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Raccoons break into liquor stores, scale skyscrapers and pick locks – studying their clever brains can clarify human intelligence, too

  • Written by Kelly Lambert, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Richmond
imageThe moment you look away from those adorable eyes, these mischievous creatures will sneak out of your lab.Joshua J. Cotten/Unsplash, CC BY-SA

When a curious raccoon broke into an Ashland, Virginia, liquor store in December 2025, sampled the stock and passed out on the bathroom floor, the story went viral within minutes. The local animal...

Read more: Raccoons break into liquor stores, scale skyscrapers and pick locks – studying their clever brains...

Googoosh, the ‘Voice of Iran,’ has gone quiet – and that’s her point

  • Written by Richard Nedjat-Haiem, Ph.D. Candidate in Comparative Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara
imageGoogoosh performs at Scotiabank Arena on Jan. 17, 2025, in Toronto.Jeremy Chan Photography/Getty Images

Before Beyoncé, before Cher, before Madonna, there was Googoosh.

The 75-year-old Iranian megastar catapulted to stardom in Iran during the 1970s, only to be silenced by the Islamist regime that took power after the 1979 Islamic Revolution....

Read more: Googoosh, the ‘Voice of Iran,’ has gone quiet – and that’s her point

The Insurrection Act is one of at least 26 legal loopholes in the law banning the use of the US military domestically

  • Written by Jennifer Selin, Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University
imageFederal law enforcement agents confront anti-ICE protesters during a demonstration outside the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 15, 2026. Octavio Jones / AFP via Getty Images

As protesters and federal law enforcement clashed in Minneapolis in the wake of a second shooting of a civilian on Jan. 14, 2026 by...

Read more: The Insurrection Act is one of at least 26 legal loopholes in the law banning the use of the US...

Global power struggles over the ocean’s finite resources call for creative diplomacy

  • Written by Jonas Gamso, Associate Professor and Deputy Dean of Knowledge Enterprise for the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University

Oceans shape everyday life in powerful ways. They cover 70% of the planet, carry 90% of global trade, and support millions of jobs and the diets of billions of people. As global competition intensifies and climate change accelerates, the world’s oceans are also becoming the front line of 21st-century geopolitics.

How policymakers handle...

Read more: Global power struggles over the ocean’s finite resources call for creative diplomacy

China’s new condom tax will prove no effective barrier to country’s declining fertility rate

  • Written by Dudley L. Poston Jr., Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University
imageA Chinese visitor looks at condoms at the Beijing International Sex Supplies Exhibition.Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images

Once the world’s most populous nation, China is now among the many Asian countries struggling with anemic fertility rates. In an attempt to double the country’s rate of 1.0 children per woman, Beijing is...

Read more: China’s new condom tax will prove no effective barrier to country’s declining fertility rate

Refugee families are more likely to become self-reliant if provided with support outside of camp settings

  • Written by Lindsay Stark, Professor of Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis
imageThe Kakuma Refugee Camp in Turkana County, Kenya.Charles Onyango/Xinhua via Getty Images

Refugees provided with targeted support outside of designated camps have a better chance of finding jobs, economic stability and safety.

That is the main finding in our recently published article in BMJ Global Health looking at what helps displaced families...

Read more: Refugee families are more likely to become self-reliant if provided with support outside of camp...

The hidden power of grief rituals

  • Written by Claire White, Professor of Religious Studies, California State University, Northridge
imageShared rituals of grief bring people together.onuma Inthapong/E+ via Getty Images

In Tana Toraja, a mountainous region of Sulawesi, Indonesia, villagers pour massive resources into funeral rituals: lavish feasts, ornate effigies and prized water buffaloes for sacrifice.

I witnessed this funeral ritual in 2024 while accompanying scholar Melanie Nyhof...

Read more: The hidden power of grief rituals

Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM serves their communities

  • Written by Evelyn Valdez-Ward, Postdoctoral Fellow in Science Communication, University of Rhode Island
imagePersonal experiences can help foster a sense of belonging for aspiring scientists from underrepresented backgrounds.kali9/E+ via Getty Images

Lived experiences shape how science is conducted. This matters because who gets to speak for science steers which problems are prioritized, how evidence is translated into practice and who ultimately benefits...

Read more: Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM...

How is China viewing US actions in Venezuela – an affront, an opportunity or a blueprint?

  • Written by Kerry E. Ratigan, Associate Professor of Political Science, Amherst College

China’s public response to the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro played out in a fairly predictable way, with condemnation of a “brazen” act of force against a sovereign nation and accusation of Washington acting like a “world judge.”

But behind closed doors, Beijing’s leaders are likely weighing the more...

Read more: How is China viewing US actions in Venezuela – an affront, an opportunity or a blueprint?

