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How America courted increasingly destructive wildfires − and what that means for protecting homes today

  • Written by Justin Angle, Professor of Marketing, University of Montana
imageThe Palisades Fire spreads near homes amid a powerful windstorm on Jan. 7, 2025.Mario Tama/Getty Images

The fires burning in the Los Angeles area are a powerful example of why humans have learned to fear wildfire. Fires can level entire neighborhoods in an instant. They can destroy communities, torch pristine forests and choke even faraway cities wi...

Read more: How America courted increasingly destructive wildfires − and what that means for protecting homes...

Bird flu flares up again in Michigan poultry – an infectious disease expert explains the risk to humans, chickens, cows and other animals

  • Written by Kimberly Dodd, Dean of College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University
imageThe H5N1 virus has been found in poultry and cattle farms across southwest and central Michigan. Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images

After a relatively quiet fall, there’s been another spike in cases of bird flu in Michigan.

When state officials announced on Dec. 16, 2024, that bird flu had been found in another poultry facility in Ottawa...

Read more: Bird flu flares up again in Michigan poultry – an infectious disease expert explains the risk to...

Community savings groups in Uganda are good stewards of local people’s money – and of outsiders’ funds too, research shows

  • Written by Danice Brown Guzmán, Associate Director of Evidence and Learning, Pulte Institute for Global Development, University of Notre Dame
imageIn remote areas of Uganda, getting to a bank can be difficult if not impossible.Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images

Imagine being unable to borrow money for basic needs or emergencies because the bank is too far away or demands collateral or identification that you can’t provide. For millions of rural people living in poverty around the world, this is...

Read more: Community savings groups in Uganda are good stewards of local people’s money – and of outsiders’...

This course examines Israeli school division to better understand education policy – and society – in the US

  • Written by Ayala Hendin, Postdoctoral fellow in Israel studies, Washington University in St. Louis
imageTeachers Alia Hussein, left, and Efrat Toval give a lesson on identity, in Hebrew and Arabic, to third grade students in the Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem. Craig Stennett/Getty Images

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

Title of course:

Education in a divided...

Read more: This course examines Israeli school division to better understand education policy – and society –...

The Gilded Age novel that helps explain our fascination with Luigi Mangione

  • Written by Max Chapnick, Research Fellow, Boston University
imageThe mystery of human choices, even when circumstances are known, occupied writers like Henry James.Gene J. Puskar/Getty Images

A good-looking young man with a mysterious past carries a loaded gun, ready to kill, on the streets of the world’s financial capital.

This scene not only describes Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of United...

Read more: The Gilded Age novel that helps explain our fascination with Luigi Mangione

Bezos’ Blue Origin has successfully launched its New Glenn rocket to orbit − a feat 15 years in the making

  • Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air University
imageBlue Origin's New Glenn rocket stands ready on the launchpad. Anadolu/Contributor/Anadolu via Getty Images

Just past 2 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, a new rocket blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. By reaching orbit, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch has marked a milestone for a commercial space...

Read more: Bezos’ Blue Origin has successfully launched its New Glenn rocket to orbit − a feat 15 years in...

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy provides in-house science advice for the president

  • Written by Kenneth Evans, Scholar in Science and Technology Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
imageThe president's science adviser has executive privilege and is also responsible to Congress.Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Presidents need science advice. From climate change and pandemics to the governance of AI and the country’s nuclear arsenal, science sits at the center of a range of foreign and domestic policy challenges that...

Read more: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy provides in-house science advice for the...

Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal: Why now and what next?

  • Written by Asher Kaufman, Professor of History and Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
imageDemonstrators in Tel Aviv call on the Israeli government to secure the release of the hostages during a Jan. 15, 2025, protest.Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

A much-anticipated Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal is expected to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025 – subject to a delayed Israeli government vote on the package originally scheduled for...

Read more: Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal: Why now and what next?

Biden’s move to remove Cuba from terror list continues ‘yo-yo’ policy likely to be reversed by Trump

  • Written by Jason M. Blazakis, Professor of Practice and Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury
imageCould removing Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism alleviate the plight of the impoverished nation?Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration has signaled to Congress its intention to remove Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

But here’s the twist: The move will only become legal upon the...

Read more: Biden’s move to remove Cuba from terror list continues ‘yo-yo’ policy likely to be reversed by Trump

LA fires: Harm from long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is poorly understood − and it’s a growing risk

  • Written by Luke Montrose, Assistant Professor of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University
imageResidents watch as a home burns in Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2025.AP Photo/Ethan Swope

Millions of people across the Los Angeles area are being exposed to wildfire smoke as fires burn through homes and vehicles. The fires in January 2025 have burned thousands of structures, along with the building materials, furniture, paints, plastics and...

