NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

The Conversation

Crowdfunded generosity isn’t taxable – but IRS regulations haven’t kept up with the growth of mutual aid

  • Written by Shelly Tygielski, Doctoral Student in Philanthropic Leadership, Indiana University
imageCharitable crowdfunding is on the rise, but the IRS hasn't caught up yet.wassam siddique/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Have you ever received some money through a GoFundMe campaign or Venmo or CashApp transfers after a medical emergency, natural disaster or other crisis?

If so, you may have also gotten an unwelcome surprise: a federal tax form that...

Read more: Crowdfunded generosity isn’t taxable – but IRS regulations haven’t kept up with the growth of...

Picky eating starts in the womb – a nutritional neuroscientist explains how to expand your child’s palate

  • Written by Kathleen Keller, Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Penn State
imageBitter vegetables can be an acquired taste.d3sign/Moment via Getty Images

It’s 5:45 p.m. and you’ve just arrived home after a long day at work. You’d like nothing more than a glass of pinot and to binge old episodes of your favorite show. Into the kitchen comes young Sally, your food-adventurous 8-year-old. “I’m...

Read more: Picky eating starts in the womb – a nutritional neuroscientist explains how to expand your child’s...

What is Bluetooth and how does it work?

  • Written by Shreyas Sen, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
imageHer earbuds are connected to her tablet by radio waves.Olga Pankova/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 is Bluetooth? – Henry, age 13, Somerville, Massachusetts

How do headphones, toys, gadgets...

Read more: What is Bluetooth and how does it work?

How transparent policies can protect Florida school libraries amid efforts to ban books

  • Written by Abigail Leigh Phillips, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Florida has ranked No. 1 in the United States when it comes to banning books for the past three years, with 2,300 books removed or restricted from public school libraries.

What’s driving these numbers are small, grassroots organizations made up of vocal, media-savvy members. Moms for Liberty is one of the best known to school and public...

Read more: How transparent policies can protect Florida school libraries amid efforts to ban books

Algorithms that customize marketing to your phone could also influence your views on warfare

  • Written by Justin Pelletier, Professor of Practice of Computing Security, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageCould AI algorithms sway the public mood?Paper Trident/iStock via Getty Images

When a coupon suddenly appears on your phone as you approach a store, you might find it convenient and even helpful. But the same AI systems that know where you are and try to influence your purchases can be used to infer what you fear, what you trust and which stories...

Read more: Algorithms that customize marketing to your phone could also influence your views on warfare

Colleges face a choice: Try to shape AI’s impact on learning, or be redefined by it

  • Written by Vicki Baker, Professor of Economics and Management, Albion College
imageWhile many colleges have guidance on how students should use AI, specific policies tend to vary across professors and fields of study. Jutharat Pinpan/iStock/Getty Images Plus

What happens to a college education when a chatbot can draft an essay, summarize a reading and generate computer code in seconds? The arrival of artificial intelligence in...

Read more: Colleges face a choice: Try to shape AI’s impact on learning, or be redefined by it

Michelangelo hated painting the Sistine Chapel – and never aspired to be a painter to begin with

  • Written by Anna Swartwood House, Associate Professor of Art History, University of South Carolina
imageFrom a young age, Michelangelo prized drawing and sculpture above painting.Ian Nicholson/PA via Getty Images

When a 5-inch-by-4-inch red chalk drawing of a woman’s foot by Michelangelo sold at auction for US$27.2 million on Feb. 5, 2026, it blew past the $1.5 million to $2 million it was expected to receive.

Experts believe it to be a study...

Read more: Michelangelo hated painting the Sistine Chapel – and never aspired to be a painter to begin with

How Homeland Security’s subpoenas and databases of protesters threaten the ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open’ free speech protected by Supreme Court precedent

  • Written by Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin, Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs, Boise State University

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is reportedly issuing administrative subpoenas to identify anonymous social media accounts that criticize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Google, Meta and Reddit have complied with at least some of those requests, according to The New York Times.

These subpoenas appear alongside other recent steps...

Read more: How Homeland Security’s subpoenas and databases of protesters threaten the ‘uninhibited, robust,...

Meekness isn’t weakness – once considered positive, it’s one of the ‘undersung virtues’ that deserve defense today

  • Written by Timothy J. Pawl, Professor of Philosophy, University of St. Thomas
imageMeekness used to be considered a positive trait – not being powerless, or a doormat.Halfpoint images/Moment via Getty Images

What do you envision when you think of meekness?

You probably see a mousy doormat, someone sheepishly acquiescing to the will of the stronger. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth...

Read more: Meekness isn’t weakness – once considered positive, it’s one of the ‘undersung virtues’ that...

Why Stephen Colbert is right about the ‘equal time’ rule, despite warnings from the FCC

  • Written by Seth Ashley, Professor of Communication, Boise State University
imageCBS says it warned Stephen Colbert that an interview with a politician could trigger an FCC rule requiring broadcasters to give political candidates equal access to the airwaves.The Late Show With Stephen Colbert/YouTube

Talk show host Stephen Colbert made headlines on Feb. 17, 2026, when he wrapped a network statement in a dog-waste bag and tossed...

