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How fires weaken Amazon rainforests' ability to bounce back

  • Written by Paulo Massoca, Ph.D. candidate, Indiana University
Prescribed fires are often done to eliminate weeds and renew the grasses in pastures for ranching across the Amazon.Paulo Massoca, CC BY-SA

The flames consuming the Amazon rainforest this year have alarmed the world, renewing concerns about one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions and the release of large amounts of carbon into the...

Read more: How fires weaken Amazon rainforests' ability to bounce back

Repealing the Clean Water Rule will swamp the Trump administration in wetland litigation

  • Written by Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
Many migratory birds, like these sandhill cranes, rely on wetlands for feeding, resting and shelter.Wyman Meinzer/USFWS, CC BY

The question of which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies across the U.S. should receive federal protection under the Clean Water Act has been a major controversy in environmental law over the past 20 years. The...

Read more: Repealing the Clean Water Rule will swamp the Trump administration in wetland litigation

What the Jeffrey Epstein case reveals about female sex offenders

  • Written by Poco Kernsmith, Professor of Social Work, Wayne State University
Female sex offenders may not receive as much public attention or scorn as male sex offenders.271 EAK MOTO/Shutterstock.com

The recent indictment of Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking highlights the importance of understanding sex offenses perpetrated by women.

Epstein allegedly did not act alone. In a variety of court filings, some of his female...

Read more: What the Jeffrey Epstein case reveals about female sex offenders

What Trump's asylum ban will mean for the thousands waiting at the US-Mexico border

  • Written by Sarah F. Rogerson, Professor of Law and Director of Immigration Law Clinic, Albany Law School

The Trump administration’s latest restrictive immigration policy, known as the asylum ban, was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ban effectively ends asylum relief for the vast majority of refugees seeking it at the U.S.-Mexico border. It prevents individuals from applying for asylum in the United States if they could have...

Read more: What Trump's asylum ban will mean for the thousands waiting at the US-Mexico border

Why does the CDC want us to 'Think Fungus'?

  • Written by Murat Can Kalem, Ph.D. Candidate. Graduate Research Assistant, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
_Candida auris_ fungi, is becoming resistant to many anti fungal drugs.Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com

When people think of infectious microbes, they typically think of bacteria and virus. There is, however, another enormous group of organisms that can affect our health: fungi.

It is estimated that there are 5.1 million species of fungi on Earth, from...

Read more: Why does the CDC want us to 'Think Fungus'?

Gas shortages paralyze Haiti, triggering protests against failing economy and dysfunctional politics

  • Written by Vincent Joos, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Florida State University
Haitians gather at a closed gas station in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, hoping it will open eventually, Sept. 4, 2019. Gas shortages have forced stations across the country to close or reduced their operating hours in recent weeks.AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery

Gasoline is fueling unrest in Haiti for the second time this year.

The Caribbean country, which...

Read more: Gas shortages paralyze Haiti, triggering protests against failing economy and dysfunctional politics

Climate change created today's large crocodiles

  • Written by Pedro L. Godoy, Postdoctoral Fellow in Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)
When is bigger better?Willyam Bradberry/Shutterstock.com

What does the term crocodylian bring to mind? A big reptile with a chomping jaw?

Crocodylians are the 27 species of crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials that live all over Earth today, except for in Europe and Antarctica. There are some smaller species, but these top predators are...

Read more: Climate change created today's large crocodiles

3 tips for Justin Trudeau on how to say 'I'm sorry'

  • Written by Lisa Leopold, Associate Professor of English Language Studies, The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Middlebury

“I’m sorry.”

These two words may seem simple, but the ability to express them when you’re in the wrong is anything but – particularly for those in the public eye.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to name a recent example, had to apologize several times since a photo and a video of him in brownface and blackface...

Read more: 3 tips for Justin Trudeau on how to say 'I'm sorry'

Why the United Auto Workers GM strike is headed for failure

  • Written by Joshua Murray, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Vanderbilt University
GM autoworkers went on strike on Sept. 15.AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

The United Auto Workers union has a long history of successful strikes against General Motors.

