NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

The Conversation

The AI therapist will see you now: Can chatbots really improve mental health?

  • Written by Pooja Shree Chettiar, Ph.D. Candidate in Medical Sciences, Texas A&M University
imageChatbot 'therapists' use artificial intelligence to mimic real-life therapeutic conversations.Pooja Shree Chettiar/ChatGPT, CC BY-SA

Recently, I found myself pouring my heart out, not to a human, but to a chatbot named Wysa on my phone. It nodded – virtually – asked me how I was feeling and gently suggested trying breathing exercises.

As...

Read more: The AI therapist will see you now: Can chatbots really improve mental health?

Wildfire smoke can make your outdoor workout hazardous to your health – an exercise scientist explains how to gauge the risk

  • Written by John C. Quindry, Professor of Integrative Physiology and Athletic Training, University of Montana
imageAir pollution from wildfire smoke can worsen heart and lung disease. helivideo/iStock via Getty Images Plus

As the summer’s sunny days take hold, many people turn to outdoor exercise.

But in parts of North America, pleasant weather often aligns with wildfire season. As summers get drier, both the frequency and the intensity of wildfires have...

Read more: Wildfire smoke can make your outdoor workout hazardous to your health – an exercise scientist...

Why recycling solar panels is harder than you might think − an electrical engineer explains

  • Written by Anurag Srivastava, Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University
imageBroken and worn-out solar panels can be recycled, but it's not easy.Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

It’s hard work soaking up sunlight to generate clean electricity. After about 25 to 30 years, solar panels wear out. Over the years, heating and cooling cycles stress the materials. Small cracks develop, precipitation corrodes...

Read more: Why recycling solar panels is harder than you might think − an electrical engineer explains

How weather changes cause migraines – a neurologist explains the triggers and what you can do to ease the pain

  • Written by Danielle Wilhour, Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
imageMigraines can be debilitating – and frustrating when triggered by weather you can't control.fizkes/iStock/Getty Images Plus

“Is it just me, or is there a storm coming?”

If you are one of the 39 million Americans in the U.S. living with migraines, there’s a good chance an intense headache will begin when the weather shifts.

You...

Read more: How weather changes cause migraines – a neurologist explains the triggers and what you can do to...

Dune patterns in California desert hold clues that help researchers map Mars’ shifting sands

  • Written by Lauren Berger, Ph.D. Student in Geology, Texas A&M University
imageThe author did some of her fieldwork at the Algodones Dunes in California.Ryan Ewing

Our two-person team loaded the car with a GPS, a drone, notebooks, sample bags, a trowel and a flat spatula lovingly called a scoopula. Then we drove 30 minutes in our rented truck from Yuma, Arizona, to the Algodones Dunes, a sandy field bordering California,...

Read more: Dune patterns in California desert hold clues that help researchers map Mars’ shifting sands

Jimmy Swaggart’s rise and fall shaped the landscape of American televangelism

  • Written by Diane Winston, Professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
imageRev. Jimmy Swaggart preaches at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on March 29, 1987. AP Photo/Mark Avery, file

Jimmy Swaggart, one of the most popular and enduring of the 1980s televangelists, died on July 1, 2025, but his legacy lives.

Along with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, he drew an audience in the millions, amassed a personal fortune an...

Read more: Jimmy Swaggart’s rise and fall shaped the landscape of American televangelism

That $20 dress direct from China now costs $30 after Trump closed a tariff loophole – and the US will soon end the ‘de minimis’ exemption for the rest of the world, too

  • Written by Vivek Astvansh, Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics, McGill University

Fast fashion got a lot pricier for Americans this spring – and it’ll likely get even more expensive in 2027.

That’s because the Trump administration has been rolling back a little-known feature of U.S. customs law that for years had allowed retailers to ship packages duty-free to U.S. shoppers – as long as each shipment was...

Read more: That $20 dress direct from China now costs $30 after Trump closed a tariff loophole – and the US...

A weakened Iran and Hezbollah gives Lebanon an opening to chart path away from the region’s conflicts − will it be enough?

  • Written by Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Francophone and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College. Adjunct Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law., Dickinson College
imageThe national Lebanese flag hangs on a building amid a Hezbollah demonstration in the southern suburbs of Beirut on July 6, 2025. Photo by Nael Chahine / Middle East Images via AFP

After a 12-day war launched by Israel and joined briefly by the United States, Iran has emerged weakened and vulnerable. And that has massive implications for another...

Read more: A weakened Iran and Hezbollah gives Lebanon an opening to chart path away from the region’s...

AI and art collide in this engineering course that puts human creativity first

  • Written by Francesco Fedele, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageA Georgia Tech University course links art and artificial intelligence.Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

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

Title of course:

Art and Generative AI

What prompted the idea for the course?

