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

  • Written by Ahmed Elgammal, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Art & AI Lab, Rutgers University
imageIn March 2026, OpenAI announced the closure of Sora, its video generation software, to redirect the company's computing resources to other projects.Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

OpenAI officially discontinued its video generation tool, Sora, on April 26, 2026.

I’m a computer scientist who’s been developing AI tools and studying...

Read more: Sora’s downfall signals broader problems with AI’s creative utility

Latest attack threatening President Trump reflects rising political violence in US

  • Written by James Piazza, Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science, Penn State
imagePresident Donald Trump speaks at the White House on April 25, 2026, after the cancellation of the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner.Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)

For the third time in three years, Donald Trump has come under threat by an attacker. Many facts remain unclear after a gunman stormed the Washington Hilton on April 25,...

Read more: Latest attack threatening President Trump reflects rising political violence in US

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

  • Written by Mary Burke, Professor of Psychology, Carlow University
imageEvents that draw large crowds can create opportunities traffickers may try to exploit.AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

With the NFL draft taking place in Pittsburgh and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 people expected to attend the events downtown and on the North Shore, conversations about sex trafficking have resurfaced – as they often do when major...

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

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

  • Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University
imageDozens of immigrants from 18 nations take the oath to become U.S. citizens on Jan. 27, 2025, in Topeka, Kan. AP Photo/John Hanna

The Justice Department has identified 384 foreign-born Americans whose citizenship it wants to revoke as “the first wave” of such measures, according to recent reporting by The New York Times. These cases are...

Read more: Justice Department’s effort to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans could face widespread...

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

  • Written by Thomas Tweed, Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History, University of Notre Dame
imageA Croome & Brightly engraving shows John Nixon reading the Declaration of Independence after its passage in Philadelphia.From The New York Public Library via Wikimedia Commons

On the Fourth of July 1776, the congressional delegates in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, then ordered that it be widely “proclaimed.”...

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

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

  • Written by Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Professor of Critical Cultural & International Studies, Colorado State University
imageBreaking up is hard to do?Yoan Valat/AFP via Getty Images

As recently as October 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump was heaping praise on Giorgia Meloni, telling the Italian prime minister how “beautiful” she was.

But what once looked like a political romance based on equal parts ideological alignment and strategic convenience is now...

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

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

  • Written by Valerie Morkevičius, Associate Professor, Political Science, Colgate University

Since the beginning of the Iran war, Pope Leo XIV has frequently called for peace, cautioning that the “delusion of omnipotence” makes military force seem preferable to diplomacy. Although U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, criticized some of the pope’s comments, a growing choir of Catholic voices has criticized the...

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

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

  • Written by Tanya D. Marsh, Professor of Law, Wake Forest University
imageA striking 51.7% of Gen Z respondents ranked casket burial as their first choice, compared with just 27.1% of baby boomers.Ashley Cooper/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Nearly two-thirds of Americans now opt for cremation – a figure that has been steadily increasing over five decades.

On the surface, that proportion tells a simple story: The...

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

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

  • Written by Brian Jay Tang, Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
imageAre you sure you could tell if an AI chatbot were trying to sell you something?AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Hundreds of millions of people consult artificial intelligence chatbots on a daily basis for everything from product recommendations to romance, making them a tempting audience to target with potentially below-the-radar advertising. Indeed, our...

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

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

  • Written by Mavra Javed, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University
imageNatasha Breen/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

You may have seen black garlic appear more frequently in grocery stores, restaurants and online recipes over the past few years. Many chefs and food writers describe it as a unique and deeply flavored ingredient. So what is black garlic, and how is it made?

I noticed a growing curiosity...

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

More Articles ...