One cure for sour feelings about politics − getting people to love their hometowns

  • Written by Sean Richey, Professor, Georgia State University
imageA young girl holds Old Glory at an Independence Day celebration.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Eileen Higgins won a historic victory in December. She became the first woman ever elected mayor of Miami, as well as its first Democratic mayor since 1997.

Although the stakes in the city’s Dec. 9, 2025, runoff election were high, interest was...

Read more: One cure for sour feelings about politics − getting people to love their hometowns

More Articles ...

  1. Most of the 1 million Venezuelans in the United States arrived within the past decade
  2. How mountain terraces have helped Indigenous peoples live with climate uncertainty
  3. Supreme Court likely to reject limits on concealed carry but uphold bans on gun possession by drug users
  4. New Year’s resolutions usually fall by the wayside, but there is a better approach to making real changes
  5. Before Venezuela’s oil, there were Guatemala’s bananas
  6. Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy
  7. Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – our new study examines each method’s risks
  8. Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – new study examines each method’s risks
  9. Reddit and TikTok - with the help of AI - are reshaping how researchers understand substance use
  10. Broncos say their new stadium will be ‘privately financed,’ but ‘private’ often still means hundreds of millions in public resources
  11. For some Jewish women, ‘passing’ as Christian during the Holocaust could mean survival – but left scars all the same
  12. There’s an intensifying kind of threat to academic freedom – watchful students serving as informants
  13. Building ‘beloved community’: Remembering the friendship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh
  14. US military has a long history in Greenland, from mining during WWII to a nuclear-powered Army base built into the ice
  15. Could ChatGPT convince you to buy something? Threat of manipulation looms as AI companies gear up to sell ads
  16. From a new flagship space telescope to lunar exploration, global cooperation – and competition – will make 2026 an exciting year for space
  17. The ‘drug threat’ that justified the US ouster of Maduro won’t be fixed by his arrest
  18. South Florida’s Brightline has highlighted an old problem – every year for the past decade, 900 pedestrians were killed by trains
  19. Iran’s protests have spread across provinces, despite skepticism and concern among ethnic groups
  20. Why unlocking Venezuelan oil won’t mean much for US energy prices
  21. Martin Luther King Jr. was ahead of his time in pushing for universal basic income
  22. Rural areas have darker skies but fewer resources for students interested in astronomy – telescopes in schools can help
  23. Research institutions tout the value of scholarship that crosses disciplines – but academia pushes interdisciplinary researchers out
  24. From flammable neighborhoods to moral hazards, fire insurance maps capture early US cities and the landscape of discrimination
  25. Viruses aren’t all bad: In the ocean, some help fuel the food web – a new study shows how
  26. 3 ways US actions in Venezuela violated international law
  27. Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall
  28. Small businesses say they aren’t planning to hire many recent graduates for entry-level jobs – here’s why
  29. Wars without clear purpose erode presidential legacies, and Trump risks political consequences with further military action in Venezuela
  30. Colorado ranks among the highest states in the country for flu – an emergency room physician describes why the 2025-26 flu season is hitting hard
  31. DOJ criminal probe highlights risk of Fed losing independence – a central bank scholar explains what’s at stake
  32. How social media is channeling popular discontent in Iran during ongoing period of domestic unrest
  33. Ukraine is under pressure to trade land for peace − if it does, history shows it might not ever get it back
  34. What is Christian Reconstructionism − and why it matters in US politics
  35. Eating less ultraprocessed food supports healthier aging, new research shows
  36. Saudi-UAE bust-up over Yemen was only a matter of time − and reflects wider rift over vision for the region
  37. Financial case for college remains strong, but universities need to add creative thinking to their curriculum
  38. What is below Earth, since space is present in every direction?
  39. Trump lawsuits seek to muzzle media, posing serious threat to free press
  40. Venezuela’s oil industry has flailed under government control – Mexico and Brazil have had more success with nationalizing
  41. CPR on TV is often inaccurate – but watching characters jump to the rescue can still save real lives
  42. NASA’s Pandora telescope will study stars in detail to learn about the exoplanets orbiting them
  43. Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty as he moves to dismantle America’s climate protections
  44. Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty in latest move to dismantle America’s climate protections
  45. George Washington’s foreign policy was built on respect for other nations and patient consideration of future burdens
  46. Why the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s closure exposes a growing threat to democracy
  47. The 6-7 craze offered a brief window into the hidden world of children
  48. Meth inflames and stimulates your brain through similar pathways – new research offers potential avenue to treat meth addiction
  49. ‘Shared decision-making’ for childhood vaccines sounds empowering – but it may mean less access for families already stretched thin
  50. Live healthier in 2026 by breathing cleaner air at home