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The opening of India’s new Rama temple made waves – but here’s what the central ritual actually meant

  • Written by Vasudha Narayanan, Distinguished Professor of Religion, University of Florida
imagePrime Minister Narendra Modi, center left, performs rituals during the opening of the temple dedicated to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, India, on Jan. 22, 2024.Press Information Bureau via AP

The consecration rituals of the icon of Lord Rama were performed in a newly built mega-temple in the town of Ayodhya, India, on Jan. 22, 2024. The prime minister of...

Read more: The opening of India’s new Rama temple made waves – but here’s what the central ritual actually...

Why AI can’t replace air traffic controllers

  • Written by Amy Pritchett, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Penn State
imageControl towers at airports are only the most visible parts of the complex national air traffic control system.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

After hours of routine operations, an air traffic controller gets a radio call from a small aircraft whose cockpit indicators can’t confirm that the plane’s landing gear is extended for landing....

Read more: Why AI can’t replace air traffic controllers

Longtime NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is leaving the gun group in trouble but still powerful

  • Written by Cari Babitzke, Lecturer of History, Boston University
imageWayne LaPierre led the NRA for more than three decades.AP Photo/Darron Cummings

Wayne LaPierre will resign from the National Rifle Association at the end of January 2024. During most of the 33 years he spent at its helm as its executive vice president, the gun group’s membership, revenue and clout grew sharply.

I am a historian of firearms...

Read more: Longtime NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is leaving the gun group in trouble but still powerful

For 150 years, Black journalists have known what confederate monuments really stood for

  • Written by Donovan Schaefer, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
imageConfederate leaders Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis are depicted in this carving on Stone Mountain, Ga. MPI/Getty Images

In October 2023, nearly seven years after the deadly Unite the Right white supremacist rally, the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, was melted down. Since then, two more...

Read more: For 150 years, Black journalists have known what confederate monuments really stood for

Colorado limits plastic bags, Boulder expands fees – but do bans and fines actually reduce waste?

  • Written by Eleanor Putnam-Farr, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

Colorado banned plastic bags from large retail stores at the beginning of 2024. A new state ordinance also prohibits restaurants and retail food establishments from using Styrofoam takeout containers.

In Boulder, food shoppers have been paying 10 cents for every bag they need at checkout since 2013, with only paper and heavy-duty plastic bags...

Read more: Colorado limits plastic bags, Boulder expands fees – but do bans and fines actually reduce waste?

Boulder strengthens rules against plastic bags – but do bans and fines actually reduce waste?

  • Written by Eleanor Putnam-Farr, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

Boulder, Colorado, passed stricter regulationsagainst plastic bags at the beginning of 2024, banning them from all retail stores. The tougher rule builds on a 2013 local law that banned plastic bags from grocery stores and began charging shoppers 10 cents for every paper bag they required at checkout. The new law, part of the state’s Plastic...

Read more: Boulder strengthens rules against plastic bags – but do bans and fines actually reduce waste?

Drone attack on American troops risks widening Middle East conflict – and drawing in Iran-US tensions

  • Written by Sara Harmouch, PhD Candidate, School of Public Affairs, American University
imageJordanian and U.S. tanks take part in joint maneuvers in September 2022.Khalil Mazraawi/AFP

A drone attack that killed three American troops and wounded at least 34 more at a base in Jordan has increased fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East – and the possibility that the U.S. may be further drawn into the fighting.

President Joe...

Read more: Drone attack on American troops risks widening Middle East conflict – and drawing in Iran-US...

El Salvador voters set to trade democracy for promise of security in presidential election

  • Written by Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson College
imageEl Salvador President Nayib Bukele looks set to be reelected.Hector Vivas/Getty Images

There is little doubt who will win the El Salvador presidential election when voters go to the polls on Feb. 4, 2024.

Incumbent Nayib Bukele has the initiative heading into the vote, having made a series of eye-catching decisions since coming to power in 2019,...

Read more: El Salvador voters set to trade democracy for promise of security in presidential election

Nonwhite people are drastically underrepresented in local government

  • Written by Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
imageMayors from across the U.S. attended the Conference of Mayors, which included a visit to the White House.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Elected representatives in government don’t always look like the people they serve.

The people who serve in local governments – cities, counties and other entities below the state level –...

Read more: Nonwhite people are drastically underrepresented in local government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a dilemma: Free the hostages or continue the war in Gaza?

  • Written by Dov Waxman, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
imageOn Dec. 8, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the funeral of a 25-year-old Israeli soldier who was killed in Gaza. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

As Israel’s war with Hamas drags into its fourth month, some Israelis are becoming increasingly angry at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s inability...

Read more: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a dilemma: Free the hostages or continue the war...

More Articles ...

