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Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains what caused this shift

  • Written by Alexander Lowie, Postdoctoral associate in Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida
imageFlorida has attracted new residents since the pandemic, as well as a growth in conservative politics. iStock / Getty Images Plus

Florida has undergone a dramatic political transformation over the past decade from a swing state to Republican stronghold.

Florida’s recent congressional special election on April 1, 2025, showcased the...

Read more: Florida, once considered a swing state, is firmly Republican – a social anthropologist explains...

‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence scientists need to claim discoveries like extraterrestrial life

  • Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
imageThe universe is filled with countless galaxies, stars and planets. Astronomers may find life one day, but they will need extraordinary proof. ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi

The detection of life beyond Earth would be one of the most profound discoveries in the history of...

Read more: ‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains how much evidence...

Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with humanities funding that benefits everyday Americans

  • Written by Jennifer Tucker, Professor of History, Wesleyan University
imageDonald Trump speaks in front of a wax statue of John Wayne at the John Wayne Museum in Winterset, Iowa, during the 2016 GOP primaries.Al Drago/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images

Donald Trump first came up with his plan for a “National Garden of American Heroes” at the end of his first term, before President Joe Biden quietly tabled it upon...

Read more: Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with...

Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in agriculture workers, new study shows

  • Written by Katherine Ann James, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
imageAgricultural workers exposed to a hotter and drier climate are at an increased risk of kidney damage. George Rose/via Getty Images

Heat and humidity contributed to kidney damage and disease in the San Luis Valley in Colorado between 1984 and 1998, according to our recently published work in the peer-reviewed journal Weather, Climate, and Society.

The...

Read more: Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in...

Japanese women have long sacrificed their surnames in marriage − politics and demographics might change that

  • Written by Linda E. White, Professor of Japanese Studies, Middlebury
imageA record number of female candidates stood in the 2024 Japanese election.Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

For centuries, women entering marriage in Japan have been bound by the Confucian notion of personal sacrifice for the good of the family – and that has extended to their names.

Encouraged by a sexual double standard and shaped by a...

Read more: Japanese women have long sacrificed their surnames in marriage − politics and demographics might...

‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held up for more than 400 years

  • Written by Cora Fox, Associate Professor of English and Health Humanities, Arizona State University
imageJoanna Vanderham as Desdemona and Hugh Quarshie as the title character in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'Othello.'Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images

What is “happiness” – and who gets to be happy?

Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has measured and compared data from 167 countries. The United States currently ranks...

Read more: ‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held...

Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making progress

  • Written by Emmanuel Olugbade, Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
imageHow much charge is left? It can be hard to know for sure.Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images

Lithium-ion batteries are quietly powering large parts of the world, including electric vehicles and smartphones. They have revolutionized how people store and use energy. But as these batteries become more central to daily life, they bring more attention to the...

Read more: Why predicting battery performance is like forecasting traffic − and how researchers are making...

These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk

  • Written by Erika Squires, Assistant Professor, Wayne State University
imageGetting involved when your kids are watching digital media can make it an educational experience, rather than just entertainment.damircudic/E+ via Getty Images

Screen time permeates the lives of toddlers and preschoolers. For many young children, their exposure includes both direct viewing, such as watching a TV show, and indirect viewing, such as...

Read more: These 4 tips can make screen time good for your kids and even help them learn to talk

Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it

  • Written by Daniel Hall, Professor of Justice and Community Studies & Political Science, Miami University
imageFree speech in the U.S. is being curtailed by the Trump administration. Malte Mueller, fStop/Getty Images

Harvard University took the extraordinary step of suing the Trump administration on April 21, 2025, claiming that the pressure campaign mounted on the school by the president and his Cabinet to force viewpoint diversity on campus violated the...

Read more: Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it

Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence

  • Written by Tim Weninger, Collegiate Proessor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame
imageAI tools reveal how images have been manipulated.William Theisen et al.

Imagine a country with deep political divisions, where different groups don’t trust each other and violence seems likely. Now, imagine a flood of political images, hateful memes and mocking videos from domestic and foreign sources taking over social media. What is likely...

Read more: Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political...

