The Conversation

Winter storms blanket the East, while the U.S. West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

Written by Adrienne Marshall, Assistant Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

Much of the West has seen a slow start to the 2026 snow season.Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Ski season is here, but while the eastern half of the U.S. digs out from winter storms, the western U.S. snow season has been off to a very slow start.

The snowpack was far below normal across most of the West on Dec. 1, 2025. Denver didn’t see its...

Stalin’s postwar terror targeted Soviet Jews – in the name of ‘anti-cosmopolitanism’

Written by Wendy Z. Goldman, Professor of History, Carnegie Mellon University

A plaque in Russia commemorates the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, whose leaders were executed in August 1952.Adam Baker/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

Many Americans know of Josef Stalin’s Terror of the late 1930s, during which more than 1 million people were arrested for political crimes, and over 680,000 executed.

Fewer know about the...

Rural high school students are more likely than city kids to get their diplomas, but they remain less likely to go to college

Written by Sheneka Williams, Professor of Educational Administration, Michigan State University

A high school junior looks over a farm where he works in Perry, N.Y., in March 2025. Lauren Petracca/Associated Press

Many high school seniors are currently in the midst of the college application process or are already waiting to hear back from their selected schools.

For high school students in rural parts of the United States, the frantic pace...

Texas cities have some of the highest preterm birth rates in the US, highlighting maternal health crisis nationwide

Written by Kobi V. Ajayi, Research Assistant Professor of Maternal and Child Health, Texas A&M University

The newest March of Dimes report gives the U.S. a D+ rating on preterm birth rates.IvanJekic/E+ via Getty Images

Seven years ago, at 30 weeks into a seemingly low-risk pregnancy, I unexpectedly began to bleed. Doctors diagnosed me with complete placenta previa. Then, while on bed rest at 32 weeks, my placenta suddenly ruptured, leading to an...

New York’s wealthy warn of a tax exodus after Mamdani’s win – but the data says otherwise

Written by Cristobal Young, Associate Professor of Sociology, Cornell University

Wealthy New Yorkers have threatened to leave the city if Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani follows through on his promise to raise taxes on the rich.Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

New York’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, campaigned on a promise to raise the city’s income tax on its richest residents from 3.9% to 5.9%. Combined with the...

Why do people get headaches and migraines? A child neurologist explains the science of head pain and how to treat it

Written by Katherine Cobb-Pitstick, Assistant Professor of Child Neurology, University of Pittsburgh

There are steps you can take to relieve headache pain and prevent future attacks.Thai Liang Lim/E+ 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.

Why do people get headaches? – Evie V., age 10, Corpus Christi, Texas

Whe...

When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout

Written by Ivano W. Aiello, Professor of Marine Geology, San José State University

A battery energy storage facility that was built inside an old power plant burned from Jan. 16-18, 2025.Mike Takaki

When fire broke out at the world’s largest battery energy storage facility in January 2025, its thick smoke blanketed surrounding wetlands, farms and nearby communities on the central California coast.

Highways closed,...

Speaker Johnson’s choice to lead by following the president goes against 200 years of House speakers building up the office’s power

Written by SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Politics, University of Virginia

House Speaker Mike Johnson has given a lot of effort to pushing the agenda of President Donald Trump.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

When the framers of what became the U.S. Constitution set out to draft the rules of our government on a hot, humid day in the summer of 1787, debates over details raged on.

But one thing the men agreed on was the power of...

Iran’s president calls for moving its drought-stricken capital amid a worsening water crisis – how Tehran got into water bankruptcy

Written by Ali Mirchi, Associate Professor of Water Resources Engineering, Oklahoma State University

Iranians pray for rain in Tehran on Nov. 14, 2025. The city is experiencing its worst drought in decades.Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images

Fall marks the start of Iran’s rainy season, but large parts of the country have barely seen a drop as the nation faces one of its worst droughts in decades. Several key reservoirs are nearly dry,...

Guinea-Bissau’s military takeover highlights the nation’s sorry history of coups and a deepening crisis across the region

Written by John Joseph Chin, Assistant Teaching Professor of Strategy and Technology, Carnegie Mellon University

Soldiers patrol the streets in Guinea-Bissau on Nov. 26, 2025.Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images

Army generals in Guinea-Bissau seized power on Nov. 26, 2025 – the eve of a scheduled official declaration of the winner in the West African nation’s presidential election.

Alleging a destabilization plot by unnamed politicians and drug...