Read more: LA fires: Harm from long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is poorly understood − and it’s a growing...

More Articles ...

  1. LA fires: Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is a growing health risk, and not well understood
  2. Universities are mapping where local news outlets are still thriving − and where gaps persist
  3. A national, nonpartisan study of the Los Angeles fires could improve planning for future disasters
  4. Meta shift from fact-checking to crowdsourcing spotlights competing approaches in fight against misinformation and hate speech
  5. Joe Biden’s record on science and tech: Investments and regulation for vaccines, broadband, microchips and AI
  6. Insurance for natural disasters is failing homeowners − I don’t have the answers, but I do know the right questions to ask
  7. Kamala Harris memes questioning her cultural background highlight Americans’ contradictions with race
  8. In eyeing Greenland, Trump is echoing long-held American designs on the Arctic expanse
  9. Catholic cardinals play a key role in secular politics as well as the Catholic Church–and the importance of Pope Francis’ choice to head the church in DC
  10. Spending, regulations and DOGE: Office of Management and Budget director plays vital role helping government get stuff done
  11. This class uses museums to show law students the high art of curating ideas
  12. My beautiful ‘practicing’ Christians: As churchgoers’ numbers shrink, their social views grow more similar
  13. Rents rise faster after disasters, but a federal program can help restrain excesses
  14. How the CIA director helps the US navigate a world of spies, threats and geopolitical turbulence
  15. Terrorist groups respond to verbal attacks and slights by governments with more violence against civilians
  16. We study aging family business incumbents who refuse to let go − here’s why the 2024 race felt familiar
  17. 4 reasons why the US might want to buy Greenland – if it were for sale, which it isn’t
  18. What’s an H-1B visa? A brief history of the controversial program for skilled foreign workers
  19. Job of homeland security secretary is to adapt almost continuously to pressures from the department, the public and the world at large
  20. The power of friendship: How a letter helped create an American bestseller about antisemitism
  21. Vaccine hesitancy among pet owners is growing – a public health expert explains why that matters
  22. A brief history of presidential inaugural speeches, from George Washington to today
  23. Larry Krasner, Kensington, the scrapped Sixers arena − and other key concerns that will shape Philly politics in 2025
  24. Lightning strikes make collecting a parasitic fungus prized in traditional Chinese medicine a deadly pursuit
  25. LA fires: Why fast wildfires and those started by human activities are more destructive and harder to contain
  26. LA fires: Why fast-moving wildfires and those started by human activities are more destructive and harder to contain
  27. US secretary of state has an expansive job that could make or break peace deals and key foreign alliances
  28. When presidents would send handwritten lists of their nominees to the Senate, things were a lot different
  29. Firefighting planes are dumping ocean water on the Los Angeles fires − why using saltwater is typically a last resort
  30. Mass deportations don’t keep out ‘bad genes’ − they use scientific racism to justify biased immigration policies
  31. From Myanmar to Gaza, Ukraine to Sudan – 2024 was another grim year, according to our mass atrocity index
  32. One way Trump could help revive rural America’s economies
  33. Is capitalism falling out of favor? We analyzed 400,000 news stories to find out
  34. Trump’s canal canard obscures a truth: Panama just wants to run its shipping passage without interference from China or the US
  35. What the dead, the uncanny and the monstrous tell us about human nature
  36. Why does a rocket have to go 25,000 mph to escape Earth?
  37. From watts to warheads: Secretary of energy oversees big science research and the US nuclear arsenal
  38. Secretary of defense must perform a ‘delicate dance’ between the president, Congress and the public
  39. Wildfires can contaminate drinking water systems with harmful chemicals − here’s what Los Angeles needs to know
  40. Philly sports fans consider themselves ‘gritty’ − but it’s merely a myth used to fuel their passion
  41. An eye for an eye: People agree about the values of body parts across cultures and eras
  42. How the EPA administrator protects public health, air, water and the environment
  43. With more Americans able to access legalized marijuana, fewer are picking up prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications – new research
  44. Even 1 drink a day elevates your cancer risk – an expert on how alcohol affects the body breaks down a new government report
  45. Funding public schools based on enrollment in the previous year may help keep their budgets more stable, research shows
  46. Many ‘impact investors’ aren’t fully tracking whether their investments are good for society or the environment − new research
  47. From anecdotes to AI tools, how doctors make medical decisions is evolving with technology
  48. Southern California is extremely dry, and that’s fueling fires − maps show just how dry
  49. Trump gets an ‘unconditional discharge’ in hush money conviction − a constitutional law expert explains what that means
  50. Wildfire smoke inside homes can create health risks that linger for months − tips for cleaning and staying safe