NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

The Conversation

AI has a hidden water cost − here’s how to calculate yours

  • Written by Leo S. Lo, Dean of Libraries; Advisor to the Provost for AI Literacy; Professor of Education, University of Virginia
imageHow many AI queries does it take to use up a regular plastic water bottle's worth of water?kieferpix/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Artificial intelligence systems are thirsty, consuming as much as 500 milliliters of water – a single-serving water bottle – for each short conversation a user has with the GPT-3 version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT...

Read more: AI has a hidden water cost − here’s how to calculate yours

How to poop outdoors in a way that won’t harm the environment and other hikers

  • Written by Shari Edelson, Ph.D. Candidate in Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, Penn State
imageA pilot program to distribute waste bags to hikers on Mount Elbert in Colorado successfully cut down the amount of human waste on the massive mountain. Shari Edelson, CC BY-ND

If you’re one of the 63 million Americans who went hiking last year, chances are you’ve found yourself needing to go, with no toilet in sight.

Aside from personal...

Read more: How to poop outdoors in a way that won’t harm the environment and other hikers

Balancing kratom’s potential benefits and risks − new legislation in Colorado seeks to minimize harm

  • Written by David Kroll, Professor of Natural Products Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
imageKratom, an herbal supplement, is now being regulated in Colorado.AR30mm/iStock via Getty Images

David Bregger had never heard of kratom before his son, Daniel, 33, died in Denver in 2021 from using what he thought was a natural and safe remedy for anxiety.

By his father’s account, Daniel didn’t know that the herbal product could kill...

Read more: Balancing kratom’s potential benefits and risks − new legislation in Colorado seeks to minimize harm

Are high school sports living up to their ideals?

  • Written by Jedediah Blanton, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies, University of Tennessee
imageMost coaches want to be able to do more than teach their athletes to win faceoffs and dodge defenders.Hannah Foslien/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Coach Smith was an easy hire as the head coach of a new high school lacrosse team in Tennesseee: She had two decades of coaching experience and a doctorate in sport and exercise science.

After...

Read more: Are high school sports living up to their ideals?

How does your body make poop?

  • Written by Brian Robert Boulay, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago
imageYour small intestine is lined with tiny protrusions called villi that play a big role in digestion.Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

How does your body make poop? Owen,...

Read more: How does your body make poop?

Pregnant women face tough choices about medication use due to lack of safety data − here’s why medical research cuts will make it worse

  • Written by Almut Winterstein, Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy, University of Florida
imageMore than 9 in 10 women take at least one medication during pregnancy, yet data on prescription drugs' effects on the fetus are sparse.Adam Hester/Tetra images via Getty Images

A panel convened in July 2025 by the Food and Drug Administration sparked controversy by casting doubt about the safety of commonly used antidepressants during pregnancy....

Read more: Pregnant women face tough choices about medication use due to lack of safety data − here’s why...

We’ve been tracking the number of Americans who identify as transgender – soon, there will be no reliable way to measure them

  • Written by Jody L. Herman, Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute, University of California, Los Angeles

Researchers have traditionally had a difficult time tracking the number of Americans who identify as transgender.

But over the past decade, our work has become easier, largely thanks to federal data. In 2014, for the first time, the federal government included a question on transgender identity in the Centers for Disease Control and...

Read more: We’ve been tracking the number of Americans who identify as transgender – soon, there will be no...

How the conservative Federalist Society will affect the Supreme Court for decades to come

  • Written by Paul M. Collins Jr., Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst
imageSupreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas look on during the 60th presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, in the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP

During the 2016 presidential election campaign, candidate Donald Trump took the unprecedented move of releasing a list of his potential Supreme Court...

Read more: How the conservative Federalist Society will affect the Supreme Court for decades to come

Earth-size stars and alien oceans – an astronomer explains the case for life around white dwarfs

  • Written by Juliette Becker, Assistant Professor of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageWhite dwarf stars, like this one shown shrouded by a planetary nebula, are much smaller than stars like our Sun.NASA/R. Ciardullo (PSU)/H. Bond (STScI)

The Sun will someday die. This will happen when it runs out of hydrogen fuel in its core and can no longer produce energy through nuclear fusion as it does now. The death of the Sun is often thought...

Read more: Earth-size stars and alien oceans – an astronomer explains the case for life around white dwarfs

As National Park System visitor numbers hit record highs, here’s how visitors can adapt for a better experience

  • Written by Allie McCreary, Assistant Professor of Parks and Recreation, Auburn University
imageCrowds often form at popular places in U.S. national parks, like the entrance to Yosemite Valley in California.Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Visiting America’s national parks is a treasured public pastime. The wetlands of Congaree in South Carolina, the depths of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the vistas provided by...

