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How museums can help rebuild trust in a divided America

  • Written by Devon Akmon, Director of the MSU Museum and CoLab Studio, Michigan State University
imageA student CoLaborator engages visitors in dialogue about food security and sustainability during a recent exhibition.MSU Museum

Across the United States, political polarization has deepened to historic levels. In a report published in May 2025, the Pew Research Center found that Americans are more divided and less trusting of one another than at...

Read more: How museums can help rebuild trust in a divided America

Why does orange juice taste bad after you brush your teeth?

  • Written by Linda Bartoshuk, Research Professor of Psychology, George Washington University
imageThere's a scientific reason your OJ tastes funny after you brush your teeth.JGI/Tom Grill/Tetra Images 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.

Why does orange juice taste bad after you brush your teeth? – Seth...

Read more: Why does orange juice taste bad after you brush your teeth?

Can the US ‘run’ Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy

  • Written by Monica Duffy Toft, Professor of International Politics and Director of the Center for Strategic Studies, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
imageSupporters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gather during a demonstration in Caracas on Jan, 4, 2026. Pedro Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images

An image circulated over media the weekend of Jan. 3 and 4 was meant to convey dominance: Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed aboard a U.S. naval vessel....

Read more: Can the US ‘run’ Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political...

How Maduro’s capture went down – a military strategist explains what goes into a successful special op

  • Written by R. Evan Ellis, Senior Associate, Americas Program, The Center for Strategic and International Studies
imageU.S. military fighter jets sit on the tarmac at José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico, on Jan. 3, 2026.Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images

The predawn seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, 2026 was a complicated affair. It was also, operationally, a resounding success for the U.S. military.

O...

Read more: How Maduro’s capture went down – a military strategist explains what goes into a successful...

5 scenarios for a post-Maduro Venezuela — and what they could signal to the wider region

  • Written by Robert Muggah, Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow na Bosch Academy e Co-fundador, Instituto Igarapé; Princeton University
imageArmed supporters of Nicolás Maduro gather near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Jan. 3, 2026.Federico Parra/ AFP via Getty Images

The predawn U.S. military operation that spirited Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of Venezuela and into U.S. custody marks a watershed in hemispheric politics. In an operation that lasted...

Read more: 5 scenarios for a post-Maduro Venezuela — and what they could signal to the wider region

A predawn op in Latin America? The US has been here before, but the seizure of Venezuela’s Maduro is still unprecedented

  • Written by Alan McPherson, Professor of History, Temple University
imageA motorcycle rides past graffiti depicting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 3, 2026.Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images

In the dead of night during the holidays, the United States launched an operation inside a Latin American country, intent on seizing its leader on the pretext that he is wanted in U.S. courts on drug charges.

Th...

Read more: A predawn op in Latin America? The US has been here before, but the seizure of Venezuela’s Maduro...

I wrote a book on the politics of war powers, and Trump’s attack on Venezuela reflects Congress surrendering its decision-making powers

  • Written by Sarah Burns, Associate Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageExplosions were seen across Caracas after the U.S. launched large-scale attacks on Venezuela and captured its leader and his wife. AFP via Getty Images

Americans woke up on Jan. 3, 2025, to blaring headlines: “US CAPTURES MADURO, TRUMP SAYS,” declared The New York Times, using all capital letters. The U.S. had mounted an overnight...

Read more: I wrote a book on the politics of war powers, and Trump’s attack on Venezuela reflects Congress...

Oldest known cremation in Africa poses 9,500-year-old mystery about Stone Age hunter-gatherers

  • Written by Jessica C. Thompson, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Yale University
imageWhy did this community burn one woman's remains in such a visible, spectacular way?Patrick Fahey

Near the equator, the Sun hurries below the horizon in a matter of minutes. Darkness seeps from the surrounding forest. Nearly 10,000 years ago, at the base of a mountain in Africa, people’s shadows stretch up the wall of a natural overhang of...

Read more: Oldest known cremation in Africa poses 9,500-year-old mystery about Stone Age hunter-gatherers

West Coast levee failures show growing risks from America’s aging flood defenses

  • Written by Farshid Vahedifard, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University
imageDays of heavy rain caused a levee on the White River to breach, sending water into Pacific, Wash., on Dec. 16, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

In recent weeks, powerful atmospheric river storms have swept across Washington, Oregon and California, unloading enormous amounts of rain. As rivers surged, they overtopped or breached multiple levees &ndash...

