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In what order did the planets in our solar system form?

  • Written by Christopher Palma, Teaching Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State
imageAn artistic rendition of our solar system, including the Sun and eight planets.vjanez/iStock via Getty Images

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.

Are planets in the solar system that are closer to the Sun older than the ones...

Read more: In what order did the planets in our solar system form?

H-bomb creator Richard Garwin was a giant in science, technology and policy

  • Written by Matthew Bunn, Professor of the Practice of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
imagePresident Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Richard Garwin at the White House on Nov. 22, 2016.AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Richard Garwin, who died on May 13, 2025, at the age of 97, was sometimes called “the most influential scientist you’ve never heard of.” He got his Ph.D. in physics at 21 under Enrico Fermi...

Read more: H-bomb creator Richard Garwin was a giant in science, technology and policy

Landing on the Moon is an incredibly difficult feat − 2025 has brought successes and shortfalls for companies and space agencies

  • Written by Zhenbo Wang, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Tennessee
imageSeveral missions have already attempted to land on the lunar surface in 2025, with more to come. AP Photo

Half a century after the Apollo astronauts left the last bootprints in lunar dust, the Moon has once again become a destination of fierce ambition and delicate engineering.

This time, it’s not just superpowers racing to plant flags, but...

Read more: Landing on the Moon is an incredibly difficult feat − 2025 has brought successes and shortfalls...

Touch can comfort and heal, but also harm − a psychologist explains why gestures don’t always land as intended

  • Written by Brian N. Chin, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Trinity College
imageTouch is not always received the way it's intended.Olga Pankova/Moment via Getty Images

A hug from a friend. A squeeze of the hand. A steady arm around your shoulders. Many of us are taught to think of touch as comforting – an instinctive way to offer or receive comfort and express a sense of connection.

But comfort is not always the outcome.

Fo...

Read more: Touch can comfort and heal, but also harm − a psychologist explains why gestures don’t always land...

Why we fall for fake health information – and how it spreads faster than facts

  • Written by Angshuman K. Kashyap, PhD candidate in Health Communication, University of Maryland
imageShould you share that health-related Instagram post?Catherine McQueen/Moment via Getty Images

In today’s digital world, people routinely turn to the internet for health or medical information. In addition to actively searching online, they often come across health-related information on social media or receive it through emails or messages...

Read more: Why we fall for fake health information – and how it spreads faster than facts

Cultivating obedience: Using the Justice Department to attack former officials consolidates power and deters dissent

  • Written by Joe Wright, Professor of Political Science, Penn State
imageMiles Taylor, center, a Homeland Security official during the first Trump administration, wrote an op-ed in September 2018 that criticized Trump.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

During President Donald Trump’s first three months in office, his administration has targeted dozens of former officials who criticized him or opposed his agenda.

In April 2025,...

Read more: Cultivating obedience: Using the Justice Department to attack former officials consolidates power...

New chancellor, old constraints: Germany’s Friedrich Merz will have a hard time freeing the country from its self-imposed shackles

  • Written by Mark I. Vail, Worrell Chair of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest University
imageGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz has had an uncertain start to his tenure.John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

Friedrich Merz received a rude shock on the morning of May 6, 2025, as he prepared to lose the “in-waiting” qualifier from his title as German chancellor.

After weeks of negotiations following February’s federal election,...

Read more: New chancellor, old constraints: Germany’s Friedrich Merz will have a hard time freeing the...

Trump’s vision for Air Force One will turn it from the ‘Flying White House’ to a ‘palace in the sky’

  • Written by Janet Bednarek, Professor of History, University of Dayton
imageFormer first lady Jacqueline Kennedy helped design Air Force One's color scheme, which has been used since her husband's presidency.Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images

Since President Donald Trump excitedly announced that he would be accepting a US$400 million plane from the Qatari government to serve as the next Air Force One, even members of his own...

Read more: Trump’s vision for Air Force One will turn it from the ‘Flying White House’ to a ‘palace in the sky’

‘Manu jumping’: The physics behind making humongous splashes in the pool

  • Written by Pankaj Rohilla, Postdoctoral Fellow in Fluid Dynamics, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageMaybe you've unknowingly tried to do a manu jump.Isabel Pavia/Moment via Getty Images

Whether diving off docks, cannonballing into lakes or leaping off the high board, there’s nothing quite like the joy of jumping into water.

Olympic divers turned this natural act into a sophisticated science, with the goal of making a splash as small as...

Read more: ‘Manu jumping’: The physics behind making humongous splashes in the pool

Trump’s battle with elite universities overlooks where most students actually go to college

  • Written by Amy Li, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Florida International University
imageThere are nearly 20 million undergraduate college students in the United States.Anadolu/Getty Images

Headlines often mention the ongoing power struggle between President Donald Trump’s administration and private colleges such as Columbia University and Harvard University.

