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Can legal activist Scott Pruitt undo clean air and water protections as head of EPA?

  • Written by Robert Percival, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Maryland, Baltimore
imageOklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt gestures as he answers a question during a news conference in Oklahoma City, Thursday, June 13, 2013.AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Donald Trump’s election has jolted environmentalists and voters who care about conservation. Trump has called for abolishing or greatly shrinking the Environmental Protection Agency;...

Read more: Can legal activist Scott Pruitt undo clean air and water protections as head of EPA?

Why children believe (or not) that Santa Claus exists

  • Written by Jacqueline D. Woolley, Professor and Department of Psychology Chair, University of Texas at Austin
imageParents go to great lengths to make their kids believe the Santa myth.Boglarka Bodnar/MTI via AP

The holiday season is upon us, and so are its attendant myths, most prominent of which is the Santa Claus story. This is the time that many children are told about a man who lives forever, resides at the North Pole, knows what every child in the world...

Read more: Why children believe (or not) that Santa Claus exists

How to know when holiday drinking is hurting your brain

  • Written by Jamie Smolen, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Florida
imageHoliday drinking brings good cheer, but it also be a sign of problem drinking.

For many, the holidays are indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Families and friends come together and enjoy food, good cheer – and, often, alcohol.

Commercially speaking, alcohol and the holidays seem to be made for each other. Alcohol can be a quick and...

Read more: How to know when holiday drinking is hurting your brain

Earth on the docket: Why Obama can't ignore this climate lawsuit by America's youth

  • Written by Mary Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor of Law, University of Oregon
imageA group of youths are suing the federal government for action on climate change using a novel legal approach.AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, Photo by Robin Loznak, courtesy of Our Children's Trust

At a time when humanity must reverse course before plunging over a climate cliff, the American public has elected a president who seems to have both feet on the...

Read more: Earth on the docket: Why Obama can't ignore this climate lawsuit by America's youth

Why are young women without wrinkles using Botox?

  • Written by Dana Berkowitz, Associate Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State University
imageOnce you start, you can't stop.'Injection' via www.shutterstock.com

The battle against wrinkles has lasted for centuries. Long before surgical facelifts, people ingested powders and potions, stretched their faces using thread and tape, and rubbed their skin with Crisco, acid and animal blood to fight the signs of aging.

But when the FDA approved...

Read more: Why are young women without wrinkles using Botox?

'Slacktivism' that works: 'Small changes' matter

  • Written by Jennifer Earl, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona

In 2013, an online petition persuaded a national organization representing high school coaches to develop materials to educate coaches about sexual assault and how they could help reduce assaults by their athletes. Online petitions have changed decisions by major corporations (ask Bank of America about its debit card fees) and affected decisions...

Read more: 'Slacktivism' that works: 'Small changes' matter

How news sites' online comments helped build our hateful electorate

  • Written by Marie K. Shanahan, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Connecticut
imageWhom do we become in online comments?Troll via shutterstock.com

Critics may accuse President-elect Donald J. Trump and his supporters of dragging down public discourse in America, but civility took leave of open discussions years ago – online. Beneath digital news stories and social media posts are unmoderated, often anonymous comment streams...

Read more: How news sites' online comments helped build our hateful electorate

Venezuela on the verge of dictatorship: Can dialogue or demonstrations turn it around?

  • Written by Raul Sanchez Urribarri, Lecturer in Crime, Justice, and Legal Studies, La Trobe University

Some observers are calling the recent events in Venezuela a transition to blatant dictatorship.

Venezuela is in a deep, protracted crisis. The government is acting increasingly authoritarian, and the country is experiencing the worst economic slump of its history. Inflation is at a record high, basic essentials are increasingly scarce and crime...

Read more: Venezuela on the verge of dictatorship: Can dialogue or demonstrations turn it around?