Read more: West Coast levee failures show growing risks from America’s aging flood defenses

LA fires showed how much neighborliness matters for wildfire safety

  • Written by Elizabeth A. Logan, Associate Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and The West, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
imageEaton fire survivors gather in Altadena, Calif., to talk about recovery six months after the LA fires.Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

On Jan. 7, 2025, people across the Los Angeles area watched in horror as powerful winds began spreading wildfires through neighborhood after neighborhood. Over three weeks,...

Read more: LA fires showed how much neighborliness matters for wildfire safety

More Articles ...

  1. LA fires showed how much neighborliness matters for wildfire safety – schools can do much more to teach it
  2. Has the Fed fixed the economy yet? And other burning economic questions for 2026
  3. What loving-kindness meditation is and how to practice it in the new year
  4. The ‘sacred’ pledge that will power the relaunch of far-right militia Oath Keepers
  5. AI agents arrived in 2025 – here’s what happened and the challenges ahead in 2026
  6. Midlife weight gain can start long before menopause – but you can take steps early on to help your body weather the hormonal shift
  7. Deepfakes leveled up in 2025 – here’s what’s coming next
  8. New materials, old physics – the science behind how your winter jacket keeps you warm
  9. Who thinks Republicans will suffer in the 2026 midterms? Republican members of Congress
  10. Resolve to network at your employer’s next ‘offsite’ – research shows these retreats actually help forge new connections
  11. West Antarctica’s history of rapid melting foretells sudden shifts in continent’s ‘catastrophic’ geology
  12. How the ‘slayer rule’ might play a role in determining who will inherit wealth from Rob Reiner and his wife
  13. The celibate, dancing Shakers were once seen as a threat to society – 250 years later, they’re part of the sound of America
  14. From truce in the trenches to cocktails at the consulate: How Christmas diplomacy seeks to exploit seasonal goodwill
  15. As DOJ begins to release Epstein files, his many victims deserve more attention than the powerful men in his ‘client list’
  16. How to reduce gift-giving stress with your kids – a child psychologist’s tips for making magic and avoiding tears
  17. The world risks forgetting one of humanity’s greatest triumphs as polio nears global eradication − 70 years after Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in a Pittsburgh lab
  18. Medieval peasants probably enjoyed their holiday festivities more than you do
  19. People are getting their news from AI – and it’s altering their views
  20. Autocracies in transition: In 2025, Cameroon and Tanzania rulers clung to power — but look more vulnerable than ever
  21. Why are some Black conservatives drawn to Nick Fuentes?
  22. Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind, new survey of Michigan officials shows
  23. How C-reactive protein outpaced ‘bad’ cholesterol as leading heart disease risk marker
  24. It’s more than OK for kids to be bored − it’s good for them
  25. I study rat nests − here’s why rodents make great archivists
  26. As millions of Americans face a steep rise in health insurance costs, lawmakers continue a century-long battle over who should pay for health care
  27. RFK Jr. wants to scrutinize the vaccine schedule – but its safety record is already decades long
  28. Deception and lies from the White House to justify a war in Venezuela? We’ve seen this movie before in run-ups to wars in Vietnam and Iraq
  29. Miami’s new mayor faces a housing affordability crisis, city charter reform and a shrinking budget
  30. Understanding climate change in America: Skepticism, dogmatism and personal experience
  31. Rest is essential during the holidays, but it may mean getting active, not crashing on the couch
  32. With wolves absent from most of eastern North America, can coyotes replace them?
  33. What are gas stove manufacturers trying to hide? Warning labels
  34. Resolve to stop punching the clock: Why you might be able to change when and how long you work
  35. There’s little evidence tech is much help stopping school shootings
  36. Why it’s so hard to tell if a piece of text was written by AI – even for AI
  37. Large trunks discovered in a basement offer a window into the lives and struggles of early Filipino migrants
  38. Tennis is set for a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ sequel – with no movement behind it
  39. Trump tariffs and warming India-China ties have silenced the Quad partnership … for now
  40. Sudan’s civil war: A visual guide to the brutal conflict
  41. ‘This year nearly broke me as a scientist’ – US researchers reflect on how 2025’s science cuts have changed their lives
  42. Karoline Leavitt’s White House briefing doublethink is straight out of Orwell’s ‘1984’
  43. Where the wild things thrive: Finding and protecting nature’s climate change safe havens
  44. Billionaires with $1 salaries – and other legal tax dodges the ultrawealthy use to keep their riches
  45. Unpaid caregiving work can feel small and personal, but that doesn’t take away its ethical value
  46. The US already faces a health care workforce shortage – immigration policy could make it worse
  47. America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
  48. Supreme Court case about ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ highlights debate over truthful advertising standards
  49. Rising electricity prices and an aging grid challenge the nation as data centers demand more power
  50. Shaping the conversation means offering context to extreme ideas, not just a platform