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Russia's cabinet resigns and it's all part of Putin's plan

  • Written by Regina Smyth, Associate Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and now-former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (R) in Sochi, Russia, Dec. 7, 2019. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Editor’s note: Russia’s prime minister, Dmitry A. Medvedev, and cabinet resigned on Jan. 15.

Russian politics are often not what they seem, especially to those in the West. We asked Regina...

Read more: Russia's cabinet resigns and it's all part of Putin's plan

Screen time: Conclusions about the effects of digital media are often incomplete, irrelevant or wrong

  • Written by Byron Reeves, Professor of Communication, Stanford University
Humans are barraged by digital media 24/7. Is it a problem?Bruce Rolff/Shutterstock.com

There’s a lot of talk about digital media. Increasing screen time has created worries about media’s impacts on democracy, addiction, depression, relationships, learning, health, privacy and much more. The effects are frequently assumed to be huge,...

Read more: Screen time: Conclusions about the effects of digital media are often incomplete, irrelevant or...

What Iranians think of the US and their own government

  • Written by Monti Datta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond
Protesters during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran on Jan. 12.AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

After the Trump administration killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani with a drone strike on Jan. 3, anti-American protests in Iran subsequently spiked, with thousands mourning Soleimani’s passing.

As someone who studies the...

Read more: What Iranians think of the US and their own government

Supreme Court DACA decision isn't just about Dreamers -- it's about whether the White House has to tell the truth

  • Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Immigration rights advocates rally outside Supreme Court.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The fate of 700,000 people facing deportation may hang on a new question facing the U.S. Supreme Court: Is the White House legally obligated to tell the whole truth when justifying its actions?

In November, justices heard arguments over the...

Read more: Supreme Court DACA decision isn't just about Dreamers -- it's about whether the White House has to...

Who is born a US citizen?

  • Written by Carol Nackenoff, Richter Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College
Some people are U.S. citizens at birth, like this baby born in California.Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock.com

A recent court ruling about faraway American Samoa may have profound implications for a conflict that’s been going on for nearly 200 years: who gets to be an American citizen.

Debates over who gets citizenship and what kind of citizenship...

Read more: Who is born a US citizen?

An old debate over religion in school is opening up again

  • Written by David Mislin, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Heritage, Temple University
A Bible class at a public high school in Georgia,AP Photo/David Goldman

As the 2020 election approaches in the United States, President Donald Trump is adding school prayer to the list of contentious issues up for debate. At a rally in early January he announced plans to “safeguard students’ and teachers’ First Amendment rights to...

Read more: An old debate over religion in school is opening up again

Meet the narwhal, 'unicorn of the sea'

  • Written by Kristin Laidre, Associate Professor of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington
Over 100,000 narwhals swim the Earth's Arctic waters.Kristin Laidre, CC BY-ND

Narwhals are often called the unicorns of the sea. The long tusk of the male narwhal sets these whales apart, but it’s not the only thing that makes Monodon monoceros among the most intriguing and mysterious marine mammals.

A deep-diving cetacean in the odontocete...

Read more: Meet the narwhal, 'unicorn of the sea'

Why fitness trackers may not give you all the 'credit' you hoped for

  • Written by Katie Siek, Associate Professor of Informatics, Indiana University
Wearable fitness trackers have less accuracy when used in certain ways.bogdankosanovic/E+ via Getty Images

January is a time when many people make resolutions – and then break them. Almost 60% of Americans will resolve to exercise more, but fewer than 10% will stick with their resolution. A key to keeping resolutions is ensuring they are measu...

Read more: Why fitness trackers may not give you all the 'credit' you hoped for

3 quotes that defined the first Democratic debate of 2020

  • Written by Dennis Jett, Professor of International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders shake hands before the debate on Jan. 14.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Editor’s note: Six Democrats qualified for the final debate before the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3. We asked three scholars to watch the Jan. 14 debate, held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and pick a quote from one of the candidates to...

