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Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

  • Written by Mercedes Burns, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
imageGetting the job done. A female Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) without the assistance of a male. Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s National Zoo

An Asian water dragon hatched from an egg at the Smithsonian National Zoo, and her keepers were shocked. Why? Her mother had never been with a male water dragon. Through...

Read more: Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

COVID-19 further exposes inequalities in the global financial system

  • Written by Ramya Vijaya, Professor of Economics, Stockton University
imageA grant from the Chinese government will make way for a multimillion-dollar fishing port complex in Accra, Ghana.Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

To stem the economic fallout from COVID-19, developed countries have injected an unprecedented US$9 trillion into their economies.

The International Monetary Fund has recommended sustained fiscal...

Read more: COVID-19 further exposes inequalities in the global financial system

Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh fear their medieval churches will be destroyed

  • Written by Christina Maranci, Professor and Department Chair, Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Professor of Armenian Art and Architecture, Tufts University
imageThe Ghazanchetsots Cathedral was damaged earlier this year during fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

A six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region in the South Caucasus, ended on Nov. 9 after Russia brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Under the deal, several ethnically Armenian...

Read more: Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh fear their medieval churches will be destroyed

Ancient Greek desire to resolve civil strife resonates today – but Athenian justice would be a 'bitter pill' in modern America

  • Written by Joel Christensen, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University
imageIncreasingly, Americans seem to have irreconcilable differences over the pandemic, the economy – even the result of the 2020 election.Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

America’s divisions are old. Politically and socially, they are rooted in grudges and ideological vengeance that goes back generations, to the New Deal e...

Read more: Ancient Greek desire to resolve civil strife resonates today – but Athenian justice would be a...

It takes a lot of energy for machines to learn – here's why AI is so power-hungry

  • Written by Kate Saenko, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Boston University
imageData centers like this Google facility in Iowa use copious amounts of electricity.Chad Davis/Flickr, CC BY-SA

This month, Google forced out a prominent AI ethics researcher after she voiced frustration with the company for making her withdraw a research paper. The paper pointed out the risks of language-processing artificial intelligence, the type...

Read more: It takes a lot of energy for machines to learn – here's why AI is so power-hungry

Plastic pipes are polluting drinking water systems after wildfires – it's a risk in urban fires, too

  • Written by Andrew J. Whelton, Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Purdue University
imageHeat-damaged plastic pipes can continue to leach chemicals into water over time.Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking...

Read more: Plastic pipes are polluting drinking water systems after wildfires – it's a risk in urban fires, too

Pardon me? An ethicist's guide to what is proper when it comes to presidential pardons

  • Written by Scott Davidson, Professor of Philosophy, West Virginia University
imageWho else will Trump save from the chop before leaving office?AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Questions surrounding President Trump’s use of the pardon power began almost as soon as he entered office in 2017 and will continue undoubtedly through his final days in power. To date, Trump has issued 29 pardons during his presidency – compared to 212...

Read more: Pardon me? An ethicist's guide to what is proper when it comes to presidential pardons

On the first day of Christmas...teachers got a legal headache over blurring the line between church and state

  • Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education in the School of Education and Health Sciences and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton
imageO Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...do you violate the establishment clause?Jack Riddle/The Denver Post via Getty Images

During a school year disrupted by pandemic-related closures, students across the U.S. will soon be absent for a scheduled reason: the annual Christmas break.

In New York City, the U.S.‘s largest school district, children...

Read more: On the first day of Christmas...teachers got a legal headache over blurring the line between...

Who is doing all those COVID-19 tests? Why you should care about medical laboratory professionals

  • Written by Rodney E. Rohde, Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science, Texas State University
imageA laboratory technician wearing full personal protective equipment handles live samples taken from people tested for the coronavirus.ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Who do you think performs your medical laboratory tests for COVID-19 or any other test? If you answered “my doctor” or “my nurse” or a robot, you would...

Read more: Who is doing all those COVID-19 tests? Why you should care about medical laboratory professionals

A hospital that prescribes free nutritious food to families who need more than medical care

  • Written by Diana Cuy Castellanos, Assistant Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition, University of Dayton
imageEating a healthful diet helps keep people healthy.rustam shaimov/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Being food-insecure – unable to get enough nutritious food to meet your needs – can take a toll on your health. So Dayton Children’s Hospital has begun to screen its patients and their families for this problem and refer them to what...

Read more: A hospital that prescribes free nutritious food to families who need more than medical care

More Articles ...

  1. Puerto Rico wants statehood – but only Congress can make it the 51st state in the United States
  2. Why getting back to 'normal' doesn't have to involve police in schools
  3. W.E.B. Du Bois embraced science to fight racism as editor of NAACP's magazine The Crisis
  4. Taking fish out of fish feed can make aquaculture a more sustainable food source
  5. Mermaids aren't real – but they've fascinated people around the world for ages
  6. My university will be getting COVID-19 vaccines soon – here's how my team will get doses into arms
  7. Masks and mandates: How individual rights and government regulation are both necessary for a free society
  8. From the White House to ancient Athens: Hypocrisy is no match for partisanship
  9. Biden's chance to revive US tradition of inserting ethics in foreign policy
  10. What is a neural network? A computer scientist explains
  11. Why do so few clergy serve in Congress?
  12. Arecibo telescope's fall is indicative of global divide around funding science infrastructure
  13. The Marshall Islands could be wiped out by climate change – and their colonial history limits their ability to save themselves
  14. Why paying people to get the coronavirus vaccine won't work
  15. Scientists suggest US embassies were hit with high-power microwaves – here's how the weapons work
  16. Why does the Electoral College exist, and how does it work? 5 essential reads
  17. Why shielding businesses from coronavirus liability is a bad idea
  18. 5 years after Paris: How countries’ climate policies match up to their promises, and who's aiming for net zero emissions
  19. Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here's why voters passed this groundbreaking reform
  20. Why do scientists care about worms?
  21. America's hidden world of handmade pornography
  22. Why we're so bad at counting the calories we eat, drink or burn
  23. Why the Virgin of Guadalupe is more than a religious icon to Catholics in Mexico
  24. Latinos are especially reluctant to get flu shots – how a small clinic in Indiana found ways to overcome that
  25. We discovered a 115,000-year-old iguana nest fossil in the Bahamas
  26. Kids want to learn more about mental illness and how to cope with parents who live with it
  27. Foreign policy is Biden's best bet for bipartisan action, experts say – but GOP is unlikely to join him on climate change
  28. Workers are looking for direction from management – and any map is better than no map
  29. Bitter battles between stinkbugs and carnivorous mice could hold clues for controlling human pain
  30. Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe
  31. The Electoral College system isn't 'one person, one vote'
  32. Daily DIY sniff checks could catch many cases of COVID-19
  33. 4 ways to close the COVID-19 racial health gap
  34. Computer science jobs pay well and are growing fast. Why are they out of reach for so many of America's students?
  35. When can children get the COVID-19 vaccine? 5 questions parents are asking
  36. Can Joe Biden win the transition?
  37. In 'The Queen's Gambit' and beyond, chess holds up a mirror to life
  38. The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender inclusion
  39. Nigerians got their abusive SARS police force abolished – but elation soon turned to frustration
  40. The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan
  41. How remote learning is making educational inequities worse
  42. Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth's atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development
  43. Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease
  44. We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes
  45. From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic
  46. Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one
  47. New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair
  48. Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths
  49. How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us
  50. Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad