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The woman who turned the Met Gala into the biggest party of the year

  • Written by Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, SweAmfo/ASF Research Fellow at USC School of Cinematic Arts | Fulbright Scholar, University of Southern California
imageDiana Vreeland takes a drag from her cigarette as she greets Andy Warhol.Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images

The annual Met Gala in New York City is a dazzling collision of celebrity, fashion and media frenzy.

The event is ostensibly a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which houses a vast collection of...

Read more: The woman who turned the Met Gala into the biggest party of the year

Pandas and politics − from World War II to the Cold War, zoos have always been ideological

  • Written by John M. Kinder, Professor of History and American Studies, Oklahoma State University
imageGiant panda Xiao Qi Ji walks around his enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo in September 2023 in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s sweeping range of more than 130 executive orders and other decisions aim to upend everything from long-standing immigration policy to the control of a performing arts...

Read more: Pandas and politics − from World War II to the Cold War, zoos have always been ideological

The legal limits of Trump’s crackdown on sanctuary cities like Philadelphia

  • Written by Jennifer J. Lee, Associate Professor of Law, Temple University
imageImmigrant rights advocates call on Philadelphia officials to strengthen the city's sanctuary policies at a rally on Dec. 10, 2024. Manuel Vasquez/Juntos, CC BY-NC-SA

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 28, 2025, that demands the U.S. attorney general, in coordination with the secretary of Homeland Security, publish a list of...

Read more: The legal limits of Trump’s crackdown on sanctuary cities like Philadelphia

Trump seeks to reshape how schools discipline students

  • Written by F. Chris Curran, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Florida
imageSchool discipline has evolved over the years.Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images

The Trump administration is trying to reshape how schools discipline students – and alter the federal government’s role in the process.

On April 23, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suggesting schools have been using...

Read more: Trump seeks to reshape how schools discipline students

In the $250B influencer industry, being a hater can be the only way to rein in bad behavior

  • Written by Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of Alabama
imageInfluencer Alix Earle, a self-described 'hot mess,' has legions of online haters.Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Revolve

Since 2020, content creator Remi Bader had accumulated millions of TikTok followers by offering her opinions on the fits of popular clothing brands as a plus-size woman.

In 2023, however, Bader appeared noticeably thinner. When some...

Read more: In the $250B influencer industry, being a hater can be the only way to rein in bad behavior

From the Chinese Exclusion Act to pro-Palestinian activists: The evolution of politically motivated deportations

  • Written by Rick Baldoz, Associate Professor of American Studies, Brown University
imageNew York Tribune of Jan. 3, 1920, announcing massive roundups of 'aliens' deemed to be 'Reds.'Library of Congress

The recent deportation orders targeting foreign students in the U.S. have prompted a heated debate about the legality of these actions. The Trump administration made no secret that many individuals were facing removal because of their...

Read more: From the Chinese Exclusion Act to pro-Palestinian activists: The evolution of politically...

AI is giving a boost to efforts to monitor health via radar

  • Written by Chandler Bauder, Electronics Engineer, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
imageAI-powered radar could enable contactless health monitoring in the home.Chandler Bauder

If you wanted to check someone’s pulse from across the room, for example to remotely monitor an elderly relative, how could you do it? You might think it’s impossible, because common health-monitoring devices such as fingertip pulse oximeters and...

Read more: AI is giving a boost to efforts to monitor health via radar

Forensics tool ‘reanimates’ the ‘brains’ of AIs that fail in order to understand what went wrong

  • Written by David Oygenblik, Ph.D. Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageTesla crashes are only the most glaring of AI failures.South Jordan Police Department via APPEAR

From drones delivering medical supplies to digital assistants performing everyday tasks, AI-powered systems are becoming increasingly embedded in everyday life. The creators of these innovations promise transformative benefits. For some people,...

Read more: Forensics tool ‘reanimates’ the ‘brains’ of AIs that fail in order to understand what went wrong

What is a downburst? These winds can be as destructive as tornadoes − we recreate them to test building designs

  • Written by Amal Elawady, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University
imageA downburst blasts Bangkok, Thailand, in 2017.Natapat Ariyamongkol/iStock/Getty Images Plus

From a distance, a downburst can look like a torrent of heavy rain. But at ground level, its behavior can be far more destructive.

When a downburst’s winds hit the ground, they shoot out horizontally in all directions, sometimes with enough force to...

Read more: What is a downburst? These winds can be as destructive as tornadoes − we recreate them to test...