How one political outsider picked a cabinet

  • Written by David Stebenne, Professor of History and Law Faculty, The Ohio State University
imagePresident Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles in 1956.National Archives

Trump’s efforts to fill the top jobs in his incoming administration bring to mind those of Dwight Eisenhower, who was the last person elected president without having earlier served in elective office.

The Ike cabinet was wealthy, too

Eisenhower, a moderately conservative...

Read more: How one political outsider picked a cabinet

Lesson one for Rick Perry: The Energy Department doesn't produce much energy

  • Written by William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University
imageThe Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration supervises the removal of 68 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (enough for two nuclear weapons) from the Czech Republic in 2013. NNSA/Flickr, CC BY-ND

A former governor of Texas – the state that produces more crude oil, natural gas, lignite coal, wind power and refined...

Read more: Lesson one for Rick Perry: The Energy Department doesn't produce much energy

More Articles ...

  1. What Trump Foundation's 'self-dealing' disclosure means for a conflicted president-elect
  2. Why sex gets better in older age
  3. The high cost of pursuing a dream to be a veterinarian
  4. Jesus Christ, businessman: From John Humphrey Noyes to Donald Trump
  5. Yellen's Fed faces a tricky rates dilemma in 2017 that may end up tripping up Trump
  6. Federal Reserve offers vote of confidence in US economy (so there's no reason to panic)
  7. Why 'thoughts and prayers' after mass shootings fall short
  8. Trump questionnaire recalls dark history of ideology-driven science
  9. Why the British love the National Health Service
  10. What Castro's death and Trump's election mean for Cuba's economic awakening
  11. How your college friendships help you – or don't
  12. What does research say about how to effectively communicate about science?
  13. Trump and Tillerson face the Middle East
  14. 1990s Oregon campaigns anticipated Trump's politics of division
  15. The emerging science of 'bromosexual' friendships
  16. The US environmental movement needs a new message
  17. 'Even though I am a girl...': John Glenn's fan mail and sexism in the early space program
  18. Cybersecurity's next phase: Cyber-deterrence
  19. Why kids who have trouble behaving in preschool fall behind
  20. Trump trolls, Pirate Parties and the Italian Five Star Movement: The internet meets politics
  21. Normalizing fascists
  22. Break out of your echo chamber: Technology arranges lunch with someone new
  23. Why OPEC's gambit to raise oil prices might not work
  24. How learning a new language improves tolerance
  25. Celebrity voices are powerful, but does the First Amendment let them say anything they want?
  26. Trump, carbon neutrality and the next phase of business sustainability
  27. When nausea from pregnancy is life-threatening
  28. The Victorian origins of the Mannequin Challenge
  29. The MDMA being used to treat trauma is different from the street drug Ecstasy
  30. The potential costs of Tom Price as HHS secretary
  31. In Puerto Rico, environmental injustice and racism inflame protests over coal ash
  32. Will Trump victory make Angela Merkel leader of the free world?
  33. How the Fed joined the fight against climate change
  34. Catching lightning in a fossil – and calculating how much energy a strike contains
  35. Supreme Court: Design patents are worth less, but we won't tell you how much
  36. Will a weakened EPA set environmental justice back?
  37. Why do we fall for fake news?
  38. How the TPP's demise threatens US national security and Pax Americana
  39. Is it safe for pregnant women to go to the dentist? Yes
  40. Depression in pregnancy: Why doing nothing about it may be a bad idea
  41. Protect your privacy during turbulent times: A hacker’s guide to being cyber-safe
  42. An activist's playbook: How to influence Trump's cabinet and policies
  43. For China, climate change is no hoax – it's a business and political opportunity
  44. Why President-elect Trump doesn't think he has a conflict of interest problem
  45. How Standing Rock became a site of pilgrimage
  46. Forensic evidence largely not supported by sound science – now what?
  47. ‘Hail Trump’ salute recalls a powerful message of hate
  48. Why it's wrong to blame Obamacare for health care ills
  49. Trump Tower, the skyscraper and the future of urban development
  50. America's role in the world 75 years after Pearl Harbor