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Light pollution is encroaching on observatories around the globe – making it harder for astronomers to study the cosmos

  • Written by Richard Green, Astronomer Emeritus, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
imageLight pollution from human activity can threaten radio astronomy – and people's view of the night sky. Estellez/iStock via Getty Images

Outdoor lighting for buildings, roads and advertising can help people see in the dark of night, but many astronomers are growing increasingly concerned that these lights could be blinding us to the rest of...

Read more: Light pollution is encroaching on observatories around the globe – making it harder for...

It is becoming easier to create AI avatars of the deceased − here is why Buddhism would caution against it

  • Written by Elaine Lai, Lecturer in Civic, Liberal, and Global Education, Stanford University
imageA grief-stricken woman, Kisa Gautami, pleads with the Buddha to resurrect her dead child.Anandajoti Bhikkhu via Flickr

In a story in the Buddhist canon, a grief-stricken mother named Kisa Gautami loses her only child and carries the body around town, searching for some way to resurrect the child.

When she encounters the Buddha, he asks her to...

Read more: It is becoming easier to create AI avatars of the deceased − here is why Buddhism would caution...

How wind and solar power helps keep America’s farms alive

  • Written by Paul Mwebaze, Research Economist at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
imageAbout 60% of Iowa's power comes from wind. Farmers can earn extra cash by leasing small sections of farms for power production.Bill Clark/Getty Images

Drive through the plains of Iowa or Kansas and you’ll see more than rows of corn, wheat and soybeans. You’ll also see towering wind turbines spinning above fields and solar panels shining...

Read more: How wind and solar power helps keep America’s farms alive

Why government support for religion doesn’t necessarily make people more religious

  • Written by Brendan Szendro, Faculty Lecturer in Political Science, McGill University
imageHistory offers plenty of lessons about what happens when governments support faith groups – and it doesn't always help them.cosmonaut/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The IRS will offer religious congregations more freedom to endorse political candidateswithout jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, the agency said in a July 2025 court filing....

Read more: Why government support for religion doesn’t necessarily make people more religious

Colorado’s Marshall Fire survivors find healing and meaning through oral history project

  • Written by Kathryn E. Goldfarb, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder
imageThe Marshall Fire impacted people of all ages. Rebecca Slusar organized her children and their friends in the neighborhood to paint signs of community resilience and thanking first responders. Courtesy of the Louisville Historical Museum

The Colorado Marshall Fire killed two people and destroyed over 1,000 structures on Dec. 30, 2021.

The news cycle...

Read more: Colorado’s Marshall Fire survivors find healing and meaning through oral history project

Due process: What it means in US law and its implications for migrant rights

  • Written by Ray Brescia, Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, Albany Law School
imageA core principle of the U.S. justice system is that the government must act in accordance with the rule of law.arsenisspyros, iStock Getty Images

As the United States edges up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, one of the core principles the founders sought to advance – that the government must act with...

Read more: Due process: What it means in US law and its implications for migrant rights

School shootings leave lasting scars on local economies, research shows

  • Written by Muzeeb Shaik, Assistant Professor, Indiana University
imageA mourner pays tribute to the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.Lisa Wiltse/Corbis via Getty Images

Fatal school shootings don’t just devastate communities emotionally – they also harm their economies, new research shows. People eat out less, avoid public spaces and...

Read more: School shootings leave lasting scars on local economies, research shows

Do you really need to read to learn? What neuroscience says about reading versus listening

  • Written by Stephanie N. Del Tufo, Assistant Professor of Education & Human Development, University of Delaware
imageReading and listening are two different brain functions. Do we need to do both?Goads Agency/E+ 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.

“Do we need to read, or can we just get everything through audio, like...

Read more: Do you really need to read to learn? What neuroscience says about reading versus listening

The beach wasn’t always a vacation destination - for the ancient Greeks, it was a scary place

  • Written by Marie-Claire Beaulieu, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Tufts University
imageIxia Beach, located on the northwestern coast of the Greek island of Rhodes, is a popular destination.Norbert Nagel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Many of us are heading to the beach to bask in the sun and unwind as part of our summer vacations. Research has shown that spending time at the beach can provide immense relaxation for many people....

Read more: The beach wasn’t always a vacation destination - for the ancient Greeks, it was a scary place

Which wildfire smoke plumes are hazardous? New satellite tech can map them in 3D for air quality alerts at neighborhood scale

  • Written by Jun Wang, Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Iowa
imageSmoke from Canadian wildfires prompted air quality alerts in Chicago as it blanketed the city on June 5, 2025.Scott Olson/Getty Images

Canada is facing another dangerous wildfire season, with burning forests sending smoke plumes across the provinces and into the U.S. again. The pace of the 2025 fires is reminiscent of the record-breaking 2023...

