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College ‘general education’ requirements help prepare students for citizenship − but critics say it’s learning time taken away from useful studies

  • Written by Kelly Ritter, Professor of Writing and Communication, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageStudents learn about the arts and humanities, social sciences, and science and mathematics in general education.Olga Pankova/Moment via Getty Images

What do Americans think of when they hear the words “general education”?

By definition, general education covers introductory college courses in arts and humanities, social sciences, and...

Read more: College ‘general education’ requirements help prepare students for citizenship − but critics say...

Catholic clergy are speaking out on immigration − more than any other political issue except abortion

  • Written by Evan Stewart, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UMass Boston
imageCatholic bishops invited by Mark Seitz, center, the bishop of El Paso, Texas, lead a march in solidarity with migrants on March 24, 2025, in downtown El Paso.AP Photo/Andres Leighton

Catholic priests across the U.S. discuss immigration with their congregations more than leaders in many other faith traditions, according to our new research published...

Read more: Catholic clergy are speaking out on immigration − more than any other political issue except...

Why drones and AI can’t quickly find missing flood victims, yet

  • Written by Robin R. Murphy, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University
imageThe landscape in the aftermath of a flood makes it challenging to spot victims.AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

For search and rescue, AI is not more accurate than humans, but it is far faster.

Recent successes in applying computer vision and machine learning to drone imagery for rapidly determining building and road damage after hurricanes or shifting...

Read more: Why drones and AI can’t quickly find missing flood victims, yet

The golden oyster mushroom craze unleashed an invasive species – and a worrying new study shows it’s harming native fungi

  • Written by Aishwarya Veerabahu, Ph.D. Candidate in Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageGolden oyster mushrooms can be cultivated, but they can also escape into the wild.DDukang/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Golden oyster mushrooms, with their sunny yellow caps and nutty flavor, have become wildly popular for being healthy, delicious and easy to grow at home from mushroom kits.

But this food craze has also unleashed an invasive species into...

Read more: The golden oyster mushroom craze unleashed an invasive species – and a worrying new study shows...

What is peer review? The role anonymous experts play in scrutinizing research before it gets published

  • Written by Joshua Winowiecki, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Michigan State University

Reviewer 1: “This manuscript is a timely and important contribution to the field, with clear methodology and compelling results. I recommend publication with only minor revisions.”

Reviewer 2: “This manuscript is deeply flawed. The authors’ conclusions are not supported by data, and key literature is ignored. Major revisions...

Read more: What is peer review? The role anonymous experts play in scrutinizing research before it gets...

University students feel ‘anxious, confused and distrustful’ about AI in the classroom and among their peers

  • Written by Elise Silva, Director of Policy Research at the Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security, University of Pittsburgh
imageArtificial intelligence has taken off on campus, changing relationships between students and professors and among students themselves.Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The advent of generative AI has elicited waves of frustration and worry across academia for all the reasons one might expect: Early studies are showing that artificial intelligence...

Read more: University students feel ‘anxious, confused and distrustful’ about AI in the classroom and among...

Examining mushrooms under microscopes can help engineers design stronger materials

  • Written by Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi, PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York
imageWhite button mushrooms are one of the types studied to inform stronger materials. DigiPub/Moment via Getty Images

Pick up a button mushroom from the supermarket and it squishes easily between your fingers. Snap a woody bracket mushroom off a tree trunk and you’ll struggle to break it. Both extremes grow from the same microscopic building...

Read more: Examining mushrooms under microscopes can help engineers design stronger materials

What makes ‘great powers’ great? And how will they adapt to a multipolar world?

  • Written by Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College
imageWhen greats clash! In this case, in the 1974 film 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.'FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images

Many column inches have been dedicated to dissecting the “great power rivalry” currently playing out between China and the U.S.

But what makes a power “great” in the realm of international...

Read more: What makes ‘great powers’ great? And how will they adapt to a multipolar world?

California farmers identify a hot new cash crop: Solar power

  • Written by Jacob Stid, Ph.D. student in Hydrogeology, Michigan State University
imageThis dairy farm in California's Central Valley has installed solar panels on a portion of its land.George Rose/Getty Images

Imagine that you own a small, 20-acre farm in California’s Central Valley. You and your family have cultivated this land for decades, but drought, increasing costs and decreasing water availability are making each year...

Read more: California farmers identify a hot new cash crop: Solar power

Angels, witches, crystals and black cats: How supernatural beliefs vary across different groups in the US

  • Written by Christopher P. Scheitle, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University
imageEducation, income and demographics shape our views of the unseen world, a survey found.karetoria/Collection Moment via Getty Images

Younger Americans are more likely to express belief in witchcraft and luck, as our new research shows.

