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Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department was inspired by the Heritage Foundation’s decades-long disapproval of the agency

  • Written by Fred L. Pincus, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
imageThe Heritage Foundation flag flies over its building on July 30, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 20, 2025, that calls for closing the U.S. Department of Education.

The president needs congressional approval to shutter the department. The order, however, directs...

Read more: Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department was inspired by the Heritage...

What are AI hallucinations? Why AIs sometimes make things up

  • Written by Anna Choi, Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science, Cornell University
imageWhat springs from the 'mind' of an AI can sometimes be out of left field.gremlin/iStock via Getty Images

When someone sees something that isn’t there, people often refer to the experience as a hallucination. Hallucinations occur when your sensory perception does not correspond to external stimuli.

Technologies that rely on artificial...

Read more: What are AI hallucinations? Why AIs sometimes make things up

Why the words in your job posting may attract rule-bending narcissists

  • Written by Jonathan Gay, Assistant Professor of Accountancy, University of Mississippi
imagePosting a job opening? Take a close look at the language.Ronnie Kaufman/The Image Bank via Getty Images

When companies advertise job openings, they often use buzzwords like “ambitious” and “self-reliant” to describe their ideal candidate. These traits sound appealing — what hiring manager wouldn’t want a driven...

Read more: Why the words in your job posting may attract rule-bending narcissists

Avoiding your neighbor because of how they voted? Democracy needs you to talk to them instead

  • Written by Betsy Sinclair, Professor and Chair of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis
imageAs Americans' social worlds grow further apart, stereotypes intensify – driving an even deeper wedge between red and blue America.wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Are you angry about politics right now? Seething? You’re not alone. According to the Mood of the Nation Poll by researchers at Penn State, 9 in 10 Americans can name a...

Read more: Avoiding your neighbor because of how they voted? Democracy needs you to talk to them instead

Defending humanitarian aid in terms of national security obscures its real purpose

  • Written by Chen Reis, Associate Clinical Professor, Director, Humanitarian Assistance Program, & Director, Human Rights MA, University of Denver
imageA woman scoops up portions of wheat to be allocated to each waiting family after it was distributed in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia in 2021.AP Photo/Ben Curtis

More than 305 million people require lifesaving humanitarian aid today. Most of them live in areas wracked by conflict, such as Sudan, Gaza, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic...

Read more: Defending humanitarian aid in terms of national security obscures its real purpose

Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks

  • Written by Samuel C. Mahaney, Director, Missouri S&T Policy and Armed Forces Research and Development Institute; Lecturer of History, National Security, and Leadership, Missouri University of Science and Technology

President Donald Trump gave no specific reason for firing Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffless than halfway through Brown’s four-year term in office.

Nor did he give an explanation for similarly ousting other senior military leaders, including the only women ever to lead the Navy and the Coast Guard, as...

Read more: Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks

Cuts to research into inequality, disparities and other DEIA topics harm science

  • Written by H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Research Professor of Social Psychology, Louisiana State University
imageScientists across the U.S. and in other countries have rallied in reaction to the Trump administration's cuts to major science agencies. Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed/Anadolu via Getty Images

When I taught research methods to undergraduates, I would start by asking whether anyone in the class had $20. Though harder to come by thanks to digital...

Read more: Cuts to research into inequality, disparities and other DEIA topics harm science

Helper bots in online communities diminish human interaction

  • Written by John Lalor, Assistant Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations, University of Notre Dame
imageBots can be helpful in online communities, but they can also come between people.mathisworks/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

When bots – automated agents that perform tasks on behalf of humans – become more active in online communities, it has profound effects on how humans interact with each other on those platforms. Bots...

Read more: Helper bots in online communities diminish human interaction

Digital imperialism: How US social media firms are using American law to challenge global tech regulation

  • Written by Yasmin Curzi de Mendonça, Research associate, University of Virginia
imageThe CEOs of Meta, Amazon, Google and X -- Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk -- attend the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.Photo by Ricky Carioti - Pool/Getty Images

Social media platforms tend not to be that bothered by national boundaries.

Take X, for example. Users of what was once called Twitter span the...

Read more: Digital imperialism: How US social media firms are using American law to challenge global tech...

Debate over H-1B visas shines spotlight on US tech worker shortages

  • Written by Moshe Y. Vardi, Professor of Computer Science, Rice University
imageBabson College graduate students from India type on their computers in Wellesley, Mass., on June 30, 2016.AP Photo/Charles Krupa

A heated debate has recently erupted between two groups of supporters of President Donald Trump. The dispute concerns the H-1B visa system, the program that allows U.S. employers to hire skilled foreign workers in...