I see many students viewing artificial...

Read more: AI and art collide in this engineering course that puts human creativity first

My city was one of hundreds expecting federal funds to help manage rising heat wave risk – then EPA terminated the grants

  • Written by Brian G. Henning, Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies and Science, Gonzaga University
imageThe Pacific Northwest heat wave of 2021 left cities across Washington state sweltering in dangerous temperatures.AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

In June 2021, a deadly heat wave pushed temperatures to 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in Spokane, Washington, a northern city near the Idaho border where many homes weren’t built with central air...

Read more: My city was one of hundreds expecting federal funds to help manage rising heat wave risk – then...

More Articles ...

  1. Trump administration’s lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities
  2. ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will have Americans paying higher prices for dirtier energy
  3. Exploring questions of meaning, ethics and belief through Japanese anime
  4. How the Catholic Church helped change the conversation about capital punishment in the United States
  5. How Philadelphia’s current sanitation strike differs from past labor disputes in the city
  6. How Philadelphia’s sanitation strike differed from past labor disputes in the city
  7. Scientific norms shape the behavior of researchers working for the greater good
  8. How slashing university research grants impacts Colorado’s economy and national innovation – a CU Boulder administrator explains
  9. 3 basic ingredients, a million possibilities: How small pizzerias succeed with uniqueness in an age of chain restaurants
  10. The aftermath of floods, hurricanes and other disasters can be hardest on older rural Americans – here’s how families and neighbors can help
  11. What is the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate’ and how is it linked to political extremism in the US?
  12. President Trump’s tug-of-war with the courts, explained
  13. Your data privacy is slipping away – here’s why, and what you can do about it
  14. Higher ed’s relationship with marriage? It’s complicated – and depends on age
  15. Turbulent research landscape imperils US brain gain − and ultimately American prosperity
  16. Misinformation lends itself to social contagion – here’s how to recognize and combat it
  17. Social media can support or undermine democracy – it comes down to how it’s designed
  18. Nations are increasingly ‘playing the field’ when it comes to US and China – a new book explains explains why ‘active nonalignment’ is on the march
  19. Thailand’s judiciary is flexing its muscles, but away from PM’s plight, dozens of activists are at the mercy of capricious courts
  20. From Seattle to Atlanta, new social housing programs seek to make homes permanently affordable for a range of incomes
  21. Are people at the South Pole upside down?
  22. Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package
  23. ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food
  24. Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed more than 120 people, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding
  25. Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed dozens, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding
  26. Conservatives notch 2 victories in their fight to deny Planned Parenthood federal funding through Medicaid
  27. One ‘big, beautiful’ reason why Republicans in Congress just can’t quit Donald Trump
  28. Astronomers have discovered another puzzling interstellar object − this third one is big, bright and fast
  29. War, politics and religion shape wildlife evolution in cities
  30. Military force may have delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions – but history shows that diplomacy is the more effective nonproliferation strategy
  31. Capitalism and democracy are weakening – reviving the idea of ‘calling’ can help to repair them
  32. What MAGA means to Americans
  33. From glass and steel to rare earth metals, new materials have changed society throughout history
  34. Philadelphians with mental illness want to work, pray, date and socialize just like everyone else – here’s how creating more inclusive communities is good for public health
  35. Speedballing – the deadly mix of stimulants and opioids – requires a new approach to prevention and treatment
  36. Employers are failing to insure the working class – Medicaid cuts would leave them even more vulnerable
  37. Employers are failing to insure the working class – Medicaid cuts will leave them even more vulnerable
  38. Parents who oppose sex education in schools often don’t discuss it at home
  39. Hurricane forecasters are losing 3 key satellites ahead of peak storm season − a meteorologist explains why it matters
  40. The Supreme Court upholds free preventive care, but its future now rests in RFK Jr.’s hands
  41. What damage did the US do to Iran’s nuclear program? Why it’s so hard to know
  42. The rule of law is key to capitalism − eroding it is bad news for American business
  43. Legal wrangling over estate of Jimmy Buffett turns his widow’s huge inheritance into a cautionary tale
  44. AI is advancing even faster than sci-fi visionaries like Neal Stephenson imagined
  45. Despite claims they’d move overseas after the election, most Americans are staying put
  46. Philadelphia’s $2B affordable housing plan relies heavily on municipal bonds, which can come with hidden costs for taxpayers
  47. Humans and animals can both think logically − but testing what kind of logic they’re using is tricky
  48. Mexican flags flown during immigration protests bother white people a lot more than other Americans
  49. Keeping brain-dead pregnant women on life support raises ethical issues that go beyond abortion politics
  50. In LGBTQ+ storybook case, Supreme Court handed a win to parental rights, raising tough questions for educators