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

Musicians perform during a rally in front of a big building.

Trump has gotten rid of many of the checks and balances that could stop him from demolishing the Kennedy Center

E. Andrew Taylor, American University

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

Drew Paul, University of Tennessee

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.

What civil rights enforcement cuts mean for students with disabilities – fewer staff, closed offices, longer waits

David Edward DeMatthews, The University of Texas at Austin

An administrative, grey building with windows is seen with the words 'The Department of Education' below the windows

A young man with glasses looks confused and exasperated as he sits in front of a computer, while two colleagues discuss something behind him.

Gen Z communicates differently in the workplace, but older colleagues can still decode them

Jeff LeBlanc, Boston University

A woman stands on a street corner in front of a television news camera and other broadcast equipment.

How due process, not the First Amendment, got the White House ban on reporters blocked in court

Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University

Mold and heat closed Pittsburgh-area schools – an expert explains the risks to kids

Rebecca Smullin Dawson, Allegheny College

A fan blows inside an elementary classroom.

Detroit and Flint teens are struggling with their mental health – and worried adults around them feel ‘helpless’

Crystal Cederna, Michigan State University

A teen girl puts her hands on her forehead

What does it mean to ‘control’ for variables in a scientific study? A statistician explains

Mark Louie Ramos, Penn State

Man's face blurry in background pinching a white pill with one hand and a blue pill with the other

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Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation's Quizmaster

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An aerial photo shows a residential neighborhood directly adjacent to a large data center building.

Data centers’ neighbors weigh in on how to manage them

Fengxiu Zhang, George Mason University and Saba Siddiki, Syracuse University

A telescope on a mountaintop set in a box with two antenna disks

An overlooked era of cosmology is stealing the show in the quest to understand the cosmos

Cara Giovanetti, University of California, Berkeley

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

Kendall Medford, Penn State

A flag with a crescent and red background flutters in the wind.

21 years after disaster helped bring peace to Aceh – has botched Indonesian response to floods reignited calls for independence?

Azifah Astrina, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Universitas Gadjah Mada

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

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

William Cornwell, University of Colorado Anschutz

Trump speculates on diesel fuel export ban as high prices ripple across US economy

Vidya Mani, University of Virginia; Cornell University

Trains wait in a railyard as a truck passes on a road.

Friendship is built over time, through ordinary moments – I teach lonely college students to notice them

Justin Vaughn, Coastal Carolina University

A graphic image shows cartoon people sitting in their own squares on phones in a house with two levels.

Why making Americans bet with cash could protect people from gambling problems

Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University

A man dressed in a dark suit and dress shirt walks while another man in a suit trails him and photographers shoot his picture.

How Trump’s crypto winnings undermined the industry’s push for looser regulation

Lee Reiners, Duke University

As presidential candidate, Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

The medieval world had its own ‘deepfakes’ – church officials cited a fake imperial decree for centuries

Vanessa Corcoran, Georgetown University

A painting in muted colors shows a man with a tall white hat, wearing robes, handing a triangular object to another man as people on city walls look on.

ICE arrests at Philadelphia International evoke time when airport police helped military catch AWOL Vietnam War soldiers in 1960s

Menika Dirkson, Morgan State University

Man wearing green bullet-proof vest that says 'POLICE ICE' stands in busy area of airport

Dementia caregiving can expose hidden family tensions – but early planning can ease the strain

Sarah E. Patterson, University of Michigan

An older man sits on a couch with a younger woman, looking at a photo album together.

Election officials are fighting wavering voter trust by making mundane processes visible and recruiting citizens to help

Robert Glover, University of Maine

People standing at voting machines, some voting, some waiting to vote.

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Bright yellow taxis packed closely together, appearing to be stuck in traffic.

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Why taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer’s

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

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

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

Bethany Tietjen, Tufts University

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.

How heat on the Tibetan Plateau fuels powerful storms in California, half a world away

Yongkang Xue, University of California, Los Angeles

2026’s El Niño is shaping up to be a doozy – it’s already affecting global shipping, fish behavior and heat

Steven Paton, Smithsonian Institution

A aerial view of a ship on the Panama Canal

Pennsylvania’s aging levees are under pressure from scarce funding and severe weather

Kaleigh Yost, Penn State

View of bridge over water with skyscrapers in background

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International

A large mural has the words 'Unity in our Time' written on it.

Irish reunification is more complicated than Trump may think

Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, American University School of Public Affairs and Carolyn Gallaher, American University School of International Service

Mosque attack highlights evolving extremism landscape that has brought Pakistan-Afghanistan ties to crisis point

Saif Tahir, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Amira Jadoon, Clemson University

Two men in army fatigues hold heavy guns while walking past rubble.

Russia-Ukraine war is accelerating the dangerous race toward fully autonomous drones

Amy McAuliffe, University of Notre Dame

A soldier's hands are on a remote driving control.

How the US gave up its edge to China in processing vital rare earth minerals – and what that’s costing

Charles Edward Gehrke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Round pools and mined walls at a rare earths mine in the desert.

Lula’s UN address points to two starkly different visions of Brazilian nationalism ahead of crucial election

Andre Pagliarini, Louisiana State University

New research in health and science

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

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

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

Why an overactive immune system attacks the bodies of people with lupus but still leaves them vulnerable to infection

Andrew Monteith, University of Tennessee

Person looking down with eyes closed, scratching at a rash on the back of their neck

Why does your brain mix up memories? A new study examines how memories are misplaced in your brain’s filing cabinets

Ian McDonough, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Three generations of women look at a photo album together while behind them a wall features dozens of framed photos.

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will use gravity as a magnifying glass to find distant planets

Thomas Fauchez, American University

A photo showing thousands of galaxies in a night sky.

Artificial intelligence

An illustration of a person pressing on a clear screen with a justice symbol on it.

AI tools can help Americans meet their civil legal needs

Ellen Murphy, Wake Forest University

Why AI has trouble predicting the fury of hurricane intensity

Chanh Kieu, Indiana University

A satellite image shows temperatures of a hurricane seen from above

Why AI resembles a charismatic religious leader

Morgan Shipley, Michigan State University

A female robot with four arms, in the image of the Hindu goddess Kali, stands against a dark blue background, surrounded by colorful digital graphics and glowing geometric shapes.

How to know if you can trust an AI’s answer to your question

Leo S. Lo, University of Virginia

a computer screen showing a name with letters of different colors and a search field

No, AI systems don’t have a drive to survive – a developmental psychologist explains why it only looks that way

Peter J. Marshall, Temple University

two men face eachother inside a cramped space full of lighted buttons and with an oval window

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