The Conversation

The US military has cared about climate change since the dawn of the Cold War – for good reason

Written by Paul Bierman, Fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Vermont

Military engineers managing supply routes in Greenland in the 1950s paid attention to the weather and climate. US Army/Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images

In 1957, Hollywood released “The Deadly Mantis,” a B-grade monster movie starring a praying mantis of nightmare proportions. Its premise: Melting Arctic ice has released a...

Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible − but standardizing and organizing it across fields won’t be easy

Written by Bradley Wade Bishop, Professor of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee

Museum collections are invaluable to many researchers. Miguel Habano/E+ via Getty Images

Ice cores in freezers, dinosaurs on display, fish in jars, birds in boxes, human remains and ancient artifacts from long gone civilizations that few people ever see – museum collections are filled with all this and more.

These collections are treasure...

What was the first thing scientists discovered? A historian makes the case for Babylonian astronomy

Written by James Byrne, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Herbst Program for Engineering, Ethics & Society, University of Colorado Boulder

Ancient Babylonians looked to the skies to predict what would happen.mikroman6/Moment 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.

What was the first thing scientists discovered? – Jacob, age 9, Santiago, Panama

All...

Trump’s first term polarized teens’ views on racism and inequality

Written by Laura Wray-Lake, Professor of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles

Teens who supported President Trump in 2016 became less aware of societal inequalities after the election.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

When asked about reactions to Donald Trump being president, a 16-year-old Black girl said, “I feel unsafe and not protected. The United States is supposed to be the land of the free but is really the land of...

Why was it hard for the GOP – which controls Congress – to pass its spending bill?

Written by Charlie Hunt, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was one of 10 Democrats who voted to break the filibuster on the GOP funding bill. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Facing a threat of imminent government shutdown, nine Democrats joined GOP Senate colleagues to defeat a filibuster, moving the six-month government funding bill to final passage in a late-day vote...

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

Written by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, Rice University

Saudi Arabia is 2,000 miles from Ukraine and even more politically distant, so at first glance it might seem like it has nothing to do with the ongoing war there. But the Gulf state has emerged as a key intermediary in the most serious ceasefire negotiations since Russia invaded its neighbor three years ago.

While it is U.S. officials who are undoub...

See you in the funny papers: How superhero comics tell the story of Jewish America

Written by Miriam Eve Mora, Managing Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, University of Michigan

A five-story replica of a stamp of Superman in 1998 in Cleveland, home of the superhero's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File

Nearly a hundred years ago, a hastily crafted spaceship crash-landed in Smallville, Kansas. Inside was an infant – the sole survivor of a planet destroyed by old age. Discovering he...

Radioisotope generators − inside the ‘nuclear batteries’ that power faraway spacecraft

Written by Benjamin Roulston, Assistant Professor of Physics, Clarkson University

Voyager 1, shown in this illustration, has operated for decades thanks to a radioisotope power system. NASA via AP

Powering spacecraft with solar energy may not seem like a challenge, given how intense the Sun’s light can feel on Earth. Spacecraft near the Earth use large solar panels to harness the Sun for the electricity needed to run their...

The psychology behind anti-trans legislation: How cognitive biases shape thoughts and policy

Written by Julia Standefer, Ph.D. Student in Psychology, Iowa State University

Protesters fill the Iowa state Capitol to denounce a bill that will strip the state civil rights code of protections based on gender identity.AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

A state law signed Feb. 28, 2025, removes gender identity as a protected status from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, leaving transgender people vulnerable to discrimination. The rights...

Big cuts at the Education Department’s civil rights office will affect vulnerable students for years to come

Written by Erica Frankenberg, Professor of Education and Demography, Penn State

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democrats criticize President Donald Trump's plan to shutter the Education Department on March 6, 2025.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The U.S. Department of Education cut its workforce by nearly 50% on March 11, 2025, when it laid off about 1,315 employees. The move follows several recent directives...