of China – but in fact, it harms US national security

Stephen Collins, Kennesaw State University

Two men walk down a white path next to a green lawn.

From lab to life: Why translating AI advances to the real world is a major challenge

Bo Wang, University of Mississippi

a video screen showing traffic in a city intersection with annotations

Our partners and funders

The Conversation is a nonprofit organization and our work is made possible by the generosity of our readers, foundations, and university and college members. They make it possible for us to bring this journalism to the public without paywalls or licensing fees.

View all our partners and funders

View all our Founding Partners

View all our Funding Partners

View all our Member Partners

Find out more about us