Read more: 3 quotes that defined the first Democratic debate of 2020

Earthquake forecast for Puerto Rico: Dozens more large aftershocks are likely

  • Written by Richard Aster, Professor of Geophysics and Department Head, Colorado State University
The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church lies in ruins after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2020. AP Photo/Carlos Giusti

Multiple strong and damaging earthquakes in southern Puerto Rico starting around Dec. 28, 2019 have killed at least one person, caused many serious injuries and collapsed numerous buildings,...

Read more: Earthquake forecast for Puerto Rico: Dozens more large aftershocks are likely

More Articles ...

  1. Worrying about being drafted doesn't mean you're disloyal – it's an old American tradition
  2. Parental leave laws are failing single parents
  3. How Prohibition changed the way Americans drink, 100 years ago
  4. 'Uncut Gems' celebrates Manhattan’s Diamond District, a neighborhood that's a window into the past
  5. Think twice before shouting your virtues online – moral grandstanding is toxic
  6. Being copycats might be key to being human
  7. Microwaving sewage waste may make it safe to use as fertilizer on crops
  8. Heading into Iowa: Where do the Democratic candidates stand on health care coverage?
  9. Why the US-Iran conflict isn’t driving oil prices higher – and why it probably should
  10. Can the Constitution stop the government from lying to the public?
  11. The secret origins of presidential polling
  12. What US election officials could learn from Australia about boosting voter turnout
  13. High-priced specialty drugs: Exposing the flaws in the system
  14. Pope ends a secrecy rule for Catholic sexual abuse cases, but for victims many barriers to justice remain
  15. Restricting trade in endangered species can backfire, triggering market booms
  16. Why hip-hop belongs in today's classrooms
  17. Brexit could spell the end of globalization, and the global prosperity that came with it
  18. Cyberspace is the next front in Iran-US conflict – and private companies may bear the brunt
  19. Why are there seven days in a week?
  20. Weinstein jurors must differentiate between consent and compliance – which research shows isn't easy
  21. Large turnouts for Soleimani’s funeral in Iran carry powerful collective emotions – just as Americans saw during the colonial era
  22. Killing of Soleimani evokes dark history of political assassinations in the formative days of Shiite Islam
  23. Why some public universities get to keep their donors secret
  24. The made-up crisis behind the state takeover of Houston's public schools
  25. We're living in the bizarre world that Flaubert envisioned
  26. Your blood type may influence your vulnerability to norovirus, the winter vomiting virus
  27. Why we are hard-wired to worry, and what we can do to calm down
  28. 3D printing of body parts is coming fast – but regulations are not ready
  29. Matching Vietnamese brides with Chinese men, marriage brokers find good business – and sometimes love
  30. Rotting feral pig carcasses teach scientists what happens when tons of animals die all at once, as in Australia's bushfires
  31. Trump, like Obama, tests the limits of presidential war powers
  32. The US-Iran conflict and the consequences of international law-breaking
  33. School closures can hit rural communities hard
  34. What Trump's tweet threatening Iran's cultural sites could mean for Shiite Muslims
  35. Tweets about cannabis' health benefits are full of mistruths
  36. How countries in conflict, like Iran and the US, still talk to each other
  37. Children of color already make up the majority of kids in many US states
  38. Should college funding be tied to how many students graduate?
  39. Telecommuters create positive change – so why aren't employers more flexible about people working from home?
  40. Monkeys smashing nuts with stones hint at how human tool use evolved
  41. Trump asks NATO allies for help with Iran after years of bashing the alliance
  42. What happens when community college is made free
  43. For linguists, it was the decade of the pronoun
  44. Moving Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Colorado won't be good for public lands
  45. What did the Romans do in the year 0? A fake theologian explains
  46. I'm an OB/GYN who attended thousands of deliveries before wondering why Americans give birth in bed
  47. AI can now read emotions – should it?
  48. Should government assistance cover pet food or potato chips? It depends whom you ask
  49. Coyotes are poised to enter South America for the first time
  50. Should government assistance cover pet food or potato chips? It depends who you ask