But such elite universities educate only a small portion of...

Read more: Trump’s battle with elite universities overlooks where most students actually go to college

More Articles ...

  1. Governments continue losing efforts to gain backdoor access to secure communications
  2. Placenta bandages have far more health benefits than risky placenta pills − a bioengineer explains
  3. Birthright citizenship case at Supreme Court reveals deeper questions about judicial authority to halt unlawful policies
  4. Disarming Hezbollah is key to Lebanon’s recovery − but task is complicated by regional shifts, ceasefire violations
  5. Disarming Hezbollah is key to Lebanon’s recovery − but the task is complicated by regional shifts, ceasefire violations
  6. Unprecedented cuts to the National Science Foundation endanger research that improves economic growth, national security and your life
  7. What Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms and motto reveal about his dedication to the ideals of St. Augustine − an art historian explains
  8. Hurricane disaster planning with aging parents should start now, before the storm: 5 tips
  9. Congress began losing power decades ago − and now it’s giving away what remains to Trump
  10. Algebra is more than alphabet soup – it’s the language of algorithms and relationships
  11. US safety net helps protect children from abuse and neglect, and some of those programs are threatened by proposed budget cuts
  12. Pope Francis drew inspiration from Latin American church and its martyrs – leaving a legacy for Pope Leo
  13. Challenges to high-performance computing threaten US innovation
  14. Pacific voyagers’ remarkable environmental knowledge allowed for long-distance navigation without Western technology
  15. Pope Leo XIV’s link to Haiti is part of a broader American story of race, citizenship and migration
  16. How does the EPA know a pesticide is safe to use in my yard?
  17. Lady Gaga bomb plot: Thwarted plan lifts veil on the gamification of hate and gendered nature of online radicalization
  18. How your genes interact with your environment changes your disease risk − new research counts the ways
  19. Trump is making it easier to fire federal workers, but they have some legal protections - 3 essential reads
  20. Detroit’s next mayor can do these 3 things to support neighborhoods beyond downtown
  21. Taking intermittent quizzes reduces achievement gaps and enhances online learning, even in highly distracting environments
  22. How redefining just one word could strip the Endangered Species Act’s ability to protect vital habitat
  23. ‘The pope is Peruvian!’ How 2 decades in South America shaped the vision of Pope Leo XIV
  24. What or where is the Indo-Pacific? How a foreign policy pivot redefined the global map
  25. Why protecting wildland is crucial to American freedom and identity
  26. Trump moves to gut low-income energy assistance as summer heat descends and electricity prices rise
  27. AI can scan vast numbers of social media posts during disasters to guide first responders
  28. Why collect asteroid samples? 4 essential reads on what these tiny bits of space rock can tell scientists
  29. Researchers uncovered hundreds of genes linked to OCD, providing clues about how it changes the brain − new research
  30. Why do cuts to Medicaid matter for Americans over 65? 2 experts on aging explain why lives are at stake
  31. Where tomorrow’s scientists prefer to live − and where they’d rather not
  32. How Asian American became a racial grouping – and why many with Asian roots don’t identify with the term these days
  33. Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship heads to the Supreme Court
  34. Trump heads to the Gulf aiming to bolster trade ties – but side talks on Tehran, Gaza could drive a wedge between US and Israel
  35. From defenders to skeptics: The sharp decline in young Americans’ support for free speech
  36. If you really want to close the US trade deficit, try boosting innovation in rural manufacturing
  37. Smartwatches promise all kinds of quality-of-life improvements − here are 5 things users should keep in mind
  38. Calorie counts on menus and food labels may not help consumers choose healthier foods, new research shows
  39. Space law doesn’t protect historical sites, mining operations and bases on the Moon – a space lawyer describes a framework that could
  40. In death penalty cases, the quest for justice is not America’s highest value
  41. When does a kid become an adult?
  42. As US doubles down on fossil fuels, communities will have to adapt to the consequences − yet climate adaptation funding is on the chopping block
  43. As US ramps up fossil fuels, communities will have to adapt to the consequences − yet climate adaptation funding is on the chopping block
  44. India-Pakistan ceasefire shouldn’t disguise fact that norms have changed in South Asia, making future de-escalation much harder
  45. From pulpit to pitch: Pope Francis used sport to get his message to a wider world − that could continue with baseball-loving Leo XIV
  46. Science requires ethical oversight – without federal dollars, society’s health and safety are at risk
  47. I’m a business professor who asked dozens of former students how they define success. Here are their lessons for today’s grads
  48. I watched the Kremlin’s new Putin documentary (so you don’t have to) − here’s what it says about how the Russian leader views himself
  49. Nitrous oxide recreational use is linked to brain damage and sudden death − but ‘laughing gas’ is still sold all over the US
  50. Can Trump strip Harvard of its charitable status? Scholars of nonprofit law and accounting describe the obstacles in his way