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How law enforcement is using technology to track down people who attacked the US Capitol building

  • Written by Don Hummer, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Penn State
imageMany of the people who broke into the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 carried cellphones, which can be tracked, and posted photos of their activities on social media.Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

After rioters flooded the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, there was an immediate call for those who overran officers on the scene and swarmed...

Read more: How law enforcement is using technology to track down people who attacked the US Capitol building

Stickiness is a weapon some plants use to fend off hungry insects

  • Written by Eric LoPresti, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology, Ecology and Evolution, Oklahoma State University
imageA coat of sand makes an effective armor.Eric LoPresti, CC BY-SA

Imagine the texture of a plant. Many may come to mind – the smooth rubberiness of many tropical houseplants, the impossibly soft lamb’s ear, the sharp spines of cacti, or the roughness of tree bark. But stickiness, in the flypaper-stick-to-your-fingers sense, probably...

Read more: Stickiness is a weapon some plants use to fend off hungry insects

Police, soldiers bring lethal skill to militia campaigns against US government

  • Written by Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
imageMilitia members associated with the Three Percenters movement conducting a military drill in Flovilla, Ga., in 2016, days after Trump's election. After his 2020 defeat, Three Percenters were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Image

Thousands of police and soldiers – people...

Read more: Police, soldiers bring lethal skill to militia campaigns against US government

Armed groups from Capitol riot pose longer-term threat to Biden presidency

  • Written by Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Vanderbilt University
imageRioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, but that may not be their last violent move.Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Details continue to emerge about the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol incursion. Exactly what happened – including the degree of planning involved and rioters’ possible connections with Capitol police or even members of Congress – m...

Read more: Armed groups from Capitol riot pose longer-term threat to Biden presidency

Janet Yellen confirmed as first female US Treasury secretary – here’s what she can do about climate change

  • Written by Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University
imageThe Senate voted 84-15 to confirm former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as the next U.S. Treasury secretary.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The Senate voted 84-15 to confirm economist Janet Yellen as U.S. Treasury secretary on Jan. 25, and her in tray will require every ounce of her vast experience to pilot the economy through a daunting confluence...

Read more: Janet Yellen confirmed as first female US Treasury secretary – here’s what she can do about...

What Janet Yellen can do about climate change as US Treasury secretary

  • Written by Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University
imageFormer Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's confirmation hearing for U.S. Treasury secretary was held Jan. 19.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Janet Yellen is poised to be the next U.S. Treasury secretary, and her inbox will require every ounce of her vast experience to pilot the economy through a daunting confluence of challenges. How the U.S. manages...

Read more: What Janet Yellen can do about climate change as US Treasury secretary

Big Tech's swift reaction to Capitol rioters reveals new face of corporate political power – and a threat to American democracy

  • Written by Jerry Davis, Professor of Management and Sociology, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
imageBig Tech reacted to the Capitol riot by shutting down one of Trump's supporters' favorite social media apps.AP Photo/John Minchillo

Big Business and Big Tech both reacted swiftly to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, punishing and condemning those they deemed responsible for the riot or for creating the conditions that led to it.

But there was a...

Read more: Big Tech's swift reaction to Capitol rioters reveals new face of corporate political power – and a...

Why do presidential inaugurations matter?

  • Written by Dimitris Xygalatas, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut
imageAn important ceremony: the U.S. Capitol during President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

As one president’s term ends and another begins, there is a ceremony. Its importance is one of symbolism rather than substance. The Constitution is clear: On Jan. 20, there will be a transfer of power. There is no mention of an...

Read more: Why do presidential inaugurations matter?

What does the vice president do?

  • Written by Joshua Holzer, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster College
imageIt's a top government job, but what does being vice president mean?AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

On Jan. 20, Kamala Harris will become vice president of the United States – the first woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first African American to do so. Harris will also become the first vice president to have graduated from a his...

Read more: What does the vice president do?

Is COVID-19 infecting wild animals? We're testing species from bats to seals to find out

  • Written by Jonathan Runstadler, Professor of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University
imageA wild mink in Utah was the first wild animal in the U.S. found with COVID-19.Peter Trimming via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have found coronavirus infections in pet cats and dogs and in multiple zoo animals, including big cats and gorillas. These infections have even happened when staff were using...

Read more: Is COVID-19 infecting wild animals? We're testing species from bats to seals to find out

More Articles ...

