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People in frog costumes gather at a 'No Kings' protest in Portland.

Why US activists are wearing inflatable frog costumes at protests against Trump

You’ve just stolen a priceless artifact – what happens next?

Leila Amineddoleh, New York University

Museum display featuring a silver tiara and a crown.
Blue Jays fever sets in as Canada takes in the World Series for the first time in 32 years

Russell Field, University of Manitoba

A man in a Blue Jay uniform swings at an approaching ball.
Japan’s economy needs foreign workers, not the nationalist approach pushed by its new leader
Japan’s economy needs foreign workers, not the nationalist approach pushed by its new leader
Banning Prince Andrew, paring down royal causes – what a modern monarchy might look like under William

Francesca Jackson, Lancaster University

William in a ceremonial red cloak
Companies now own more than $100 billion in bitcoin – but the shine may be wearing off crypto treasury companies

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

The bitcoin symbol on a background with charts
South Africans feel mixture of hope and despair as apartheid becomes a distant memory

Martin Plaut, School of Advanced Study, University of London

A South African man holds his hands in the air.

Voices from the sea

Voices from the sea, part one: people rescued in the Mediterranean tell their stories of survival in ‘onboard workshops’

Part one: people rescued in the Mediterranean tell their stories of survival in ‘onboard workshops’

Morgane Dujmovic, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Part two: using maps and drawings, survivors share the dangers they faced on their journeys to reach the ship

Morgane Dujmovic, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Cards and post-it notes used aboard the OV ship.
Part three: how do exiled people experience their moment of rescue?

Morgane Dujmovic, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Voices from the sea, part three: how do exiled people experience their moment of rescue?
Part four: when dreams reach land, what’s next?

Morgane Dujmovic, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Voices from the sea, part four: when dreams reach land, what’s next?
A picture of a map.

The lost history of Latin America’s role in averting catastrophe during the Cuban missile crisis

Renata Keller, University of Nevada, Reno

Two men in silk loincloths crouch on a dirt floor as another man in ornate red robes looks on.

Japan’s sumo association turns 100 – but the sport’s rituals have a much older role shaping ideas about the country

Jessamyn R. Abel, Penn State

A man sits at a desk talking to several other people. A map is behind him.

When it comes to Ukraine peace negotiations, it’s all over the map

Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech

Sanctions on Russia have failed to stop the war so far – will Trump’s latest package be any different?

Sergey V. Popov, Cardiff University

A Rosneft service station in Russia.
Russia turns to an old ally in its war against Ukrainian drones: the weather

Peter Lee, University of Portsmouth

A Ukrainian soldier holds up a drone.
Trump’s heated White House meeting with Zelensky shows how well Putin is playing the US president

Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky walk into the White House.
Syria’s new leader promised democracy. Then he excluded women from parliamentary elections
Syria’s new leader promised democracy. Then he excluded women from parliamentary elections
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could unlock the next revolution in cancer treatment – new research
Scanning electron micrograph image of immune cells attached to cancer cells, against a purple background.
High-tech cameras capture the secrets of venomous snake bites

Alistair Evans, Monash University

High-tech cameras capture the secrets of venomous snake bites
In her revenue era: the economics behind Taylor Swift’s 34 versions of The Life of a Showgirl
A composite image showing Taylor Swift, US cash notes, and various Taylor Swift album covers
A Supreme Court showdown looms for Trump’s tariffs. Will it limit presidential power?

A Supreme Court showdown looms for Trump’s tariffs. Will it limit presidential power?

Russia turns to an old ally in its war against Ukrainian drones: the weather
A Ukrainian soldier holds up a drone.
Your gluten sensitivity might be something else entirely, new study shows
Shop or cafe assistant placing 'gluten free' label on chocolate brownies
Hamas turns to executions as it tries to establish a monopoly on force in Gaza

Tahani Mustafa, King's College London

Am armed Hamas fighter.
An Amazon outage has rattled the internet. A computer scientist explains why the ‘cloud’ needs to change
A purple exhibition stand with a white sign above it featuring the letters "AWS".
2 iconic coral species are now functionally extinct off Florida, study finds – we witnessed the reef’s bleaching and devastation
A closeup of staghorn coral
The uneasy history of horror films and disability

