NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

The Conversation

Trees don’t like to breathe wildfire smoke, either – and they’ll hold their breath to avoid it

  • Written by Delphine Farmer, Professor of Chemistry, Colorado State University
imageTrees and other plants can't escape wildfire smoke.Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

When wildfire smoke is in the air, doctors urge people to stay indoors to avoid breathing in harmful particles and gases. But what happens to trees and other plants that can’t escape from the smoke?

They may respond a bit like us, it turns out: Some trees...

Read more: Trees don’t like to breathe wildfire smoke, either – and they’ll hold their breath to avoid it

Childless women − cat ladies or not − have long played key roles in the Catholic Church

  • Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
imageJD Vance speaks at the GOP's national convention on July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee.lex Wong/Getty Images

Since JD Vance became the Republican vice presidential nominee, his record has come under intense scrutiny. In a 2021 interview, for example, Vance criticized Vice President Kamala Harris as “one of a bunch of childless cat ladies” who...

Read more: Childless women − cat ladies or not − have long played key roles in the Catholic Church

Flawed research into election fraud can undermine democracy and intensify polarization

  • Written by John Kuk, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University
imageVote counting during the 2020 South Korean general election.Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang via Getty Images

Bad electoral science can cause lasting harm to democracy, undermining public confidence in the voting process.

That’s the main finding from our study published in the peer-reviewed journal Public Opinion Quarterly in July 2024, looking at the imp...

Read more: Flawed research into election fraud can undermine democracy and intensify polarization

Verifying facts in the age of AI – librarians offer 5 strategies

  • Written by Tracy Bicknell-Holmes, Library professor, Boise State University
imageThe internet is awash in fake news articles and misinformation. franz12/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The phenomenal growth in artificial intelligence tools has made it easy to create a story quickly, complicating a reader’s ability to determine if a news source or article is truthful or reliable. For instance, earlier this year, people were...

Read more: Verifying facts in the age of AI – librarians offer 5 strategies

A President Harris might not get any Supreme Court picks – Biden proposes term limits to make sure all future presidents get two

  • Written by Kevin J. McMahon, Professor of Political Science, Trinity College
imagePresident Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and his Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson and Vice President Kamala Harris just before the investiture ceremony for Jackson on September 30, 2022 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images

To emphasize the importance of an election, presidential candidates often predict that the...

Read more: A President Harris might not get any Supreme Court picks – Biden proposes term limits to make sure...

What is love? A philosopher explains it’s not a choice or a feeling − it’s a practice

  • Written by Edith Gwendolyn Nally, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Missouri-Kansas City
imageHow we understand love shapes the trajectory of our relationships. MicroStockHub/iStock via Getty Images Plusimage

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.

How do you define love? Is it a choice or a feeling? – Izzy, age 11, Golden,...

Read more: What is love? A philosopher explains it’s not a choice or a feeling − it’s a practice

5 growing threats to academic freedom

  • Written by Isaac Kamola, Associate Professor of Political Science, Trinity College
imageNew research shows college professors are facing more political pressure to stifle what they want to say.skynesher/E+ via Getty Images

The ability to teach and conduct research free from political interference is the cornerstone of higher education and its contribution to the public good. Academic freedom, however, has become increasingly...

Read more: 5 growing threats to academic freedom

Moms think more about household chores − and this cognitive burden hurts their mental health

  • Written by Darby Saxbe, Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
imageMoms more often make the list, even when dads help cross things off it.Maskot/DigitalVision via Getty Images

When you think about housework, you likely think of actions: scrubbing the dishes, running errands, chopping vegetables for dinner. And it’s not news to say that mothers often shoulder the burden for most of those activities.

But...

Read more: Moms think more about household chores − and this cognitive burden hurts their mental health

Buddha’s lessons on impermanence are carved into monuments and buildings – this course explores why

  • Written by Mitch Hendrickson, Associate Professor of Archeology, University of Illinois Chicago
image

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

The Archaeology of Buddhism

What prompted the idea for the course?

I adopted this course from a colleague when I took on my assistant professor position here at University of Illinois, Chicago. Over the years, the...

Read more: Buddha’s lessons on impermanence are carved into monuments and buildings – this course explores why

I studied ShotSpotter in Chicago and Kansas City – here’s what people in Detroit and the more than 167 other cities and towns using this technology should know

  • Written by Eric L. Piza, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University
imageCities and towns across the United States have invested in the gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter.Douglas Sacha/Getty Images, CC BY

Like many large cities in the U.S., Detroit’s gun violence rate has fluctuated since the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The city’s murder rate increased...

Read more: I studied ShotSpotter in Chicago and Kansas City – here’s what people in Detroit and the more than...

