The Conversation

Storm damage costs are often a mystery – that’s a problem for understanding extreme weather risk

Written by John Nielsen-Gammon, Regents Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University

Hail can be destructive, yet the cost of the damage often isn't publicly tracked.NOAA/NSSL

On Jan. 5, 2025, at about 2:35 in the afternoon, the first severe hailstorm of the season dropped quarter-size hail in Chatham, Mississippi. According to the federal storm events database, there were no injuries, but it caused $10,000 in property damage.

How...

Supreme Court changes the game on federal environmental reviews

Written by J.B. Ruhl, Professor of Law, Director, Program on Law and Innovation, and Co-director, Energy, Environment and Land Use Program, Vanderbilt University

A pumpjack in eastern Utah extracts oil from underground.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Getting federal approval for permits to build bridges, wind farms, highways and other major infrastructure projects has long been a complicated and time-consuming process. Despite growing calls from both parties for Congress and federal agencies to reform that process,...

Uncertainty at NASA − Trump withdraws his nominee for administrator while the agency faces a steep proposed budget cut

Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air University

The vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Over the past several days, NASA’s ambitious space exploration plans have experienced major setbacks. First, on May 30, 2025, newly released budget documents revealed the extent of the significant budget and personnel cuts proposed by...

We asked over 8,700 people in 6 countries to think about future generations in decision-making, and this is what we found

Written by Stylianos Syropoulos, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University

Shifting the public's perspective toward greater concern for future generations could result in more support for climate change policies, among others.Artur Debat/Moment via Getty Images

People often prioritize the well-being of family, friends and neighbors, as they feel a closeness emotionally and share the same temporal context. But they...

Peace has long been elusive in rural Colombia – Black women’s community groups try to bring it closer each day

Written by Tania Lizarazo, Associate Professor of Latin American Studies and Global Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Local activists known as 'comisionadas' pose with women from Tanguí, Chocó, Colombia, at the end of a workshop in 2013.Tania Lizarazo

It’s been almost nine years since Colombia celebrated a landmark peace agreement between one guerrilla group and the government, and three years since President Gustavo Petro vowed “total...

A bottlenose dolphin? Or Tursiops truncatus? Why biologists give organisms those strange, unpronounceable names

Written by Nicholas Green, Assistant Professor of Biology, Kennesaw State University

The system of scientific naming began in the 1700s.Westend61 via Getty Images

Most people would call it a “field mouse,” but a scientist would ask, “Was it Peromyscus maniculatus? Or Peromyscus leucopus?”

Scientists use a system of complicated-sounding names to refer to everyday creatures, a practice heavily lampooned in the...

It’s miller moth season in Colorado – an entomologist explains why they’re important and where they’re headed

Written by Ryan St Laurent, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Colorado Boulder

It is spring on the Front Range of Colorado, which means before long the region will receive an influx of many, many moths.

Colorado is home to thousands of species of moths, many of which are hatching out from a winter of hibernation, known as diapause.

Moths are known to swarm porch, stadium and street lights at night. Each summer, Denver is...

The Michelin Guide is Eurocentric and elitist − yet it will soon be an arbiter of culinary excellence in Philly

Written by Tulasi Srinivas, Professor of Anthropology, Religion and Transnational Studies, Emerson College

Could a Philly cheesesteak joint actually get a Michelin star?

The famed Michelin Red Guide is coming to Philadelphia, and inspectors are already scouting local restaurants to award the famed Michelin star.

Michelin says the selected restaurants will be announced in a Northeast cities edition celebration later this year. Boston will also be included...

Is methylene blue really a brain booster? A pharmacologist explains the science

Written by Lorne J. Hofseth, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina

This vibrantly colored chemical was originally created for use as a fabric dye.Kittisak Kaewchalun via iStock/Getty Images Plus

The internet is abuzz with tributes to a liquid chemical called methylene blue that is being sold as a health supplement.

Over the past five or 10 years, methylene blue has come to be touted online as a so-called nootropic...

Autocrats don’t act like Hitler or Stalin anymore − instead of governing with violence, they use manipulation

Written by Daniel Treisman, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles

Autocrats today tend to govern by manipulation of the public, among other tactics, rather than solely using violence. Nanzeeba Ibnat/iStock/Getty Images Plus

President Donald Trump’s critics often accuse him of harboring authoritarian ambitions. Journalists and scholars have drawn parallels between his leadership style and that of strongmen...