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Refinery fires, other chemical disasters may no longer get safety investigations

  • Written by Philip Steenstra, Ph.D. Candidate in Toxicology, University of Michigan
imageA Chevron refinery in El Segundo, Calif., burns on Oct. 3, 2025.Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

When fire erupted at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. bulk liquid petroleum storage terminal, large plumes of dark smoke billowed into the clear skies over Deer Park, Texas. Despite the efforts of site staff and local firefighters, m...

Read more: Refinery fires, other chemical disasters may no longer get safety investigations

Gaza peace plan risks borrowing more from Tony Blair’s failures in the Middle East than his success in Northern Ireland

  • Written by Dana El Kurd, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond
imageAs negotiators meet in Egypt to discuss a Trump-backed peace proposal, displaced Gazans make a daily trek to find drinking water.AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana

Tony Blair, the man being tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump to help oversee governance of a postwar Gaza, has ample experience with peace processes.

As British prime minister, Blair helped...

Read more: Gaza peace plan risks borrowing more from Tony Blair’s failures in the Middle East than his...

Metal-organic frameworks: Nobel-winning tiny ‘sponge crystals’ with an astonishing amount of inner space

  • Written by Stavroula Alina Kampouri, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry, Rice University
imageThree chemists will share the Nobel Prize for their work on metal-organic frameworks. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi on Oct. 8, 2025, for the development of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are tunable crystal structures with extremely...

Read more: Metal-organic frameworks: Nobel-winning tiny ‘sponge crystals’ with an astonishing amount of inner...

Nobel Prize in physics awarded for ultracold electronics research that launched a quantum technology

  • Written by Eli Levenson-Falk, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
imageThe quantum behavior of superconducting circuits like the small white square above was a major discovery.K. Cicak and R. Simmonds/NIST

Quantum mechanics describes the weird behavior of microscopic particles. Using quantum systems to perform computation promises to allow researchers to solve problems in areas from chemistry to cryptography that...

Read more: Nobel Prize in physics awarded for ultracold electronics research that launched a quantum technology

For Trump’s perceived enemies, the process may be the punishment

  • Written by Paul M. Collins Jr., Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst
imageThe costs – in time and money – may be incredibly significant for those targeted by the Trump administration.wenjin chen/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Oct. 8, 2025. The charges allege that Comey lied to...

Read more: For Trump’s perceived enemies, the process may be the punishment

James Comey’s indictment is a trademark tactic of authoritarians

  • Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University
imageFormer FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 7, 2018.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 25, 2025 – only the second time in history an FBI director has faced criminal charges.

The indictment came just five days after President...

Read more: James Comey’s indictment is a trademark tactic of authoritarians

Why higher ed’s AI rush could put corporate interests over public service and independence

  • Written by Chris Wegemer, Postdoctoral researcher, University of California, Los Angeles
imageA new AI research center opening in North Carolina: Colleges and universities are embracing AI technology, often through corporate partnerships. North Carolina Central University via Getty Images

Artificial intelligence technology has begun to transform higher education, raising a new set of profound questions about the role of universities in...

Read more: Why higher ed’s AI rush could put corporate interests over public service and independence

Winning a bidding war isn’t always a win, research on 14 million home sales shows

  • Written by Soon Hyeok Choi, Assistant Professor of Real Estate Finance, Rochester Institute of Technology

In today’s hot housing market, winning a bidding war can feel like a triumph. But my research shows it often comes with a catch: Homebuyers who win bidding wars tend to experience a “winner’s curse,” systematically overpaying for their new homes.

I’m a real estate economist, and my colleagues and I analyzed nearly 14...

Read more: Winning a bidding war isn’t always a win, research on 14 million home sales shows

Jane Fonda, other stars, revive the Committee for the First Amendment – a group that emerged when the anti-communist panic came for Hollywood

  • Written by Kathy M. Newman, Associate Professor of English, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University
imageMovie stars, led by Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, protest hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947.Bettmann/Getty Images

Jane Fonda is joining forces with more than 500 celebrities and Hollywood heavyweights to defend free speech.

The membership roll already includes scores of famous actors like Jamie Lee Curtis, Viola...

Read more: Jane Fonda, other stars, revive the Committee for the First Amendment – a group that emerged when...

Geothermal energy has huge potential to generate clean power – including from used oil and gas wells

  • Written by Moones Alamooti, Assistant Professor of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, University of North Dakota
imageThe world's largest geothermal power station is under construction in Utah.Business Wire via AP

As energy use rises and the planet warms, you might have dreamed of an energy source that works 24/7, rain or shine, quietly powering homes, industries and even entire cities without the ups and downs of solar or wind – and with little contribution...

Read more: Geothermal energy has huge potential to generate clean power – including from used oil and gas wells

More Articles ...

  1. Seasonal allergies may increase suicide risk – new research
  2. Federal shutdown deals blow to already hobbled cybersecurity agency
  3. 1 gene, 1 disease no more – acknowledging the full complexity of genetics could improve and personalize medicine
  4. Even small drops in vaccination rates for US children can lead to disease outbreaks
  5. From the pulpit to the picket line: For many miners, religion and labor rights have long been connected in coal country
  6. Tribal colleges and universities aren’t well known, but are a crucial steppingstone for Native students
  7. The Supreme Court is headed toward a radically new vision of unlimited presidential power
  8. Wings, booze and heartbreak – what my research says about the hidden costs of sports fandom
  9. Why free speech rights got left out of the Constitution – and added in later via the First Amendment
  10. More young adults are living with their parents than previous generations did
  11. Health insurance subsidy standoff pits affordable care for millions against federal budget constraints
  12. How does your immune system stay balanced? A Nobel Prize-winning answer
  13. What are solar storms and the solar wind? 3 astrophysicists explain how particles coming from the Sun interact with Earth
  14. Watchdog journalism’s future may lie in the work of independent reporters like Pablo Torre
  15. A fragmented legal system and threat of deportation are pushing higher education out of reach for many undocumented students
  16. Conflict at the drugstore: When pharmacists’ and patients’ values collide
  17. How to conduct post-atrocity research – key insights from practitioners in the field
  18. Hamas has run out of options – survival now rests on accepting Trump’s plan and political reform
  19. How the government shutdown is hitting the health care system – and what the battle over ACA subsidies means
  20. Commuters have bemoaned Philly’s public transit for decades − in 1967, a librarian got the city to listen
  21. What past education technology failures can teach us about the future of AI in schools
  22. As an OB-GYN, I see firsthand how misleading statements on acetaminophen leave expectant parents confused, fearful and lacking in options
  23. Children can be systematic problem-solvers at younger ages than psychologists had thought – new research
  24. Virtual particles: How physicists’ clever bookkeeping trick could underlie reality
  25. Science costs money – research is guided by who funds it and why
  26. History is repeating itself at the FBI as agents resist a director’s political agenda
  27. Florida’s 1,100 natural springs are under threat – a geographer explains how to restore them
  28. Cuba’s leaders see their options dim amid blackouts and a shrinking economy
  29. US economy is already on the edge – a prolonged government shutdown could send it tumbling over
  30. Supreme Court to decide if Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy violates free speech
  31. Supreme Court opens with cases on voting rights, tariffs, gender identity and campaign finance to test the limits of a constitutional revolution
  32. Moral panics intensify social divisions and can lead to political violence
  33. Shutdowns are as American as apple pie − in the UK and elsewhere, they just aren’t baked into the process
  34. Where George Washington would disagree with Pete Hegseth about fitness for command and what makes a warrior
  35. Breastfeeding is ideal for child and parent health but challenging for most families – a pediatrician explains how to find support
  36. Meet Irene Curie, the Nobel-winning atomic physicist who changed the course of modern cancer treatment
  37. How VR and AI could help the next generation grow kinder and more connected
  38. Venezuela and US edge toward war footing − but domestic concerns, international risks may hold Washington back
  39. Trump scraps the nation’s most comprehensive food insecurity report − making it harder to know how many Americans struggle to get enough food
  40. Why Major League Baseball keeps coming back to Japan
  41. Why a quick compromise to the first government shutdown in nearly 7 years seems unlikely
  42. Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human
  43. Many book bans could be judging titles mainly by their covers
  44. Violent acts in houses of worship are rare but deadly – here’s what the data shows
  45. Flood-prone Houston faces hard choices for handling too much water
  46. Conventional anti-corruption tools often fail to address root causes – but loss of US leadership could still spell trouble for efforts abroad
  47. Many US states are rethinking how students use cellphones − but digital tech still has a place in the classroom
  48. From ‘Frankenstein’ to ‘Dracula,’ exploring the dark world of death and the undead offers a reminder of our mortality
  49. Cellphones in schools – more states are taking action to reduce student distraction without eliminating tech access
  50. Censorship campaigns can have a way of backfiring – look no further than the fate of America’s most prolific censor