Read more: Why Stephen Colbert is right about the ‘equal time’ rule, despite warnings from the FCC

More Articles ...

  1. As war in Ukraine enters a 5th year, will the ‘Putin consensus’ among Russians hold?
  2. Supreme Court rules against Trump’s emergency tariffs – but leaves key questions unanswered
  3. Enforcing Prohibition with a massive new federal force of poorly trained agents didn’t go so well in the 1920s
  4. How Dracula became a red-hot lover
  5. After a 32-hour shift in Pittsburgh, I realized EMTs should be napping on the job
  6. Individual donors provide only a small slice of university research funding – but Jeffrey Epstein’s ties with academics show why screening matters
  7. Menstrual pads and tampons can contain toxic substances – here’s what to know about this emerging health issue
  8. Colorado has high levels of radon, which can cause lung cancer – here’s how to lower your risk
  9. Trump administration axed nutrition education program that saved more money than it cost, even as government encourages healthier eating
  10. Probability underlies much of the modern world – an engineering professor explains how it actually works
  11. I’m a philosopher who tries to see the best in others – but I know there are limits
  12. Last nuclear weapons limits expired – pushing world toward new arms race
  13. ‘Learning to be humble meant taming my need to stand out from the group’ – a humility scholar explains how he became more grounded
  14. Why Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgment’ endures
  15. The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn’t cheating – it’s the erosion of learning itself
  16. Why the ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ have echoed with public support – unlike the campus of Kent State in 1970
  17. Russia tested NATO’s airspace 18 times in 2025 alone – a 200% surge that signals a dangerous shift
  18. Do animals have a future on Hollywood sets?
  19. FDA’s abrupt flip-flop on Moderna’s mRNA flu shot highlights growing risks to drug-makers of investing in vaccines
  20. Tahoe avalanche: What causes snow slopes to collapse? A physicist and skier explains, with tips for surviving
  21. How Jesse Jackson set the stage for Bernie Sanders and today’s progressives
  22. How deregulation made electricity more expensive, not cheaper
  23. When ICE sweeps a community, public health pays a price – and recovery will likely take years
  24. Florida’s immigrant entrepreneurs are creating jobs and prosperity in their communities
  25. Your gut microbes can be anti-aging – scientists are uncovering how to keep your microbiome youthful
  26. TrumpRx, Trump Kennedy Center, Trump National Parks passes − government free speech allows the president to name things after himself
  27. From Gettysburg to Minneapolis: How the American Civil War continues to shape how we understand contemporary political conflicts and their dangers
  28. I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers? They quickly responded, ‘Why would I?’
  29. Iran-US nuclear talks may fail due to both nations’ red lines – but that doesn’t make them futile
  30. Revisiting the story of Clementine Barnabet, a Black woman blamed for serial murders in the Jim Crow South
  31. In World War II’s dog-eat-dog struggle for resources, a Greenland mine launched a new world order
  32. Coffee crops are dying from a fungus with species-jumping genes – researchers are ‘resurrecting’ their genomes to understand how and why
  33. New dietary guidelines prioritize ‘real food’ – but low-income pregnant women can’t easily obtain it
  34. 3 generations of Black Philadelphia students report persistent anti-Black attitudes in schools
  35. Warming winters are disrupting the hidden world of fungi – the result can shift mountain grasslands to scrub
  36. White men file workplace discrimination claims but are less likely to face inequity than other groups
  37. Atrocities take place in democratic nations as well as autocratic ones – our database has logged them all
  38. How do people know their interests? The shortest player in the NBA shows how self-belief matters more than biology
  39. How a largely forgotten Supreme Court case can help prevent an executive branch takeover of federal elections
  40. Do special election results spell doom for Republicans in 2026?
  41. The intensity and perfectionism that drive Olympic athletes also put them at high risk for eating disorders
  42. 3D scanning and shape analysis help archaeologists connect objects across space and time to recover their lost histories
  43. Are women board members risk averse or agents of innovation? It’s complicated, new research shows
  44. OpenAI has deleted the word ‘safely’ from its mission – and its new structure is a test for whether AI serves society or shareholders
  45. Colorectal cancer is increasing among young people, as James Van Der Beek’s death reminds us – cancer experts explain ways to decrease your risk
  46. Counter-drone technologies are evolving – but there’s no surefire way to defend against drone attacks
  47. Trump’s EPA decides climate change doesn’t endanger public health – the evidence says otherwise
  48. Trump says climate change doesn’t endanger public health – evidence shows it does, from extreme heat to mosquito-borne illnesses
  49. FDA rejects Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application - for reasons with no basis in the law
  50. Nearly every state in the US has dyslexia laws – but our research shows limited change for struggling readers