More Articles ...

  1. Xi signals no deviation from course – nor in the driver – despite economic bumps in the road
  2. Video game performers are becoming Hollywood stars in their own right − and are on strike to be paid and protected accordingly
  3. Hospital-acquired infections are rising – here’s how to protect yourself in health care settings
  4. What GoFundMe conceals: The campaigns that fail
  5. Kamala Harris is no Hubert Humphrey − how the presumed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee isn’t like the 1968 party candidate
  6. JD Vance’s selection as Trump’s running mate marks the end of Republican conservatism
  7. Anti-Syrian violence in Turkey complicates normalization process between Turkey and Syria
  8. Vaccines tell a success story that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Trump forget – here are some key reminders
  9. Real equity in math education is about more than good grades and test scores
  10. Veepstakes have evolved from where you live to who you are − which way will Harris turn to balance the ticket?
  11. Trump’s promotion of an image of strength after assassination attempt borrows from authoritarian playbook
  12. ADHD brains present unique challenges, but the condition is highly treatable − a primary care nurse practitioner with ADHD explains the science
  13. New treatments offer much-needed hope for patients suffering from chronic pain
  14. US citizenship was forced on Native Americans 100 years ago − its promise remains elusive
  15. Tagging seals with sensors helps scientists track ocean currents and a changing climate
  16. Homeless service providers could help more people overcome homelessness if they measured success differently
  17. Happy 50th birthday to the UPC barcode – no one expected you would revolutionize global commerce
  18. Chronic pain: emerging treatment options for patients after the opiod crisis – podcast
  19. Paris Olympics promote sustainability for good reason: Climate change is putting athletes and their sports at risk
  20. Revisiting Middletown, Ohio – the Midwestern town at the heart of JD Vance’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’
  21. Xylazine wounds are a growing crisis among drug users in Philly − a nurse explains potential causes and proper treatment
  22. Good feedback is an art – here’s how I teach it
  23. What do genes have to do with psychology? They likely influence your behavior more than you realize
  24. Cheesemaking is a complex science – a food chemist explains the process from milk to mozzarella
  25. Arrest student protesters, wait or negotiate? Colleges can use ‘ladder of harm’ to determine appropriate response to Gaza protests on campus
  26. Biden dropped out − is the news media to blame?
  27. Cancer costs for Americans with private health insurance rose after the ACA rollout and fell for those with Medicaid
  28. As Hamas war drags on, Israeli democracy weakens further
  29. Supreme Court ruling may put presidents above the law – but even kings never were
  30. Can a brush with death change politicians? It did for notorious Alabama segregationist George Wallace
  31. Court battle to keep Annunciation House open underscores how faith groups strive to welcome strangers in the face of anti-immigrant sentiment
  32. Lincoln called for divided Americans to heed their ‘better angels,’ and politicians have invoked him ever since in crises − but for Abe, it was more than words
  33. Sure, 2024 has had lots of news – but compared with 1940, 1968 or 1973, it’s nothing exceptional
  34. Retaining flavor while removing caffeine − a chemist explains the chemistry behind decaf coffee
  35. Seafloor sediment reveals previously unknown volcanic eruption 520,000 years ago in south Aegean Sea
  36. Worried about the health effects of the sugar in your breakfast cereal? Little has changed since the days of ‘Unfrosted,’ the Pop-Tarts movie
  37. Counter-drug strategies in Central America are worsening deforestation, threatening many species of birds
  38. Athletes looking for a competitive edge may find it within their gut microbiome
  39. Unequal access to quantum information education may limit progress in this emerging field − now is the time to improve
  40. COVID-19 devastated teacher morale − and it hasn’t recovered
  41. GOP attacks against Kamala Harris were already bad – they are about to get worse
  42. US says it wants Palestinians to have a country of their own – but its actions say otherwise
  43. Amid humanitarian crisis and ongoing fighting, Africa’s war-scarred Sahel region faces new threat: Ethno-mercenaries
  44. How do 9 states get by with no income tax? A tax expert explains the trade-offs they choose
  45. Bob Newhart was more than an actor or comedian – he was a literary master
  46. Bugs thrive in urban Los Angeles – volunteers’ traps reveal biodiversity hot spots for city insects and spiders
  47. Diabetes and obesity can damage the liver to the point of failure – but few people know their risk of developing liver disease
  48. The Yezidi genocide devastated Iraq’s community 10 years ago − but the roots of the prejudice that fueled it were much deeper
  49. Buses weren’t the only civil rights battleground in Montgomery – the city’s parks still reflect a history of segregation
  50. Until 1968, presidential candidates were picked by party conventions – a process revived by Biden’s withdrawal from race