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Seaweed and sea slugs rely on toxic bacteria to defend against predators

  • Written by Samantha Mascuch, Postdoctoral Fellow of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
Coral reefs contain an intricate web of predators and prey.lisnic/Shutterstock.com

Plants, animals and even microbes that live on coral reefs have evolved a rich variety of defense strategies to protect themselves from predators. Some have physical defenses like spines and camouflage. Others have specialized behaviors – like a squid expelling...

Read more: Seaweed and sea slugs rely on toxic bacteria to defend against predators

European elections suggest US shouldn't be complacent in 2020

  • Written by Liisa Past, Next Generation Leader, McCain Institute for International Leadership, Arizona State University
The 2019 European Parliament elections were well defended against outside interference.AP Photo/Olivier Matthys

In many ways, the European Parliament elections in late May were calmer than expected. The more extreme political players, while gaining strength, did not do as well as many predicted. Cyber aggression and disinformation operations seem...

Read more: European elections suggest US shouldn't be complacent in 2020

Consumer genetic testing customers stretch their DNA data further with third-party interpretation websites

  • Written by Sarah Catherine Nelson, Research Scientist in Biostatistics, University of Washington
If you've got the raw data, why not mine it for more info?Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com

Back in 2016, Helen (a pseudonym) took three different direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests: AncestryDNA, 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA. She saw genetic testing as a way to enhance her paper trail genealogy research, and it panned out when she matched with...

Read more: Consumer genetic testing customers stretch their DNA data further with third-party interpretation...

What does the Trump administration want from Iran?

  • Written by Noah Weisbord, Associate Professor of law, Queen's University, Ontario

Two oil tankers were attacked on June 13 off the coast of Oman, forcing the crew members of one burning ship to flee.

It was the latest in a series of assaults on tankers transporting oil through the Gulf. In May, Saudi, Norwegian and Emirati oil tankers were attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, causing damage but no casualties. The...

Read more: What does the Trump administration want from Iran?

For some, self-tracking means more than self-help

  • Written by Joseph Reagle, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Northeastern University
What does all that data mean to you?Andrey_Popov/shutterstock.com

People who identify with the “Quantified Self movement” are, as expressed in the movement’s motto, seeking “self-knowledge through self-tracking.” They want to know how to sleep better, stay fit or have a more productive morning. They do this by keeping...

Read more: For some, self-tracking means more than self-help

How to handle raccoons, snakes and other critters in your yard (hint: not with a thermos)

  • Written by Leslie Burger, Assistant Extension Professor of Wildlife, Fisheries & Aquaculture, Mississippi State University
Oh-so-cute raccoons can carry diseases and also fight with pets. If you don't want raccoons around, minimize food sources such as bird seed.Nancy Salmon/Shutterstock.com

I heard a local story of a man who, in his excitement to kill a rattlesnake, used the only thing he had available ─ his thermos bottle. The next scene in this drama has the...

Read more: How to handle raccoons, snakes and other critters in your yard (hint: not with a thermos)

'I still get tweets to go back in the kitchen' – the enduring power of sexism in sports media

  • Written by Michael Serazio, Associate Professor of Communication, Boston College
Lesley Visser was one of the first female television sports reporters – but she's appalled at how little progress has been made.AP Photo/Bill Sikes

The story of the 2019 U.S. women’s national soccer team is not yet written, but its opening chapter – a 13-0 drubbing of Thailand – has inspired American fans hoping for a...

Read more: 'I still get tweets to go back in the kitchen' – the enduring power of sexism in sports media

Rapid DNA analysis helps diagnose mystery diseases

  • Written by Charles Chiu, Professor of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Decoding all the DNA in a patient's biological sample can reveal whether an infectious microbe is causing the disease.ktsdesign/Shutterstock.com

As doctors, we deal with a lot of uncertainty. Often, it is difficult to diagnose what is making a patient sick because symptoms from both infectious and non-infectious diseases can be indistinguishable...