Read more: As National Park System visitor numbers hit record highs, here’s how visitors can adapt for a...

More Articles ...

  1. American capitalism is being remade by state power
  2. FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines with new restrictions, potentially limiting access for healthy children
  3. Supporting religious diversity on campus is a surprising consensus among faculty across the red-blue divide
  4. When federal courts fail to punish lawyers for potential misconduct, states can step in
  5. Latin American literature contains warnings for American universities that yield to Trump
  6. Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt
  7. When the government can see everything: How one company – Palantir – is mapping the nation’s data
  8. Pregnancy brings unique challenges for people with autoimmune diseases – but with early planning, pregnancy outcomes can be greatly improved
  9. How stripping diversity, equity and inclusion from health care may make Americans sicker
  10. Why religious groups are pushing for psychedelics as sacrament
  11. Trump’s firing of Fed governor threatens central bank independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation)
  12. Trump’s push to fire Fed governor threatens central bank independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation)
  13. The US really is unlike other rich countries when it comes to job insecurity – and AI could make it even more ‘exceptional’
  14. Active Clubs are white supremacy’s new, dangerous frontier
  15. Squash has been played in Philly for 125 years − a sports psychologist explains why it’s one of the city’s best-kept secrets
  16. College students are bombarded by misinformation, so this professor taught them fact-checking 101 − here’s what happened
  17. Like Reagan, Trump is slashing US environment regulations, but his strategy may have a far deeper impact
  18. Like Reagan, Trump is slashing environment regulations, but his strategy may have a far deeper impact
  19. Israel’s killing of journalists follows a pattern of silencing Palestinian media that stretches back to 1967
  20. Hurricane Katrina: 3 painful lessons for emergency management are increasingly important 20 years later
  21. Orwell’s opposition to totalitarianism was rooted in his support for freeing workers from poverty and exploitation
  22. Why is the object of golf to play as little golf as possible?
  23. Rural women are at a higher risk of violence − and less likely to get help
  24. Forget the warm fuzzies of finding common ground – to beat polarization, try changing your expectations
  25. From public confession to private penance: How Catholic confession has evolved over centuries
  26. Monsoon flooding has killed hundreds in Pakistan – climate change is pushing the rainy season from blessing to looming catastrophe
  27. How federal officials talk about health is shifting in troubling ways – and that change makes me worried for my autistic child
  28. Netanyahu remains unmoved by Israel’s lurch toward pariah status − but at home and abroad, Israelis are suffering the consequences
  29. Misunderstood Malthus: The English thinker whose name is synonymous with doom and gloom has lessons for today
  30. The ‘security guarantee’ paradox: Too weak and it won’t protect Ukraine; too robust and Russia won’t accept it
  31. A straight face, with a wink – the subtle humor of deadpan photography
  32. The first stars may not have been as uniformly massive as astronomers thought
  33. Trump’s Epstein problem is real: New poll shows many in his base disapprove of his handling of the files, and some supporters are having second thoughts about electing him
  34. A Detroit street is named in honor of Vincent Chin – his death mobilized Asian American activists nationwide
  35. Tit-for-tat gerrymandering wars won’t end soon – what happens in Texas and California doesn’t stay there
  36. Wildfire disasters are increasingly in the news, yet less land is burning globally – here’s why
  37. By ‘focusing on the family,’ James Dobson helped propel US evangelicals back into politics – making the Religious Right into the cultural force it is today
  38. Parenting strategies are shifting as neuroscience brings the developing brain into clearer focus
  39. ‘These people do it naturally’: President Trump’s views on immigrant farmworkers reflect a long history of how farming has been idealized and practiced in America
  40. Studying philosophy does make people better thinkers, according to new research on more than 600,000 college grads
  41. Why America still needs public schools
  42. Hulk Hogan’s daughter can’t write herself out of the wrestler’s will – but she can refuse to take his money
  43. State Department layoffs could hurt US companies’ ability to compete globally – an economist explains why
  44. Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ still speaks to a nation vacillating between hope and despair
  45. Pediatricians’ association recommends COVID-19 vaccines for toddlers and some older children, breaking with CDC guidance
  46. The Orwellian echoes in Trump’s push for ‘Americanism’ at the Smithsonian
  47. Most air cleaning devices have not been tested on people − and little is known about their potential harms, new study finds
  48. AI has passed the aesthetic Turing Test − and it’s changing our relationship with art
  49. Colorado’s subalpine wetlands may be producing a toxic form of mercury – that’s a concern for downstream water supplies
  50. Before celebrating big gifts, charities must watch out for fake donors