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How does soap keep you clean? A chemist explains the science of soap

  • Written by Paul E. Richardson, Professor of Biochemistry, Coastal Carolina University
imageBe sure to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.Mladen Zivkovic/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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 does soap clean our bodies? – Charlie H., age 8, Stamford, Connecticut

Thousands of...

Read more: How does soap keep you clean? A chemist explains the science of soap

Tensions over Kashmir and a warming planet have placed the Indus Waters Treaty on life support

  • Written by Fazlul Haq, Postdoctoral Scholar at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University
imageThe Indus River Valley in the cold desert of Ladakh, India.Pallava Bagla/Getty Images

In 1995, World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin warned that whereas the conflicts of the previous 100 years had been over oil, “the wars of the next century will be fought over water.”

Thirty years on, that prediction is being tested in one of the...

Read more: Tensions over Kashmir and a warming planet have placed the Indus Waters Treaty on life support

In talking with Tehran, Trump is reversing course on Iran – could a new nuclear deal be next?

  • Written by Jeffrey Fields, Associate Professor of the Practice of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
imageA mural on the outer walls of the former US embassy in Tehran depicts two men in negotiation.Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

Negotiators from Iran and the United States are set to meet again in Oman on April 26, prompting hopes the two countries might be moving, albeit tentatively, toward a new nuclear accord.

The scheduled talks follow the two previous...

Read more: In talking with Tehran, Trump is reversing course on Iran – could a new nuclear deal be next?

Colors are objective, according to two philosophers − even though the blue you see doesn’t match what I see

  • Written by Elay Shech, Professor of Philosophy, Auburn University
imageWhat appear to be blue and green spirals are actually the same color.Akiyoshi Kitaoka

Is your green my green? Probably not. What appears as pure green to me will likely look a bit yellowish or blueish to you. This is because visual systems vary from person to person. Moreover, an object’s color may appear differently against different...

Read more: Colors are objective, according to two philosophers − even though the blue you see doesn’t match...

Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains what caused this shift

  • Written by Alexander Lowie, Postdoctoral associate in Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida
imageFlorida has attracted new residents since the pandemic, as well as a growth in conservative politics. iStock / Getty Images Plus

Florida has undergone a dramatic political transformation over the past decade from a swing state to Republican stronghold.

Florida’s recent congressional special election on April 1, 2025, showcased the...

Read more: Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains...

‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence scientists need to claim discoveries like extraterrestrial life

  • Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
imageThe universe is filled with countless galaxies, stars and planets. Astronomers may find life one day, but they will need extraordinary proof. ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi

The detection of life beyond Earth would be one of the most profound discoveries in the history of...

Read more: ‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence...

Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with humanities funding that benefits everyday Americans

  • Written by Jennifer Tucker, Professor of History, Wesleyan University
imageDonald Trump speaks in front of a wax statue of John Wayne at the John Wayne Museum in Winterset, Iowa, during the 2016 GOP primaries.Al Drago/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images

Donald Trump first came up with his plan for a “National Garden of American Heroes” at the end of his first term, before President Joe Biden quietly tabled it upon...

Read more: Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with...

Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in agriculture workers, new study shows

  • Written by Katherine Ann James, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
imageAgricultural workers exposed to a hotter and drier climate are at an increased risk of kidney damage. George Rose/via Getty Images

Heat and humidity contributed to kidney damage and disease in the San Luis Valley in Colorado between 1984 and 1998, according to our recently published work in the peer-reviewed journal Weather, Climate, and Society.

The...

Read more: Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in...

Japanese women have long sacrificed their surnames in marriage − politics and demographics might change that

  • Written by Linda E. White, Professor of Japanese Studies, Middlebury
imageA record number of female candidates stood in the 2024 Japanese election.Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

For centuries, women entering marriage in Japan have been bound by the Confucian notion of personal sacrifice for the good of the family – and that has extended to their names.

Encouraged by a sexual double standard and shaped by a...

Read more: Japanese women have long sacrificed their surnames in marriage − politics and demographics might...

‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held up for more than 400 years

  • Written by Cora Fox, Associate Professor of English and Health Humanities, Arizona State University
imageJoanna Vanderham as Desdemona and Hugh Quarshie as the title character in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'Othello.'Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images

What is “happiness” – and who gets to be happy?

Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has measured and compared data from 167 countries. The United States currently ranks...

Read more: ‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held...

More Articles ...

  1. Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making progress
  2. These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk
  3. Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it
  4. Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence
  5. Pope Francis’ death right after Easter sounds miraculous – but patients and caregivers often work together to delay dying
  6. US colleges and universities have billions stashed away in endowments − a higher ed finance expert explains what they are
  7. Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful
  8. Alaska, rich in petroleum, faces an energy shortage
  9. How do children learn to read? This literacy expert says ‘there are as many ways as there are students’
  10. The hidden history of Philadelphia’s window-box gardens and their role in urban reform
  11. Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war
  12. From Doing Business to B-READY: World Bank’s new rankings represent a rebrand, not a revamp
  13. Justice Department lawyers work for justice and the Constitution – not the White House
  14. Trump is stripping protections from marine protected areas – why that’s a problem for fishing’s future, and for whales, corals and other ocean life
  15. US universities lose millions of dollars chasing patents, research shows
  16. From help to harm: How the government is quietly repurposing everyone’s data for surveillance
  17. Trump administration pauses new mine safety regulation − here’s how those rules benefit companies as well as workers
  18. Controlled burns reduce wildfire risk, but they require trained staff and funding − this could be a rough year
  19. Stripping federal protection for clean water harms just about everyone, especially already vulnerable communities
  20. I study local government and Hurricane Helene forced me from my home − here’s how rural towns and counties in North Carolina and beyond cooperate to rebuild
  21. A warning for Democrats from the Gilded Age and the 1896 election
  22. Habeas corpus: A thousand-year-old legal principle for defending rights that’s getting a workout under the Trump administration
  23. Reducing diversity, equity and inclusion to a catchphrase undermines its true purpose
  24. Perfect brownies baked at high altitude are possible thanks to Colorado’s home economics pioneer Inga Allison
  25. Some politicians who share harmful information are rewarded with more clicks, study finds
  26. Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible
  27. Francis, a pope of many firsts: 5 essential reads
  28. Lawful permanent residents like Mahmoud Khalil have a right to freedom of speech – but does that protect them from deportation?
  29. Federal laws don’t ban rollbacks of environmental protection, but they don’t make it easy
  30. Why don’t humans have hair all over their bodies? A biologist explains our lack of fur
  31. Endowments aren’t blank checks – but universities can rely on them more heavily in turbulent times
  32. Exposure to perceptible temperature rise increases concern about climate change, higher education adds to understanding
  33. What will happen at the funeral of Pope Francis
  34. How the next pope will be elected – what goes on at the conclave
  35. Scientists found a potential sign of life on a distant planet – an astronomer explains why many are still skeptical
  36. ‘I never issued a criminal contempt citation in 19 ½ years on the bench’ – a former federal judge looks at the ‘relentless bad behavior’ of the Trump administration in court
  37. As views on spanking shift worldwide, most US adults support it, and 19 states allow physical punishment in schools
  38. Crime is nonpartisan and the blame game on crime in cities is wrong – on both sides
  39. With federal funding in question, artists can navigate a perilous future by looking to the past
  40. Lawsuits seeking to address climate change have promise but face uncertain future
  41. All models are wrong − a computational modeling expert explains how engineers make them useful
  42. Trump’s attacks on central bank threaten its independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation)
  43. Claims of ‘anti-Christian bias’ sound to some voters like a message about race, not just religion
  44. How does your brain create new memories? Neuroscientists discover ‘rules’ for how neurons encode new information
  45. Patriots’ Day: How far-right groups hijack history and patriotic symbols to advance their cause, according to an expert on extremism
  46. International students infuse tens of millions of dollars into local economies across the US. What happens if they stay home?
  47. Popular AIs head-to-head: OpenAI beats DeepSeek on sentence-level reasoning
  48. Why people with autism struggle to get hired − and how businesses can help by changing how they look at job interviews
  49. Appliance efficiency standards save consumers billions, reduce pollution and fight climate change
  50. Why deregulating online platforms is actually bad for free speech