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California wildfires force students to think about the connections between STEM and society

  • Written by Erika Dyson, Professor of Religous Studies, Harvey Mudd College
imageSatellite imagery shows the front line of the Palisades fire in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2025.Maxar Technologies/Contributor

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

“STEM & Social Impact: Climate Change”

What prompted the idea for the course?...

Read more: California wildfires force students to think about the connections between STEM and society

Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations that protect government computer systems

  • Written by Richard Forno, Teaching Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
imagePeople protest DOGE's access to sensitive personal data.AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Donald Trump’s special commission tasked with slashing federal spending, continues to disrupt Washington and the federal bureaucracy. According to published reports, its teams are dropping into federal...

Read more: Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and...

Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

  • Written by Christina L. Myers, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Michigan State University
imageLamar's Super Bowl appearance marks a political reckoning for the NFL.Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images

In the September 2024 NFL ad announcing Kendrick Lamar as the halftime performer at Super Bowl 59, the 37-year-old rapper stands before a colossal American flag, feeding footballs into a machine that launches the balls to wide receivers.

“Will...

Read more: Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

Anti-LGBTQ+ policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans

  • Written by Nathaniel Tran, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois Chicago
imageCourts across the nation are debating whether LGBTQ+ people should be protected from discrimination.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

In 2024, state legislatures introduced an all-time record of 533 bills targeting LGBTQ+ populations. These policies create a patchwork of legal landscapes that vary widely between and within states, affecting aspects of...

Read more: Anti-LGBTQ+ policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans

How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts

  • Written by Dannagal G. Young, Professor of Communication and Political Science, University of Delaware
imageSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, is part of a 'revolution of common sense' led by President Donald Trump.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It’s “the revolution of common sense,” President Donald Trump announced in his second inaugural address.

And so it is. The latest installment of that assertion came in his Jan. 30, 2025,...

Read more: How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts

AI datasets have human values blind spots − new research

  • Written by Ike Obi, Ph.D. student in Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University
imageNot all human values come through equally in training AIs.RerF/iStock via Getty Images

My colleagues and I at Purdue University have uncovered a significant imbalance in the human values embedded in AI systems. The systems were predominantly oriented toward information and utility values and less toward prosocial, well-being and civic values.

At...

Read more: AI datasets have human values blind spots − new research

US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

  • Written by Alexandra M. Lord, Chair and Curator of Medicine and Science, Smithsonian Institution
imageEggs have been crucial to vaccine production for decades.Bettmann/Getty Images

In recent months, Americans looking for eggs have faced empty shelves in their grocery stores. The escalating threat of avian flu has forced farmers to kill millions of chickens to prevent its spread.

Nearly 70 years ago, Maurice Hilleman, an expert in influenza, also...

Read more: US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading...

Trump’s offshore wind energy freeze: What states lose if the executive order remains in place

  • Written by Barbara Kates-Garnick, Professor of Practice in Energy Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
imageThe offshore wind industry brings jobs and economic development.AP Photo/Seth Wenig

A single wind turbine spinning off the U.S. Northeast coast today can power thousands of homes – without the pollution that comes from fossil fuel power plants. A dozen of those turbines together can produce enough electricity for an entire community.

The...

Read more: Trump’s offshore wind energy freeze: What states lose if the executive order remains in place

What Los Angeles-area schools can learn from other districts devastated by natural disasters

  • Written by Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, Clinical Assistant Professor of Education, Health and Behavior Studies, University of North Dakota
imageEliot Arts Magnet Middle School burned when the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena, Calif., in January 2025.JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images

As Los Angeles County students begin returning to school after wildfires devastated the region, it’s worth examining how other U.S. educational systems disrupted by natural disasters have moved forward.

M...

Read more: What Los Angeles-area schools can learn from other districts devastated by natural disasters

5 Super Bowl commercials that deserve places in the advertising hall of shame

  • Written by Matthew Pittman, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Tennessee
imageA true advertising face-plant happens when a commercial is both tone-deaf and completely forgettable.spxChrome/iStock via Getty Images

What makes something a flop?

Not the kind of flop that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is prone to do, but a flop in the world of advertising?

Brands airing Super Bowl ads have a lot riding on their...

Read more: 5 Super Bowl commercials that deserve places in the advertising hall of shame

More Articles ...

