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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...

Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making progress

  • Written by Emmanuel Olugbade, Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
imageHow much charge is left? It can be hard to know for sure.Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images

Lithium-ion batteries are quietly powering large parts of the world, including electric vehicles and smartphones. They have revolutionized how people store and use energy. But as these batteries become more central to daily life, they bring more attention to the...

Read more: Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making...

These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk

  • Written by Erika Squires, Assistant Professor, Wayne State University
imageGetting involved when your kids are watching digital media can make it an educational experience, rather than just entertainment.damircudic/E+ via Getty Images

Screen time permeates the lives of toddlers and preschoolers. For many young children, their exposure includes both direct viewing, such as watching a TV show, and indirect viewing, such as...

Read more: These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk

Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it

  • Written by Daniel Hall, Professor of Justice and Community Studies & Political Science, Miami University
imageFree speech in the U.S. is being curtailed by the Trump administration. Malte Mueller, fStop/Getty Images

Harvard University took the extraordinary step of suing the Trump administration on April 21, 2025, claiming that the pressure campaign mounted on the school by the president and his Cabinet to force viewpoint diversity on campus violated the...

Read more: Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it

Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence

  • Written by Tim Weninger, Collegiate Proessor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame
imageAI tools reveal how images have been manipulated.William Theisen et al.

Imagine a country with deep political divisions, where different groups don’t trust each other and violence seems likely. Now, imagine a flood of political images, hateful memes and mocking videos from domestic and foreign sources taking over social media. What is likely...

Read more: Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political...

Pope Francis’ death right after Easter sounds miraculous – but patients and caregivers often work together to delay dying

  • Written by Michelle Riba, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan
imagePope Francis died after celebrating Easter with his congregants.AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

On the morning of Easter Monday, after his final public address the day prior, Pope Francis died at age 88, closing 12 years of leading the Catholic Church. He joins the phenomena of people “holding on” until after an anticipated date or event, such...

Read more: Pope Francis’ death right after Easter sounds miraculous – but patients and caregivers often work...

US colleges and universities have billions stashed away in endowments − a higher ed finance expert explains what they are

  • Written by Todd L. Ely, Associate Professor of Public Administration; Director, Center for Local Government, University of Colorado Denver
imageProspective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington in 2013.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

With the Trump administration seeking to cut federal funding for colleges and universities, you might be wondering whether the endowments of these institutions of higher education might be able to fill those gaps. Todd L. Ely, a professor of...

Read more: US colleges and universities have billions stashed away in endowments − a higher ed finance expert...

Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful

  • Written by Monica Y. Bartlett, Professor of Psychology, Gonzaga University
imageIf the concept of journaling feels daunting, perhaps just call it a gratitude list.Karl Tapales/Moment via Getty Images

A lot has been written about gratitude over the past two decades and how we ought to be feeling it. There is advice for journaling and a plethora of purchasing options for gratitude notebooks and diaries. And research has...

Read more: Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are...

Alaska, rich in petroleum, faces an energy shortage

  • Written by Brett Watson, Assistant Professor of Applied and Natural Resource Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage
imageThe Trans-Alaska Pipeline crosses underneath the Dalton Highway, carrying crude oil from the North Slope to a port in Valdez.Lance King/Getty Images

In the state with the fourth-largest proven reserves of oil and gas in the U.S., there is a looming energy shortage.

Above the Arctic Circle, oil producers on Alaska’s North Slope send an average...

Read more: Alaska, rich in petroleum, faces an energy shortage

More Articles ...

  1. How do children learn to read? This literacy expert says ‘there are as many ways as there are students’
  2. The hidden history of Philadelphia’s window-box gardens and their role in urban reform
  3. Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war
  4. From Doing Business to B-READY: World Bank’s new rankings represent a rebrand, not a revamp
  5. Justice Department lawyers work for justice and the Constitution – not the White House
  6. 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
  7. US universities lose millions of dollars chasing patents, research shows
  8. From help to harm: How the government is quietly repurposing everyone’s data for surveillance
  9. Trump administration pauses new mine safety regulation − here’s how those rules benefit companies as well as workers
  10. Controlled burns reduce wildfire risk, but they require trained staff and funding − this could be a rough year
  11. Stripping federal protection for clean water harms just about everyone, especially already vulnerable communities
  12. 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
  13. A warning for Democrats from the Gilded Age and the 1896 election
  14. Habeas corpus: A thousand-year-old legal principle for defending rights that’s getting a workout under the Trump administration
  15. Reducing diversity, equity and inclusion to a catchphrase undermines its true purpose
  16. Perfect brownies baked at high altitude are possible thanks to Colorado’s home economics pioneer Inga Allison
  17. Some politicians who share harmful information are rewarded with more clicks, study finds
  18. Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible
  19. Francis, a pope of many firsts: 5 essential reads
  20. Lawful permanent residents like Mahmoud Khalil have a right to freedom of speech – but does that protect them from deportation?
  21. Federal laws don’t ban rollbacks of environmental protection, but they don’t make it easy
  22. Why don’t humans have hair all over their bodies? A biologist explains our lack of fur
  23. Endowments aren’t blank checks – but universities can rely on them more heavily in turbulent times
  24. Exposure to perceptible temperature rise increases concern about climate change, higher education adds to understanding
  25. What will happen at the funeral of Pope Francis
  26. How the next pope will be elected – what goes on at the conclave
  27. Scientists found a potential sign of life on a distant planet – an astronomer explains why many are still skeptical
  28. ‘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
  29. As views on spanking shift worldwide, most US adults support it, and 19 states allow physical punishment in schools
  30. Crime is nonpartisan and the blame game on crime in cities is wrong – on both sides
  31. With federal funding in question, artists can navigate a perilous future by looking to the past
  32. Lawsuits seeking to address climate change have promise but face uncertain future
  33. All models are wrong − a computational modeling expert explains how engineers make them useful
  34. Trump’s attacks on central bank threaten its independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation)
  35. Claims of ‘anti-Christian bias’ sound to some voters like a message about race, not just religion
  36. How does your brain create new memories? Neuroscientists discover ‘rules’ for how neurons encode new information
  37. Patriots’ Day: How far-right groups hijack history and patriotic symbols to advance their cause, according to an expert on extremism
  38. International students infuse tens of millions of dollars into local economies across the US. What happens if they stay home?
  39. Popular AIs head-to-head: OpenAI beats DeepSeek on sentence-level reasoning
  40. Why people with autism struggle to get hired − and how businesses can help by changing how they look at job interviews
  41. Appliance efficiency standards save consumers billions, reduce pollution and fight climate change
  42. Why deregulating online platforms is actually bad for free speech
  43. Ethical leadership can boost well-being and performance in remote work environments
  44. Is a ‘friend-apist’ what we really want from therapy?
  45. Federal judge finds ‘probable cause’ to hold Trump administration in contempt – a legal scholar explains what this means
  46. How single-stream recycling works − your choices can make it better
  47. The sudden dismissal of public records staff at health agencies threatens government accountability
  48. Wide variety of old-growth ecosystems across the US makes their conservation a complex challenge
  49. Railways were essential to carrying out the Holocaust – decades later, corporate reckoning continues
  50. 200 years ago, France extorted Haiti in one of history’s greatest heists – and Haitians want reparations