Gwyneth Peaty, Curtin University and Katie Ellis, Curtin University

A scene from A Nightmare on Elm Street shows serial killer Freddy Krueger walking in the shadows.
Lisztomania: why did women go gaga for 19th century pianist Franz Liszt?
A portrait of Franz Liszt by Henri Lehmann/Wikimedia Commons
The real reason conservatives are furious about Bad Bunny’s forthcoming Super Bowl performance
Man with dreadlocks raps into a microphone from a stage with an LED blue bunny head flashing in the background.
A protester with a sign 'DON'T MILITARIZE OUR HOME.'

Trump’s National Guard deployments reignite 200-year-old legal debate over state vs. federal power

The great wildebeest migration, seen from space: satellites and AI are helping count Africa’s wildlife
Large herd of animals crossing a river
Will the ‘military sleep method’ really help me fall asleep in 2 minutes?

Dean J. Miller, CQUniversity Australia

US soldier wearing fatigues lying on sofa sleep
Madagascar’s military power grab shows Africa’s coup problem isn’t restricted to the Sahel region
A soldier in a crowd.
Drought, sand storms and evacuations: how Iran’s climate crisis gets ignored

Sanam Mahoozi, City St George's, University of London

People in the streets of Tehran wearing sunshade umbrella-type hats because of very high temperatures.
Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban avoid a deeper war for now, but how long can the peace hold?
Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban avoid a deeper war for now, but how long can the peace hold?
Rethinking polygamy – new research upends conventional thinking about the advantages of monogamous marriage
three gold rings intertwined
Harper Lee’s unpublished stories are not ‘thrilling’ – but offer insight into a literary legend
Harper Lee’s unpublished stories are not ‘thrilling’ – but offer insight into a literary legend
Skims has put merkins back on the fashion map. Here’s a brief (and hairy) history of the pubic wig
A composite image shows an old sketch of a naked female form (between the shoulders and knees) overlayed with a modern image of a pubic wig.
New Pentagon policy is an unprecedented attempt to undermine press freedom
A U.S. flag is draped over a concrete building.
African languages for AI: the project that’s gathering a huge new dataset
An abstract African pattern with columns, arrows, circles organised in rows.
Should I take a magnesium supplement? Will it help me sleep or prevent muscle cramps?
African-Australian woman wearing a yellow jumper takes a magnesium supplement
Why industry-standard labels for AI in music could change how we listen
Different music apps on a smartphone.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky walk into the White House.

Trump’s heated White House meeting with Zelensky shows how well Putin is playing the US president

Trump’s words aren’t stopping China, Brazil and many other countries from setting higher climate goals, but progress is slow
An aerial view of an island filled with buildings. The ocean is a brilliant blue.
The world wide web was meant to unite us, but is tearing us apart instead. Is there another way?
The world wide web was meant to unite us, but is tearing us apart instead. Is there another way?
Unusual red rocks in Australia are rewriting the rules on exceptional fossil sites
Hand holding a piece of orange-coloured rock containing an intricate fossil
The price of gold is skyrocketing. Why, and will it continue?
Gold and silver bullion are seen at Pallion in Marrickville, Sydney
The hidden sources of forever chemicals leaking into rivers – and what to do about them
The River Mersey estuary.
Raila Odinga: the man who changed Kenya without ever ruling it
Raila Odinga: the man who changed Kenya without ever ruling it
Why climate summits fail – and three ways to save them

Francesco Grillo, Bocconi University

Why climate summits fail – and three ways to save them
How we sharpened the James Webb telescope’s vision from a million kilometres away
How we sharpened the James Webb telescope’s vision from a million kilometres away

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Life and art

Why ghosts wear clothes or white sheets instead of appearing in the nude
ghost of a woman playing piano
Your body can be a portable gym: how to ditch membership fees and expensive equipment
A woman is seen doing push-ups at a soccer field.
Diane Keaton pioneered new kinds of complex femininity on screen

Jen Harvie, Queen Mary University of London

Diane Keaton
Would you watch a film with an AI actor? What Tilly Norwood tells us about art – and labour rights
A woman stands in front of a night skyline.