Read more: Which wildfire smoke plumes are hazardous? New satellite tech can map them in 3D for air quality...

More Articles ...

  1. Is that wildfire smoke plume hazardous? New satellite tech can map smoke plumes in 3D for better air quality alerts at neighborhood scale
  2. Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with a side of maggots
  3. The 3 worst things you can say after a pet dies, and what to say instead
  4. Fears that falling birth rates in US could lead to population collapse are based on faulty assumptions
  5. Trump’s push for more deportations could boost demand for foreign farmworkers with ‘guest worker’ visas
  6. Deportation tactics from 4 US presidents have done little to reduce the undocumented immigrant population
  7. How bachata rose from Dominican Republic’s brothels and shantytowns to become a global sensation
  8. Columbia’s $200M deal with Trump administration sets a precedent for other universities to bend to the government’s will
  9. We tracked illegal fishing in marine protected areas – satellites and AI show most bans are respected, and could help enforce future ones
  10. Why 2025 became the summer of flash flooding in America
  11. Is ChatGPT making us stupid?
  12. As Mexico’s LGBTQ+ community battles for inclusion, two drag performers have become internet stars – with more than 2 million TikTok followers
  13. Why do MAGA faithful support Trump if his ‘big beautiful bill’ will likely hurt many of them?
  14. Yellowstone has been a ‘sacred wonderland’ of spiritual power and religious activity for centuries – and for different faith groups
  15. Immigration courts hiding the names of ICE lawyers goes against centuries of precedent and legal ethics requiring transparency in courts
  16. Caution in the C-suite: How business leaders are navigating Trump 2.0
  17. How germy is the public pool? An infectious disease expert weighs in on poop, pee and perspiration – and the deceptive smell of chlorine
  18. 2 ways cities can beat the heat: Which is best, urban trees or cool roofs?
  19. Urban trees vs. cool roofs: What’s the best way for cities to beat the heat?
  20. Understanding the violence against Alawites and Druze in Syria after Assad
  21. Binary star systems are complex astronomical objects − a new AI approach could pin down their properties quickly
  22. I teach college and report on Colorado media — there should be more professors doing the same in other states
  23. Trump has fired the head of the Library of Congress, but the 225-year-old institution remains a ‘library for all’ – so far
  24. How the nature of environmental law is changing in defense of the planet and the climate
  25. Beijing’s ‘plausible deniability’ on arms supply is quickly becoming implausible – and could soon extend to Iran
  26. Imaginary athletes: Creating make-believe teammates, competitors and coaches during play
  27. Bangladesh sees small glimmers of economic hope a year after longtime autocrat ousted in people’s revolt
  28. One of the biggest microplastic pollution sources isn’t straws or grocery bags – it’s your tires
  29. What the world can learn from Uruguay as the global housing crisis deepens
  30. Generative AI is coming to the workplace, so I designed a business technology class with AI baked in
  31. Methane leaks from gas pipelines are a hidden source of widespread air pollution
  32. Emil Bove’s appeals court nomination echoes earlier controversies, but with a key difference
  33. PBS and NPR are generally unbiased, independent of government propaganda and provide key benefits to US democracy
  34. Dogs are helping people regulate stress even more than expected, research shows
  35. Amid fragile ceasefire, violence in southern Syria brings Druze communities’ complex cross-border ties to the fore
  36. How mothers supporting mothers can help fill the health care worker shortage gap and other barriers to care
  37. Microbes in deep-sea volcanoes can help scientists learn about early life on Earth, or even life beyond our planet
  38. Comparing ICE to the Gestapo reveals people’s fears for the US – a Holocaust scholar explains why Nazi analogies remain common, yet risky
  39. ‘Democratizing space’ is more than just adding new players – it comes with questions around sustainability and sovereignty
  40. Filipino sailors dock in Mexico … and help invent tequila?
  41. Why is heart cancer so rare? A biologist explains
  42. How the world’s nuclear watchdog monitors facilities around the world – and what it means that Iran kicked it out
  43. How the QAnon movement entered mainstream politics – and why the silence on Epstein files matters
  44. How the ‘big, beautiful bill’ will deepen the racial wealth gap – a law scholar explains how it reduces poor families’ ability to afford food and health care
  45. ‘I just couldn’t stop crying’: How prison affects Black men’s mental health long after they’ve been released
  46. Leaders in India, Hungary and the US are using appeals to nostalgia and nationalism to attack higher education
  47. Florida plan to deputize National Guard officers as immigration judges at Alligator Alcatraz would likely violate constitutional rights
  48. About a third of pregnant women in the US lack sufficient vitamin D to support healthy pregnancies − new research
  49. Can AI think – and should it? What it means to think, from Plato to ChatGPT
  50. Idi Amin made himself out to be the ‘liberator’ of an oppressed majority – a demagogic trick that endures today