Read more: Debate over H-1B visas shines spotlight on US tech worker shortages

More Articles ...

  1. What causes the powerful winds that fuel dust storms, wildfires and blizzards? A weather scientist explains
  2. Trump administration seeks to starve libraries and museums of funding by shuttering this little-known agency
  3. Tyrannical leader? Why comparisons between Trump and King George III miss the mark on 18th-century British monarchy
  4. 5 years on, true counts of COVID-19 deaths remain elusive − and research is hobbled by lack of data
  5. Atlantic sturgeon were fished almost to extinction − ancient DNA reveals how Chesapeake Bay population changed over centuries
  6. Insomnia can lead to heart issues − a psychologist recommends changes that can improve sleep
  7. How power imbalance, misread signs and strategic blunders clouded Hamas’ judgment over Gaza ceasefire
  8. Arrested and stripped of degree: Twin moves to bar Istanbul mayor from ballot suggests Turkey’s Erdogan is really worried this time
  9. Trump’s defiance of a federal court order fuels a constitutional crisis − a legal scholar unpacks the complicated case
  10. US isn’t first country to dismantle its foreign aid office − here’s what happened after the UK killed its version of USAID
  11. Revoking EPA’s endangerment finding – the keystone of US climate policies – won’t be simple and could have unintended consequences
  12. The Gaza ceasefire is dead − Israeli domestic politics killed it
  13. Measles cases are on the rise − here’s how to make sure you’re protected
  14. Humans aren’t the only animals with complex culture − but researchers point to one feature that makes ours unique
  15. Fires, wars and bureaucracy: The tumultuous journey to establish the US National Archives
  16. Can animals make art?
  17. Shaken baby syndrome can cause permanent brain damage, long-term disabilities or death – a pediatrician examines the preventable tragedy
  18. Donald Trump’s nonstop news-making can be exhausting, making it harder for people to scrutinize his presidential actions
  19. The story of the Great Migration often overlooks Black businesses that built Detroit
  20. As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions − World Day for Glaciers carries a reminder
  21. Social media design is key to protecting kids online
  22. As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions
  23. High school sports are losing athletes to private clubs, but schools can keep them by focusing on character development
  24. Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation
  25. An artist traces her choices under Putin’s Russia – from resistance to retreat to exile – one mural at a time
  26. A brief history of Medicaid and America’s long struggle to establish a health care safety net
  27. People say they prefer stories written by humans over AI-generated works, yet new study suggests that’s not quite true
  28. Plastic pyrolysis − chemists explain a technique attempting to tackle plastic waste by bringing the heat
  29. Social movements constrained Trump in his first term – more than people realize
  30. Water cooperation is essential when countries share lakes and rivers – yet it’s been deteriorating in many places, with serious consequences
  31. Spanish speakers in Philadelphia break traditional rules of formal and informal speech in signs around town
  32. Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison
  33. Trump is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants – but the 18th-century law has been invoked only during times of war
  34. Cells lining your skin and organs can generate electricity when injured − potentially opening new doors to treating wounds
  35. Researchers created sound that can bend itself through space, reaching only your ear in a crowd
  36. Washington Post’s turnaround on its opinion pages is returning journalism to its partisan roots − but without the principles
  37. What is the rules-based order? How this global system has shifted from ‘liberal’ origins − and where it could be heading next
  38. Colorado and other states have expanded access to abortion, but not for adolescents
  39. Fewer deaths, new substances and evolving treatments in Philly’s opioid epidemic − 4 essential reads
  40. Remembering China’s Empress Dowager Ling, a Buddhist who paved the way for future female rulers
  41. From pulpits to protest, the surprising history of the phrase ‘pride and prejudice’
  42. The US military has cared about climate change since the dawn of the Cold War – for good reason
  43. Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible − but standardizing and organizing it across fields won’t be easy
  44. What was the first thing scientists discovered? A historian makes the case for Babylonian astronomy
  45. Trump’s first term polarized teens’ views on racism and inequality
  46. Why was it hard for the GOP – which controls Congress – to pass its spending bill?
  47. Saudi Arabia’s role as Ukraine war mediator advances Gulf nation’s diplomatic rehabilitation − and boosts its chances of a seat at the table should Iran-US talks resume
  48. See you in the funny papers: How superhero comics tell the story of Jewish America
  49. Radioisotope generators − inside the ‘nuclear batteries’ that power faraway spacecraft
  50. The psychology behind anti-trans legislation: How cognitive biases shape thoughts and policy