Environment

An aerial view of meltwater on the ice sheet

What are climate tipping points? They sound scary, especially for ice sheets and oceans, but there’s still room for optimism

Why Trump is not a death knell for global climate action

Matt McDonald, The University of Queensland

A person wearing a green cap that says 'Make earth great again' stands in front of an out-of-focus climate protest sign.
Renewables have now passed coal globally – and growth is fastest in countries like Bhutan and Nepal
people riding mopeds past a solar array on highway.
The climate crisis is fuelling extreme fires across the planet

Hamish Clarke, The University of Melbourne

A firefighter in a yellow jacket sprays water on a bush fire
Thai villagers have moved four times to escape rising sea levels – life on the climate-change frontline

Danny Marks, Dublin City University

Two people walking along a wooden pathway to the village.

Health

The dark history of medical illustrations and the question of consent

Lucy E. Hyde, University of Bristol

Various anatomical drawings.
Why it’s time to rethink the notion of an autism ‘spectrum’
Plumes of different coloured smoke.
Poor sleep may make your brain age faster – new study
Model of a brain on a pillow with some zeds rising from it.
A new treatment for Huntington’s disease is genuinely promising – but here’s why we still need caution
Younger woman embraces older woman as they look out a rainy window.

Science and Technology

Worried about turning 60? Science says that’s when many of us actually peak
A woman holding pink feathers, dancing.
Human ancestors were exposed to lead millions of years ago, and it shaped our evolution
Human ancestors were exposed to lead millions of years ago, and it shaped our evolution
AI systems and humans ‘see’ the world differently – and that’s why AI images look so garish

T.J. Thomson, RMIT University

Woman wearing glasses and looking at neon lights.
Today’s AI hype has echoes of a devastating technology boom and bust 100 years ago
A black and white photo, showing a large crowd of people outside the New York Stock Exchange following the great crash of October 1929.

Business and economy

Cuba’s leaders see their options dim amid blackouts and a shrinking economy
The silhouettes of men and women are seen in a dark street.
US economy is already on the edge – a prolonged government shutdown could send it tumbling over
a far horizon can be seen in the desert at the edge of a high cliff that juts out
Why Argentina is looking to the Trump administration for a bailout − and what the US Treasury can do to help
Two men in suits shake hands.
Banks retreat from climate change commitments – but it’s business more than politics
An oil derrick pumps oil in a field at dusk

The Conversation Weekly Podcast

How trafficked American guns fuel Mexico’s cartel violence – podcast
Guns on a table in Mexico.
Three scientists speak about what it’s like to have research funding cut by the Trump administration
A sign saying science helps you held up by a protestor.
Birkin v Wirkin: the backlash against the global elite and their luxury bags – podcast
A Hermes bag with a view of a city skyline behind
How AI could influence the evolution of humanity – podcast
Illustration of evolution of humanity from primates to an unknown future with a blue light.
Subscribe to The Conversation Weekly podcast

Most read this weekas

1.
Friday essay: tai chi helped me navigate grief and loss. Its story spans ancient China to Lou Reed

Carol Lefevre, University of Adelaide

Friday essay: tai chi helped me navigate grief and loss. Its story spans ancient China to Lou Reed
2.
Why US activists are wearing inflatable frog costumes at protests against Trump

Blake Lawrence, University of Technology Sydney

Why US activists are wearing inflatable frog costumes at protests against Trump
3.
The climate crisis is fuelling extreme fires across the planet

Hamish Clarke, The University of Melbourne

The climate crisis is fuelling extreme fires across the planet
4.
As Gaza starts to rebuild, what lessons can be learned from Nagasaki in 1945?

Gwyn McClelland, University of New England

As Gaza starts to rebuild, what lessons can be learned from Nagasaki in 1945?
5.
Peter Thiel thinks Greta Thunberg could be the Antichrist. What actually is the Antichrist?

Philip C. Almond, The University of Queensland

Peter Thiel thinks Greta Thunberg could be the Antichrist. What actually is the Antichrist?
6.
Sanctions on Russia have failed to stop the war so far – will Trump’s latest package be any different?

Sergey V. Popov, Cardiff University

Sanctions on Russia have failed to stop the war so far – will Trump’s latest package be any different?