As sociologistswho researchthe social dynamics of religion in the United States, we conducted a nationally...

Read more: Angels, witches, crystals and black cats: How supernatural beliefs vary across different groups in...

More Articles ...

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  2. Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling − 5 essential reads
  3. Florida is fronting the $450M cost of Alligator Alcatraz – a legal scholar explains what we still don’t know about the detainees
  4. Rethinking the MBA: Character as the educational foundation for future business leaders
  5. Weird space weather seems to have influenced human behavior on Earth 41,000 years ago – our unusual scientific collaboration explores how
  6. Sculptor galaxy image provides brilliant details that will help astronomers study how stars form
  7. Many Texas communities are dangerously unprepared for floods − lack of funding plays a big role
  8. How universities can keep protests from turning violent: 3 lessons from the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments
  9. Europe is stuck in a bystander role over Iran’s nuclear program after US, Israeli bombs establish facts on the ground
  10. How 17M Americans enrolled in Medicaid and ACA plans could lose their health insurance by 2034
  11. A law from the era of Red Scares is supercharging Trump administration’s power over immigrants and noncitizens
  12. News quiz text reminders
  13. ABC’s and CBS’s settlements with Trump are a dangerous step toward the commander in chief becoming the editor-in-chief
  14. Is there any hope for the internet?
  15. 2026 FIFA World Cup expansion will have a big climate footprint, with matches from Mexico to Canada – here’s what fans can do
  16. When big sports events like FIFA World Cup expand, their climate footprint expands too
  17. When big sports events expand, like FIFA’s 2026 World Cup matches across North America, their climate footprint expands too
  18. Listening to nonhumans: What music can teach about humanity’s relationships with nature and the divine
  19. Zohran Mamdani’s last name reflects centuries of intercontinental trade, migration and cultural exchange
  20. Trump’s Brazil tariffs point more to his enduring bond with far-right Bolsonaro than economic concerns
  21. Most Pennsylvania voters ignore judicial elections − a political scientist explains why they matter, especially in a battleground state
  22. Who was the first pirate?
  23. When disasters fall out of the public eye, survivors continue to suffer – a rehabilitation professional explains how sustained mental health support is critical to recovery
  24. FEMA’s flood maps often miss dangerous flash flood risks, leaving homeowners unprepared
  25. How citizenship chaos was averted, for now, by a class action injunction against Trump’s birthright citizenship order
  26. Why it can be hard to warn people about dangers like floods – communication researchers explain the role of human behavior
  27. IRS says churches may endorse political candidates despite a decades-old federal statute barring them from doing that
  28. Why do so many American workers feel guilty about taking the vacation they’ve earned?
  29. Inequality has risen from 1970 to Trump − that has 3 hidden costs that undermine democracy
  30. Spacecraft equipped with a solar sail could deliver earlier warnings of space weather threats to Earth’s technologies
  31. AI in health care could save lives and money − but change won’t happen overnight
  32. Muscle weakness in cancer survivors may be caused by treatable weakness in blood vessels – new research
  33. Spotted lanternflies love grapevines, and that’s bad for Pennsylvania’s wine industry
  34. School smartphone bans reflect growing concern over youth mental health and academic performance
  35. This tropical plant builds isolated ‘apartments’ to prevent battles among the aggressive ant tenants it relies on for survival
  36. Justice Department efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans likely violate constitutional rights
  37. Trump’s ‘big’ bill gives millions of taxpayers a new charitable tax break, but whether it will help nonprofits is unclear
  38. The AI therapist will see you now: Can chatbots really improve mental health?
  39. Wildfire smoke can make your outdoor workout hazardous to your health – an exercise scientist explains how to gauge the risk
  40. Why recycling solar panels is harder than you might think − an electrical engineer explains
  41. How weather changes cause migraines – a neurologist explains the triggers and what you can do to ease the pain
  42. Dune patterns in California desert hold clues that help researchers map Mars’ shifting sands
  43. Jimmy Swaggart’s rise and fall shaped the landscape of American televangelism
  44. That $20 dress direct from China now costs $30 after Trump closed a tariff loophole – and the US will soon end the ‘de minimis’ exemption for the rest of the world, too
  45. A weakened Iran and Hezbollah gives Lebanon an opening to chart path away from the region’s conflicts − will it be enough?
  46. AI and art collide in this engineering course that puts human creativity first
  47. My city was one of hundreds expecting federal funds to help manage rising heat wave risk – then EPA terminated the grants
  48. Trump administration’s lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities
  49. ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will have Americans paying higher prices for dirtier energy
  50. Exploring questions of meaning, ethics and belief through Japanese anime