  1. Trump sees power as private property – a habit shared by autocrats throughout the ages
  2. Tooth or consequences: Even during a pandemic, avoiding the dentist can be bad for your oral health
  3. For these students, using data in sports is about more than winning games
  4. My research helped uncover a long-lost right-wing provocateur – but then I turned away from her work
  5. Biden can transform the US from a humanitarian laggard into a global leader – here's how
  6. Cheaper solar power means low-income families can also benefit – with the right kind of help
  7. Zoom work relationships are a lot harder to build – unless you can pick up on colleagues' nonverbal cues
  8. Figs show that nonnative species can invade ecosystems by forming unexpected partnerships
  9. Biden has a congressional shortcut to cancel Trump’s regulatory rollbacks, but it comes with risks
  10. How to stay safe with a fast-spreading new coronavirus variant on the loose
  11. More health inequality: Black people are 3 times more likely to experience pulse oximeter errors
  12. Trump supporters seeking more violence could target state capitols during inauguration – here's how cities can prepare
  13. A white supremacist coup succeeded in 1898 North Carolina, led by lying politicians and racist newspapers that amplified their lies
  14. What is the 'boogaloo' and who are the rioters who stormed the Capitol? 5 essential reads
  15. Does 'deplatforming' work to curb hate speech and calls for violence? 3 experts in online communications weigh in
  16. How the Ebenezer Baptist Church has been a seat of Black power for generations in Atlanta
  17. Neighborhoods with MLK streets are poorer than national average and highly segregated, study reveals
  18. Why the news media may not want to share Capitol riot images with the police
  19. Symbols of white supremacy flew proudly at the Capitol riot – 5 essential reads
  20. White supremacists who stormed US Capitol are only the most visible product of racism
  21. How Trump's language shifted in the weeks leading up to the Capitol riot – 2 linguists explain
  22. Nonprofits helped organize the pro-Trump rally before the Capitol siege – but they probably won't suffer any consequences
  23. The Capitol siege recalls past acts of Christian nationalist violence
  24. Cities can help migrating birds on their way by planting more trees and turning lights off at night
  25. That time private US media companies stepped in to silence the falsehoods and incitements of a major public figure ... in 1938
  26. Francis Galton pioneered scientific advances in many fields – but also founded the racist pseudoscience of eugenics
  27. What you need to know about the new COVID-19 variants
  28. Trump's Twitter feed shows 'arc of the hero,' from savior to showdown
  29. The far-right rioters at the Capitol were not antifa – but violent groups often blame rivals for unpopular attacks
  30. The simple reason West Virginia leads the nation in vaccinating nursing home residents
  31. The great polio vaccine mess and the lessons it holds about federal coordination for today's COVID-19 vaccination effort
  32. Capitol siege raises questions over extent of white supremacist infiltration of US police
  33. The perils of associating 'white' with 'privilege' in the classroom
  34. The Confederate battle flag, which rioters flew inside the US Capitol, has long been a symbol of white insurrection
  35. Does reopening schools cause COVID-19 to spread? It's complicated
  36. Mega Millions jackpot is $750 million – where does all the lottery tax revenue really go?
  37. The price of a drug should be based on its therapeutic benefits – not just what the market will bear
  38. Americans have unrealistic expectations for a COVID-19 vaccine
  39. Is impeaching President Trump 'pointless revenge'? Not if it sends a message to future presidents
  40. Misogyny in the Capitol: Among the insurrectionists, a lot of angry men who don't like women
  41. Federal financial aid for college will be easier to apply for – and a bit more generous
  42. The scent of sickness: 5 questions answered about using dogs – and mice and ferrets – to detect disease
  43. Dostoevsky warned of the strain of nihilism that infects Donald Trump and his movement
  44. How explainable artificial intelligence can help humans innovate
  45. What is a protein? A biologist explains
  46. At impeachment hearing, lawmakers will deliberate over a deadly weapon used in the attack on Capitol Hill – President Trump's words
  47. Why the flag of South Vietnam flew at US Capitol siege
  48. Anti-nutrients – they're part of a normal diet and not as scary as they sound
  49. How can America heal from the Trump era? Lessons from Germany's transformation into a prosperous democracy after Nazi rule
  50. I spoke to 99 big thinkers about what our 'world after coronavirus' might look like – this is what I learned