The most famous example is the 1936 to 1937 Flint strike that resulted in higher wages and the union being recognized for the first time as the sole collective bargaining representative of...

Read more: Why the United Auto Workers GM strike is headed for failure

Mississippi: African American voters sue over election law rooted in the state's racist past

  • Written by Gideon Cohn-Postar, Graduate Student in History, Northwestern University
The Mississippi House of Representatives can choose the winner of a gubernatorial election under certain circumstances.AP/Rogelio V. Solis

A lawsuit over a Mississippi election law, if successful, will change the way that state elects its governor.

Four African Americans filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in May 2019, charging that the way...

Read more: Mississippi: African American voters sue over election law rooted in the state's racist past

More Articles ...

  1. Curious Kids: What was the first computer?
  2. Attacks on Saudi oil – why didn't prices go crazy?
  3. There's evidence that climate activism could be swaying public opinion in the US
  4. 4 reasons why we'll never see another show like 'Friends'
  5. An origin story for the queer community
  6. 'Always sticking to your convictions' sounds like a good thing – but it isn't
  7. What if college athletes got paid? 3 questions answered
  8. It’s high time someone studied marijuana taxes – so we did
  9. What is the cryosphere? Hint: It's vital to farming, fishing and skiing
  10. Marriage could be good for your health – unless you're bisexual
  11. An Alzheimer's study used electrostimulation to evoke vivid memories – here's what it could mean
  12. Partisan divide creates different Americas, separate lives
  13. Textbook merger could create more problems than just higher prices
  14. From smoking to vaping: Why do we abuse our lungs?
  15. A digital archaeologist helps inaccessible collections be seen
  16. We're increasingly bombarded with choices – and it's stressing us out
  17. Fed’s rate cut signals a recession may be ahead – and it may not have enough ammunition to fight it
  18. 'Chernobyl' shows how mass mobilizations saved Europe and doomed the Soviet Union
  19. Moscow’s municipal elections illustrate the growing political crisis in Russia
  20. Youth climate movement puts ethics at the center of the global debate
  21. Reimagining eggshells and other everyday items to grow human tissues and organs
  22. Video games can bring history back to life
  23. Video games can bring older family members' personal history back to life
  24. Collagen in your coffee? A scientist says forget it
  25. How does the 'unidentified political object' that is the European Union really work?
  26. Malicious bots and trolls spread vaccine misinformation – now social media companies are fighting back
  27. Are conspiracy theories on the rise in the US?
  28. I researched Uighur society in China for 8 years and watched how technology opened new opportunities – then became a trap
  29. Fish larvae float across national borders, binding the world's oceans in a single network
  30. The 4 big questions that the next Israeli government will decide
  31. Wall Street is ignoring the omens of recession – here's why
  32. A quarter of US parents are unmarried – and that changes how much they invest in their kids
  33. Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos' billions for the homeless will relieve suffering but won't defeat homelessness
  34. Why Bill Maher is wrong about fat-shaming
  35. Lack of toothbrushing for seniors in nursing homes may sound gross, but it's a serious health risk
  36. Caribbean fish love catastrophic hurricanes
  37. Expanding direct democracy won't make Americans feel better about politics
  38. Is it even possible to connect '13 Reasons Why' to teen suicide?
  39. Reparations are essential to eliminating the substantial wealth gap between black and white Americans
  40. Cómo desarrollar el vocabulario de su niño: 7 formas
  41. How Congress turns citizens' voices into data points
  42. 3 countries where Trump is popular
  43. There's a way for modern medicine to cure diseases even when the treatments aren't profitable
  44. Flavored e-cigarettes sweetly lure kids into vaping and also mislead them to dismiss danger, studies suggest
  45. British troops massacred Indians in Amritsar -- and a century later, there's been no official apology
  46. At these colleges, students begin serious research their first year
  47. The Senate filibuster explained – and why it should be allowed to die
  48. The bizarre social history of beds
  49. Why Sikhs wear a turban and what it means to practice the faith in the United States
  50. Climate explained: why carbon dioxide has such outsized influence on Earth's climate