  1. Nonprofit hospitals have an obligation to help their communities, but the people who live nearby may see little benefit
  2. Cybercrime victims who aren’t proficient in English are undercounted – and poorly protected
  3. That sharp, green smell of freshly cut grass? It’s a plant’s cry for help – and it may work as a less toxic pesticide for farmers
  4. Popularly known as ‘gas station heroin,’ tianeptine is being sold as a dietary supplement – with deadly outcomes
  5. What latest polling says about the mood in Ukraine – and the desire to remain optimistic amid the suffering
  6. Who created the alphabet? A historian describes the millennia-long story of the ABCs
  7. When is criticism of Israel antisemitic? A scholar of modern Jewish history explains
  8. Colorado voters seeking to disqualify Trump from the ballot tell Supreme Court Jan. 6 ‘will forever stain’ US history
  9. UN court ruling against Israel shows limits of legal power to prevent genocide − but rapid speed
  10. In the market for a car? Soon you’ll be able to buy a Hyundai on Amazon − and only a Hyundai
  11. Most state abortion bans have limited exceptions − but it’s hard to understand what they mean
  12. France’s biggest Muslim school went from accolades to defunding – showing a key paradox in how the country treats Islam
  13. Our sense of taste helps pace our eating – understanding how may lead to new avenues for weight loss
  14. Treatment can do more harm than good for prostate cancer − why active surveillance may be a better option for some
  15. Why are so many robots white?
  16. What UAW backing means for Biden − and why the union’s endorsement took so long
  17. How to read a Supreme Court case: 10 tips for nonlawyers
  18. Thinking about work as a calling can be meaningful, but there can be unexpected downsides as well
  19. A Western-imposed peace deal in Ukraine risks feeding Russia’s hunger for land – as it did with Serbia
  20. ‘Strife in the courtroom’ − a former federal judge discusses Trump’s second trial for defaming E. Jean Carroll
  21. Could a court really order the destruction of ChatGPT? The New York Times thinks so, and it may be right
  22. Ice storms, January downpours, heavy snow, no snow: Diagnosing ‘warming winter syndrome’
  23. Nazi genocides of Jews and Roma were entangled from the start – and so are their efforts at Holocaust remembrance today
  24. How to protect your data privacy: A digital media expert provides steps you can take and explains why you can’t go it alone
  25. From New York to Jakarta, land in many coastal cities is sinking faster than sea levels are rising
  26. A newly identified ‘Hell chicken’ species suggests dinosaurs weren’t sliding toward extinction before the fateful asteroid hit
  27. Humans are depleting groundwater worldwide, but there are ways to replenish it
  28. In an ancient church in Germany, a 639-year organ performance of a John Cage composition is about to have its next note change
  29. Domestic woes put Kim Jong Un on the defensive – and the offensive – in the Korean Peninsula
  30. Combining two types of molecular boron nitride could create a hybrid material used in faster, more powerful electronics
  31. Pictures have been teaching doctors medicine for centuries − a medical illustrator explains how
  32. Healing from child sexual abuse is often difficult but not impossible
  33. Biden’s use of military in Yemen upsets congressional progressives, but fits with long tradition of presidents exercising commander in chief’s power
  34. 1 in 10 US workers belong to unions − a share that’s stabilized after a steep decline
  35. Fake Biden robocall to New Hampshire voters highlights how easy it is to make deepfakes − and how hard it is to defend against AI-generated disinformation
  36. Michigan selects its legislative redistricting commissioners the way the ancient Athenians did
  37. ¿Cuándo podemos dejar de preocuparnos por la subida de precios? El último informe sobre la inflación no ofrece respuestas fáciles
  38. La colada es una de las principales fuentes de contaminación por microplásticos: cómo limpiar la ropa de forma más sostenible
  39. Where do Israel and Hamas get their weapons?
  40. Nick Saban’s ‘epic era’ of coaching is over, but the exploitation of players in big-time college football is not
  41. A TikTok ‘expert’ says you have post-traumatic stress disorder − but do you? A trauma psychiatrist explains what PTSD really is and how to seek help
  42. Back in the USSR: New high school textbooks in Russia whitewash Stalin’s terror as Putin wages war on historical memory
  43. How much influence does Iran have over its proxy ‘Axis of Resistance’ − Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis?
  44. ‘Collective mind’ bridges societal divides − psychology research explores how watching the same thing can bring people together
  45. How the word ‘voodoo’ became a racial slur
  46. Why New Hampshire and Iowa don't make sense as the opening rounds of presidential campaigns
  47. Why New Hampshire and Iowa don’t make sense as the opening rounds of presidential campaigns
  48. Tiny water-walking bugs provide scientists with insights on how microplastics are pushed underwater
  49. Alcohol and drugs rewire your brain by changing how your genes work – research is investigating how to counteract addiction’s effects
  50. A surprising history of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, once a leader in expanding civil rights and now a leader in limiting government power