  1. The Eagles and Chiefs have already made Philadelphia and Kansas City economic winners
  2. Religious freedom is routinely curbed in Central Asia – but you won’t often see it making international news
  3. Palestinians have long resisted resettlement – Trump’s plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza won’t change that
  4. After he reached the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick’s racial justice protests helped expose US views toward sports activism
  5. This Valentine’s Day, try loving-kindness meditation
  6. Friendship, a covenant, romance – no matter what you call it, David’s love for Jonathan is one of the Bible’s most beautiful
  7. Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space
  8. Why Trump’s rage defies historical and literary comparisons, according to a classics expert
  9. Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook
  10. Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival
  11. Water is the other US-Mexico border crisis, and the supply crunch is getting worse
  12. As Trump tries to slash US foreign aid, here are 3 common myths many Americans mistakenly believe about it
  13. Trump’s opening tariff salvo will hurt US consumers − following through on Canada, Mexico threats will increase the price pain
  14. Trump’s tariff gambit: As allies prepare to strike back, a costly trade war looms
  15. Who are immigrants to the US, where do they come from and where do they live?
  16. What the ‘moral distress’ of doctors tells us about eroding trust in health care
  17. Some viruses prefer mosquitoes to humans, but people get sick anyway − a virologist and entomologist explain why
  18. Smart brands rein in ad spending when a rival faces a setback − here’s why
  19. Hunger rises as food aid falls – and those living under autocratic systems bear the brunt
  20. Why are rubies red and emeralds green? Their colors come from the same metal in their atomic structure
  21. I’m a sports psychologist and diehard Eagles fan – here’s the behavioral science behind a Super Bowl LIX win
  22. I’m a sports psychologist and diehard Eagles fan - here’s the behavioral science behind a Super Bowl LIX win
  23. Musk’s inauguration salute is not the only apparent fascist signal from Trump’s administration
  24. President Trump may think he is President Jackson reincarnated − but there are lessons in Old Hickory’s resistance to sycophants
  25. 3 ways the Trump administration could reinvest in rural America’s future
  26. 3 ways the Trump administration could reinvest in rural America’s future, starting with health care
  27. Trump’s Project 2025 agenda caps decades-long resistance to 20th century progressive reform
  28. Trump’s tariff threats fit a growing global phenomenon: hardball migration diplomacy
  29. Drought can hit almost anywhere: How 5 cities that nearly ran dry got water use under control
  30. Fossil shark teeth are abundant and can date the past in a unique way
  31. Rare portraits reveal the humanity of the slaves who revolted on the Amistad
  32. Your environment affects how well your medications work − identifying exactly how could make medicine better
  33. Where does black fall on the color spectrum? A color scientist explains
  34. The Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender and passing as white
  35. Bogus scientific papers are enriching fraudsters and slowing lifesaving medical research
  36. Property and sovereignty in space − as countries and companies take to the stars, they could run into disputes
  37. Can a charter school be religious? The Supreme Court decision about St. Isidore, a Catholic school in Oklahoma, could redraw lines around church and state in education
  38. AI gives nonprogrammers a boost in writing computer code
  39. Teens on social media: Red, blue and purple states are all passing laws to restrict and protect adolescents
  40. Nonprofits that provide shelter for homeless people, disaster recovery help, and food for low-income Americans rely heavily on federal funding – they would be reeling if Trump froze that money
  41. From breakbeats to the dance floor: How hip-hop and house revolutionized music and culture
  42. How nonprofits abroad can fill gaps when the US government cuts off foreign aid
  43. Biden targeted the online right-wing terrorism threat − now it’s up to Trump
  44. A federal policy expert weighs in on Trump’s efforts to stifle gender-affirming care for Americans under 19
  45. How satellites and AI help fight wildfires today
  46. Why Trump’s meme coin is a cash grab
  47. Stricter abortion laws may cause increased infant deaths − 2 maternal and child health researchers explain the data
  48. ‘We painted our fear, hope and dreams’ − examining the art and artists of Guantánamo Bay
  49. Gen Z seeks safety above all else as the generation grows up amid constant crisis and existential threat
  50. Philly Whole Foods store becomes first to unionize – a labor expert explains what’s next and how Trump could stall workers’ efforts