More Articles ...

  1. Pope Francis’ death right after Easter sounds miraculous – but patients and caregivers often work together to delay dying
  2. US colleges and universities have billions stashed away in endowments − a higher ed finance expert explains what they are
  3. Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful
  4. Alaska, rich in petroleum, faces an energy shortage
  5. How do children learn to read? This literacy expert says ‘there are as many ways as there are students’
  6. The hidden history of Philadelphia’s window-box gardens and their role in urban reform
  7. Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war
  8. From Doing Business to B-READY: World Bank’s new rankings represent a rebrand, not a revamp
  9. Justice Department lawyers work for justice and the Constitution – not the White House
  10. 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
  11. US universities lose millions of dollars chasing patents, research shows
  12. From help to harm: How the government is quietly repurposing everyone’s data for surveillance
  13. Trump administration pauses new mine safety regulation − here’s how those rules benefit companies as well as workers
  14. Controlled burns reduce wildfire risk, but they require trained staff and funding − this could be a rough year
  15. Stripping federal protection for clean water harms just about everyone, especially already vulnerable communities
  16. I study local government and Hurricane Helene forced me from my home − here’s how rural towns and counties in North Carolina and beyond cooperate to rebuild
  17. A warning for Democrats from the Gilded Age and the 1896 election
  18. Habeas corpus: A thousand-year-old legal principle for defending rights that’s getting a workout under the Trump administration
  19. Reducing diversity, equity and inclusion to a catchphrase undermines its true purpose
  20. Perfect brownies baked at high altitude are possible thanks to Colorado’s home economics pioneer Inga Allison
  21. Some politicians who share harmful information are rewarded with more clicks, study finds
  22. Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible
  23. Francis, a pope of many firsts: 5 essential reads
  24. Lawful permanent residents like Mahmoud Khalil have a right to freedom of speech – but does that protect them from deportation?
  25. Federal laws don’t ban rollbacks of environmental protection, but they don’t make it easy
  26. Why don’t humans have hair all over their bodies? A biologist explains our lack of fur
  27. Endowments aren’t blank checks – but universities can rely on them more heavily in turbulent times
  28. Exposure to perceptible temperature rise increases concern about climate change, higher education adds to understanding
  29. What will happen at the funeral of Pope Francis
  30. How the next pope will be elected – what goes on at the conclave
  31. Scientists found a potential sign of life on a distant planet – an astronomer explains why many are still skeptical
  32. ‘I never issued a criminal contempt citation in 19 ½ years on the bench’ – a former federal judge looks at the ‘relentless bad behavior’ of the Trump administration in court
  33. As views on spanking shift worldwide, most US adults support it, and 19 states allow physical punishment in schools
  34. Crime is nonpartisan and the blame game on crime in cities is wrong – on both sides
  35. With federal funding in question, artists can navigate a perilous future by looking to the past
  36. Lawsuits seeking to address climate change have promise but face uncertain future
  37. All models are wrong − a computational modeling expert explains how engineers make them useful
  38. Trump’s attacks on central bank threaten its independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation)
  39. Claims of ‘anti-Christian bias’ sound to some voters like a message about race, not just religion
  40. How does your brain create new memories? Neuroscientists discover ‘rules’ for how neurons encode new information
  41. Patriots’ Day: How far-right groups hijack history and patriotic symbols to advance their cause, according to an expert on extremism
  42. International students infuse tens of millions of dollars into local economies across the US. What happens if they stay home?
  43. Popular AIs head-to-head: OpenAI beats DeepSeek on sentence-level reasoning
  44. Why people with autism struggle to get hired − and how businesses can help by changing how they look at job interviews
  45. Appliance efficiency standards save consumers billions, reduce pollution and fight climate change
  46. Why deregulating online platforms is actually bad for free speech
  47. Ethical leadership can boost well-being and performance in remote work environments
  48. Is a ‘friend-apist’ what we really want from therapy?
  49. Federal judge finds ‘probable cause’ to hold Trump administration in contempt – a legal scholar explains what this means
  50. How single-stream recycling works − your choices can make it better