Read more: Rapid DNA analysis helps diagnose mystery diseases

Fed’s dilemma: Inflation is healthy for the economy – but too much can trigger a recession

  • Written by Richard S. Warr, Professor of Finance, North Carolina State University

In a healthy economy, prices tend to go up – a process called inflation.

While you might not like that as a consumer, moderate price growth is a sign of a healthy, growing economy. And, historically at least, wages tend to go up at about the same pace during periods of inflation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve sees 2% inflation as the sweet spot...

Read more: Fed’s dilemma: Inflation is healthy for the economy – but too much can trigger a recession

More Articles ...

  1. Inflation is healthy for the economy – but too much can trigger a recession
  2. Food label nutrition facts matter to you, but don't tell you much about your gut microbes
  3. What the ban on gene-edited babies means for family planning
  4. What Orwell's '1984' tells us about today's world, 70 years after it was published
  5. Companies' self-regulation doesn't have to be bad for the public
  6. Could a weakening US economy imperil Trump's trade war against China?
  7. A growing source of Canadian asylum-seekers: US citizens whose parents were born elsewhere
  8. The Defense Department is worried about climate change – and also a huge carbon emitter
  9. The 25th Amendment wouldn’t work to dump Trump
  10. Artificial intelligence-enhanced journalism offers a glimpse of the future of the knowledge economy
  11. E-cig companies use cartoon characters as logos, and new study shows it works
  12. 23% of young black women now identify as bisexual
  13. Minorities face more obstacles to a lifesaving organ transplant
  14. Why Sudan's deadly crackdown on protesters could escalate in coming weeks
  15. Migrants will pay the price of Mexico's tariff deal with Trump
  16. Investigating the investigative reporters: Bad news from Down Under
  17. The struggle to find silence in the ancient monastic world – and now
  18. What advice articles miss about 'summer loss'
  19. The most unpopular presidential election winner ever could win again in 2020
  20. Driverless cars are going to disrupt the airline industry
  21. Trophies made from human skulls hint at regional conflicts around the time of Maya civilization's mysterious collapse
  22. A concise history of the US abortion debate
  23. May jobs report suggests a slowing economy – and possibly an imminent interest rate cut
  24. Climate change alters what's possible in restoring Florida's Everglades
  25. Forget lower jobs growth, the number of people who've stopped looking for work is much more worrisome
  26. Are brain games mostly BS?
  27. School vouchers expand despite evidence of negative effects
  28. How the 'good guy with a gun' became a deadly American fantasy
  29. Convicts are returning to farming – anti-immigrant policies are the reason
  30. Privacy concerns don't stop people from putting their DNA on the internet to help solve crimes
  31. Does hitting the snooze button really help you feel better?
  32. What would happen to Congress if Washington, DC became the 51st state?
  33. What the US could learn about vaccination from Nigeria
  34. The tell-tale clue to how meteorites were made, at the birth of the solar system
  35. No, Americans shouldn't fear traveling abroad
  36. Women have been the heart of the Christian right for decades
  37. The debate over what ails philanthropy heats up
  38. My students see giving money away as a good thing but they're getting leery of billionaire donors
  39. As more developing countries reject plastic waste exports, wealthy nations seek solutions at home
  40. Spider glue's sticky secret revealed by new genetic research
  41. Antibiotic resistance is not new – it existed long before people used drugs to kill bacteria
  42. Brazilian universities fear Bolsonaro plan to eliminate humanities and slash public education budgets
  43. Will children in your state get the support they need? It depends on the 2020 census
  44. Trump's Mexico tariffs don't make sense, but Americans will pay a steep price anyway if they go into effect
  45. Hackers seek ransoms from Baltimore and communities across the US
  46. How 'America's Got Talent' contestant Kodi Lee shattered stereotypes about disability
  47. Cheaper versions of the most expensive drugs may be coming, but monopolies will likely remain
  48. Climate change is driving rapid shifts between high and low water levels on the Great Lakes
  49. Violence climbs in Colombia as president chips away at landmark peace deal with FARC guerrillas
  50. The racist roots of American policing: From slave patrols to traffic stops