  1. ‘Affordable’ Pittsburgh doesn’t have enough affordable housing – here’s why
  2. China surpasses US in research spending – the consequences extend far beyond scientific ranking and clout
  3. Trump administration’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center breaks with norms – and may lack evidence of criminal wrongdoing
  4. Why the Southeast is burning – extreme drought is only part of the reason
  5. Why the Southeast is burning – extreme drought is only part of the cause
  6. Supreme Court’s ‘shadow docket’ brings hasty decisions with long-lasting implications, outside of its usual careful deliberation
  7. School gardens help students learn science and connect with agriculture – but making them happen isn’t easy
  8. The new brain break app for Philadelphia students raises questions about more screen time
  9. Many churches, synagogues and mosques are built around families – and they’re struggling to respond to rising singles
  10. New reading textbooks, same problem: Why children’s reading scores in the US aren’t rising
  11. What we lose when artificial intelligence does our shopping
  12. If Justice Alito resigns before the midterms, a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court is likely to sail through confirmation
  13. Extreme rain on snow is testing aging dams across Michigan and Wisconsin – this is the future in a warming world
  14. Heavy rain on snow is testing aging dams across Michigan and Wisconsin – this is the future in a warming world
  15. Sorry, Tampa Bay, mixed-use districts don’t reverse the dismal economics of sports venues
  16. Chernobyl at 40: Secret Stasi files reveal extent of Soviet misinformation campaign over nuclear disaster
  17. What a Muslim folk trickster can teach us about the danger of holding a single worldview
  18. Rotavirus cases in children are rising – but a highly effective vaccine has slashed hospitalizations from the virus by 80% in 2 decades
  19. Is Trump heading to a Pyrrhic victory in Iran?
  20. High school yearbooks focus on the fun students had, obscuring the pain people also experienced
  21. HEPA air purifiers may boost brain power in adults over 40 – new research
  22. 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’
  23. How personal finance advice is getting political, thanks to ‘finfluencers’
  24. It’s a sing-off! Myth-busting about birds and sex when it comes to defending the nest
  25. Why the US military is stuck using $1 million missiles against Iran’s $20,000 drones
  26. Research at Chernobyl and Fukushima shows how radioactive materials move in the environment
  27. Hurricanes devastated Florida’s East Coast – then seagrass made an unexpected comeback
  28. Attending multiple places of worship is the norm for many Americans
  29. Agricultural work is dangerous – but good communication can save lives in Colorado
  30. Signs of economic instability emerge in Oakland County, one of Michigan’s wealthiest
  31. US government ramps up mass surveillance with help of AI tech, data brokers – and your apps and devices
  32. Umbilical cord blood may hold clues for a child’s risk of developing Type 1 diabetes
  33. Despite all the likes, literallys and dropped g’s, English isn’t decaying before our eyes
  34. Data centers don’t have to be a burden on local communities – and can even support them by generating power and repurposing waste heat
  35. NATO’s internal cohesion is being threatened (again) – but in pushing for support on Iran, Trump may risk eroding US influence on the alliance
  36. Placebo effect can work as well as real medicine – but your body may need permission to use it
  37. Don’t just plant trees, plant forests to restore biodiversity for the future
  38. We designed the turf for soccer’s biggest World Cup ever – here’s how we created the same playing experience across 3 countries
  39. Intimate partner homicide has clear warning signs – and is often preventable, research shows
  40. Is the science that we do today truth, likely to be a lie, or is it undetermined?
  41. It’s a myth that baby boys are less social than girls – a new look at decades of research shows all babies are born to connect
  42. Most people do not realize when a personal message they receive was written by AI, study finds
  43. Schools are supposed to limit using restraint and seclusion to discipline kids – but parents I spoke with say the practice is wildly misused
  44. ICE’s heavy-handed immigration enforcement was tried once before – by Arizona’s notorious sheriff Joe Arpaio in the early 2000s
  45. 1914 Ludlow Massacre took lives of 25 miners and family members during bitter strike for fair wages and conditions
  46. When oil prices spike, where does the money go?
  47. Hampshire College’s demise is yet another blow to creative, outside-the-box options in higher education
  48. Why the future of marijuana legalization remains hazy despite high public support
  49. Trump sidelined Congress’ authority over war on Iran – and lawmakers allowed it, extending a 75-year trend
  50. Trump’s coercive tactics in Latin America evoke era of gunboat diplomacy – and the rise of anti-imperialism it helped spur