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A common parasite can decapitate human sperm − with implications for male fertility

  • Written by Bill Sullivan, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University
image_Toxoplasma_ can infiltrate the reproductive system.wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Male fertility rates have been plummeting over the past half-century. An analysis from 1992 noted a steady decrease in sperm counts and quality since the 1940s. A more recent study found that male infertility rates increased nearly 80% from 1990 to 2019. The...

Read more: A common parasite can decapitate human sperm − with implications for male fertility

When Elvis and Ella were pressed onto X-rays – the subversive legacy of Soviet ‘bone music’

  • Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University
imageIn the Soviet Union, some clever people realized that X-ray film was just soft enough to be etched by a sound recording device.Michelle Mengsu Chang/Toronto Star via Getty Images

When Western Electric invented electrical sound recording 100 years ago, it completely transformed the public’s relationship to music.

Before then, recording was...

Read more: When Elvis and Ella were pressed onto X-rays – the subversive legacy of Soviet ‘bone music’

High electricity prices zapping your budget? Here are 5 ways to save

  • Written by Hannah Wiseman, Professor of Law, Penn State

Pennsylvania residents may get sticker shock when they see their electric bills this summer. Aging infrastructure, extreme weather, transmission bottlenecks and increased demand are sending electricity rates soaring.

Widespread rate hikes across the commonwealth started in December 2024 and are continuing in 2025. Rising prices are related to how...

Read more: High electricity prices zapping your budget? Here are 5 ways to save

Critical minerals don’t belong in landfills – microwave tech offers a cleaner way to reclaim them from e-waste

  • Written by Terence Musho, Associate Professor of Engineering, West Virginia University
imageBroken electronics still contain valuable critical minerals.Beeldbewerking/iStock/Getty Images Plus

When the computer or phone you’re using right now blinks its last blink and you drop it off for recycling, do you know what happens?

At the recycling center, powerful magnets will pull out steel. Spinning drums will toss aluminum into bins....

Read more: Critical minerals don’t belong in landfills – microwave tech offers a cleaner way to reclaim them...

Texas’ annual reading test adjusted its difficulty every year, masking whether students are improving

  • Written by Jeanne Sinclair, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland
imageMillions of Americans take high-stakes exams every year.Caiaimage/Chris Ryan/iStock via Getty Images

Texas children’s performance on an annual reading test was basically flat from 2012 to 2021, even as the state spent billions of additional dollars on K-12 education.

I recently did a peer-reviewed deep dive into the test design documentation t...

Read more: Texas’ annual reading test adjusted its difficulty every year, masking whether students are...

Anti-trans measures don’t just target transgender men and women – a sociologist explains how ‘male’ or ‘female’ categories miss the mark for nonbinary Americans

  • Written by Barbara J. Risman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Illinois Chicago
imageThe nonbinary flag, shown here on a pin, represents people who say 'man' or 'woman' does not describe their sense of self.Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Moment via Getty Images

Since his inauguration in January 2025, President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders that seek to limit federal recognition of transgender people. These orders...

Read more: Anti-trans measures don’t just target transgender men and women – a sociologist explains how...

Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 3 essential reads

  • Written by Jeff Inglis, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation US
imagePresident Donald Trump delivers the commencement address at West Point on May 24, 2025.AP Photo/Adam Gray

President Donald Trump’s speech at the graduation of the class of 2025 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point included segments that were clearly scripted and portions that were obviously not.

During the unscripted portions, Trump,...

Read more: Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 3 essential reads

Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 2 essential reads

  • Written by Jeff Inglis, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation US
imagePresident Donald Trump delivers the commencement address at West Point on May 24, 2025.AP Photo/Adam Gray

President Donald Trump’s speech at the graduation of the class of 2025 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point included segments that were clearly scripted and portions that were obviously not.

During the unscripted portions, Trump,...

Read more: Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 2 essential reads

Queer country: LGBTQ+ musicians are outside the spotlight as Grand Ole Opry turns 100

  • Written by Tanya Olson, Associate Teaching Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
imageThe iconic circle in the Grand Ole Opry stage. Who gets to stand in it?Timothy Wildey/Flickr, CC BY-NC

On March 15, 1974, the Grand Ole Opry country music radio show closed its run at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, with Johnny and June Carter Cash leading the song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” After that final show, a...

Read more: Queer country: LGBTQ+ musicians are outside the spotlight as Grand Ole Opry turns 100

Could a bold anti-poverty experiment from the 1960s inspire a new era in housing justice?

  • Written by Deyanira Nevárez Martínez, Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Michigan State University
imageModel Cities staff in front of a Baltimore field office in 1971.Robert Breck Chapman Collection, Langsdale Library Special Collections, University of Baltimore, CC BY-NC-ND

In cities across the U.S., the housing crisis has reached a breaking point. Rents are skyrocketing, homelessness is rising and working-class neighborhoods are threatened by...