How rising wages for construction workers are shifting the foundations of the housing market

  • Written by Bahaa Chammout, Kummer I&E PhD Fellow in Civil Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Construction costs have surged in recent years, pushing homeownership further out of reach for many Americans. But this isn’t a new concern: In 1978, the U.S. Government Accountability Office warned that rising costs were threatening the American dream – at a time when the median home price was just US$44,300, less than three times the...

Read more: How rising wages for construction workers are shifting the foundations of the housing market

More Articles ...

  1. Bees, fish and plants show how climate change’s accelerating pace is disrupting nature in 2 key ways
  2. How a reading group helped young German students defy the Nazis and find their faith
  3. ‘Agreeing to disagree’ is hurting your relationships – here’s what to do instead
  4. Young bats learn to be discriminating when listening for their next meal
  5. RFK Jr. said many autistic people will never write a poem − even though there’s a rich history of neurodivergent poets and writers
  6. Whooping cough is making a comeback, but the vaccine provides powerful protection
  7. No whistleblower is an island – why networks of allies are key to exposing corruption
  8. From cats and dogs to penguins and llamas, treating animals with acupuncture has become mainstream in veterinary medicine
  9. The ‘sacramental shame’ many LGBTQ+ conservative Christians wrestle with – and how they find healing
  10. Almost Zion: Remembering a short-lived Jewish state in New York
  11. Spider-Man’s lessons for us all on the responsibility to use our power, great or small, to do good
  12. Disinformation and other forms of ‘sharp power’ now sit alongside the ‘hard power’ of tanks and ‘soft power’ of ideas in policy handbook
  13. Florida panthers and black bears need a literal path for survival – here’s how the Florida Wildlife Corridor provides it in one of the fastest-growing US states
  14. How Trump promotes a radical, unscientific theory about sex and gender in the name of opposing ‘gender ideology extremism’
  15. Trump’s first 100 days show him dictating the terms of press coverage − following Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán’s playbook for media control
  16. 50 years later, Vietnam’s environment still bears the scars of war – and signals a dark future for Gaza and Ukraine
  17. Trump administration’s attempt to nix the labor rights of thousands of federal workers on ‘national security’ grounds furthers the GOP’s long-held anti-union agenda
  18. Bureaucrats get a bad rap, but they deserve more credit − a sociologist of work explains why
  19. Italy’s Meloni is positioning herself as bridge between EU and Trump – but will it work?
  20. Pope Francis filled the College of Cardinals with a diverse group of men – and they’ll be picking his successor
  21. Granular systems, such as sandpiles or rockslides, are all around you − new research will help scientists describe how they work
  22. Cancer research in the US is world class because of its broad base of funding − with the government pulling out, its future is uncertain
  23. Detroit’s lack of affordable housing pushes families to the edge - and children sometime pay the price
  24. How does soap keep you clean? A chemist explains the science of soap
  25. Tensions over Kashmir and a warming planet have placed the Indus Waters Treaty on life support
  26. In talking with Tehran, Trump is reversing course on Iran – could a new nuclear deal be next?
  27. Colors are objective, according to two philosophers − even though the blue you see doesn’t match what I see
  28. Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains what caused this shift
  29. ‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence scientists need to claim discoveries like extraterrestrial life
  30. Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with humanities funding that benefits everyday Americans
  31. Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in agriculture workers, new study shows
  32. Japanese women have long sacrificed their surnames in marriage − politics and demographics might change that
  33. ‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held up for more than 400 years
  34. Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making progress
  35. These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk
  36. Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it
  37. Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence
  38. Pope Francis’ death right after Easter sounds miraculous – but patients and caregivers often work together to delay dying
  39. US colleges and universities have billions stashed away in endowments − a higher ed finance expert explains what they are
  40. Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful
  41. Alaska, rich in petroleum, faces an energy shortage
  42. How do children learn to read? This literacy expert says ‘there are as many ways as there are students’
  43. The hidden history of Philadelphia’s window-box gardens and their role in urban reform
  44. Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war
  45. From Doing Business to B-READY: World Bank’s new rankings represent a rebrand, not a revamp
  46. Justice Department lawyers work for justice and the Constitution – not the White House
  47. 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
  48. US universities lose millions of dollars chasing patents, research shows
  49. From help to harm: How the government is quietly repurposing everyone’s data for surveillance
  50. Trump administration pauses new mine safety regulation − here’s how those rules benefit companies as well as workers