Read more: Could a bold anti-poverty experiment from the 1960s inspire a new era in housing justice?

More Articles ...

  1. Christianity has long revered saints who would be called ‘transgender’ today
  2. Pope Leo XIV is the first member of the Order of St. Augustine to be elected pope – but who are the Augustinians?
  3. Air traffic controller shortages in Newark and other airports partly reflect long, intense training − but university-based training programs are becoming part of the solution
  4. Mountain chickadee chatter: Scientists are decoding the songbird’s complex calls
  5. For opioid addiction, treatment underdosing can lead to fentanyl overdosing – a physician explains
  6. Managing forests and other ecosystems under rising threats requires thinking across wide-ranging scenarios
  7. Europeans are concerned that the US will withdraw support from NATO. They are right to worry − Americans should, too
  8. Why some towns lose local news − and others don’t
  9. MAHA report on children’s health highlights harms of ultraprocessed foods – a food scientist explains the research
  10. Harvard fights to keep enrolling international students – 4 essential reads about their broader impact
  11. How does a person become famous when they’re just a kid?
  12. 5 years after George Floyd’s murder: How the media narrative has changed around the killing and the protests that followed
  13. Supreme Court’s one-sentence order closes the door to Catholic charter school – but leaves it open for future challenges
  14. Can you upload a human mind into a computer? A neuroscientist ponders what’s possible
  15. Here’s how we figured the number of guns illegally trafficked from the US across the border to Mexico
  16. Gun trafficking from the US to Mexico: The drug connection
  17. US gun trafficking to Mexico: Independent gun shops supply the most dangerous weapons
  18. Split Supreme Court blocks Oklahoma’s Catholic charter school − but future cases could hinge on whether charters are, at their core, public or private
  19. US solar manufacturers lag skyrocketing market demand
  20. In 2025, Tornado Alley has become almost everything east of the Rockies − and it’s been a violent year
  21. How abortion laws focusing on fetal viability miss the mark on women’s experiences
  22. From furry friends to fish, turning up the heat helps animals fight germs − how Mother Nature’s cure offers humans a lesson on fever
  23. Like many populist leaders, Trump accuses judges of being illegitimate obstacles to safety and democracy
  24. Golden Dome: An aerospace engineer explains the proposed nationwide missile defense system
  25. Golden Dome: An aerospace engineer explains the proposed US-wide missile defense system
  26. Israelis have a skewed view on extent of Gaza’s hunger plight − driven by censorship and media that downplay humanitarian crisis
  27. NOAA’s 2025 hurricane forecast warns of a busy season – a storm scientist explains why and what meteorologists are watching
  28. WHO is finalizing a new treaty that prepares for the next pandemic − but the US isn’t signing
  29. Young food entrepreneurs are changing the face of rural America
  30. At Cannes, decency and dress codes clash with fashion’s red carpet revolution
  31. Empathy can take a toll – but 2 philosophers explain why we should see it as a strength
  32. Work requirements are better at blocking benefits for low-income people than they are at helping those folks find jobs
  33. Billions of cicadas are emerging, from Cape Cod to north Georgia – here’s how and why we map them
  34. A decade after the release of ‘The Martian’ and a decade out from the world it envisions, a planetary scientist checks in on real-life Mars exploration
  35. Lifecycle of a research grant – behind the scenes of the system that funds science
  36. FDA will approve COVID-19 vaccine only for older adults and high-risk groups – a public health expert explains the new rules
  37. What does it mean for Biden’s prostate cancer to be ‘aggressive’? A urologic surgeon explains
  38. Windows are the No. 1 human threat to birds – an ecologist shares some simple steps to reduce collisions
  39. Russia’s invasion united different parts of Ukraine against a common enemy – 3 years on, that unanimity still holds
  40. Trump treats laws as obstacles, not limits − and the only real check on his rule-breaking can come from political pressure
  41. Too much sitting increases risk of future health problems in chest pain patients – new research
  42. Why your electricity bill is so high and what Pennsylvania is doing about it
  43. Rethinking engineering education: Why focusing on learning preferences matters for diversity
  44. Israel has promised ‘basic amount’ of food into Gaza − but its policies have already created catastrophic starvation risk for millions
  45. 19th-century Catholic teachings, 21st-century tech: How concerns about AI guided Pope Leo’s choice of name
  46. Making eye contact and small talk with strangers is more than just being polite − the social benefits of psychological generosity
  47. Aristotle would scoff at Mark Zuckerberg’s suggestion that AI can solve the loneliness epidemic
  48. Biden is getting prostate cancer treatment, but that’s not the best choice for all men − a cancer researcher describes how she helped her father decide
  49. Independence Hall, Gettysburg and – Epcot? How Reagan helped elevate Disney to America’s roster of honored patriotic sites
  50. Nonprofit news media leaders are struggling to stop leaning on the foundations that say they should branch out more