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The Conversation

As government privatization efforts grow, lawsuits against federal contractors get more difficult

  • Written by Steph Tai, Professor of Law and Associate Dean, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageChevron's oil production activities in coastal Louisiana are in a long-standing legal dispute.Mario Tama/Getty Images

The question of which court should hear a case isn’t always as easy as it might seem – and the answer can sometimes make a difference in the potential outcome. For instance, in 2013, the government of Plaquemines Parish,...

Read more: As government privatization efforts grow, lawsuits against federal contractors get more difficult

Photographic memory is a myth – here’s what research really says about remembering

  • Written by Gabrielle Principe, Professor of Psychology, College of Charleston
imageYour memory is not a camera.F.J. Jimenez/Moment via Getty Images

Hollywood loves a superpower. Not all involve capes or cosmic rays. Some are cognitive: characters who can remember everything. In movies and on TV, viewers repeatedly encounter those with extraordinary minds who glance once at a page, a room or a face – and later recreate every...

Read more: Photographic memory is a myth – here’s what research really says about remembering

Themes of peace and human dignity have been central to Pope Leo as he marks his first year in office

  • Written by Mathew Schmalz, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
imagePope Leo XIV arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 29, 2026. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

When he was elected pope on May 8, 2025, Robert Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV, greeted the crowd with Christ’s words to his disciples: “Peace be with you.”

Peace has become a central theme...

Read more: Themes of peace and human dignity have been central to Pope Leo as he marks his first year in office

Why do you have to wear a helmet when you’re skateboarding?

  • Written by Christian Franck, Bjorn Borgen Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageHelmets are essential gear when skateboarding.Daniel Milchev/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Why do you have to wear a helmet when you’re skateboarding? – Artie, age 13, Queens, New...

Read more: Why do you have to wear a helmet when you’re skateboarding?

Denmark’s ‘hands-off’ approach to parenting could offer a blueprint for raising more resilient, self-reliant kids

  • Written by Marie Helweg-Larsen, Professor of Psychology, Dickinson College
imageChildren play at Copenhagen's Superkilen Park. In Denmark, parents generally give their kids wide latitude to explore, use tools and push boundaries.Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Much has been written about Denmark’s consistently high scoresin global happiness rankings, so it might not come as a surprise that Denmark is also rated...

Read more: Denmark’s ‘hands-off’ approach to parenting could offer a blueprint for raising more resilient,...

Gulf state cooperation has long been shaped by the threat of Iran − but shows of unity belie division

  • Written by Firmesk Rahim, PhD Student, UMass Boston
imageLeaders attend the 45th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Kuwait City, Kuwait on Dec.01, 2024.Amiri Diwan of Kuwait/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Arab Gulf countries, battered economicallyand physically by the war with Iran, were keen to put on a united front at a key regional meeting on April 28, 2026.

Gathering in the Saudi city Jeddah,...

Read more: Gulf state cooperation has long been shaped by the threat of Iran − but shows of unity belie...

Mythos AI is a cybersecurity threat, but it doesn’t rewrite the rules of the game

  • Written by Mohammad Ahmad, Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems, West Virginia University
imageThe hacking prowess of Anthropic's Mythos AI has gotten a lot of attention, including from the NSA.Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The cybersecurity community went on alert when Anthropic announced on April 7, 2026, that its latest and most capable general-purpose large language model, Claude Mythos Preview, had demonstrated remarkable...

Read more: Mythos AI is a cybersecurity threat, but it doesn’t rewrite the rules of the game

Bullying is common in elementary school – and it’s more likely to happen in classrooms that are chaotic

  • Written by Qingqing Yang, Research Scientist of Education, University at Albany, State University of New York
imageExperiencing bullying frequently in childhood can have lifelong consequences. Malte Mueller/iStock illustrations/Getty

About 1 in 4 elementary students in the United States reports being bullied at least once during a given school year.

Children who are frequently bullied are more likely to struggle in school, experience poorer physical health and...

Read more: Bullying is common in elementary school – and it’s more likely to happen in classrooms that are...

Is it wrong to pay incarcerated people in jail? This Pennsylvania county says no

  • Written by Nancy La Vigne, Dean of the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University - Newark
imageUnlike prison, jail confinement is primarily about custody and court processing, not punishment for convicted criminals. The Washington Post/The Washington Post Collection via Getty

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is experimenting with a policy that has drawn national attention and local skepticism: providing cash compensation to people confined in...

Read more: Is it wrong to pay incarcerated people in jail? This Pennsylvania county says no

A democracy or a republic? History shows that some Americans are asking the wrong question

  • Written by Barbara Clark Smith, Curator, Division of Political History, Smithsonian Institution
imageA Harper's Weekly image of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. MPI/Getty Images

As the nation observes its 250th birthday, historians can help settle one present-day dispute: Is the United States a democracy or a republic?

For years, advocates have argued the point.

Yet the...

Read more: A democracy or a republic? History shows that some Americans are asking the wrong question

More Articles ...

  1. How balcony solar can help renters and homeowners save money
  2. A quiet Alaska fault is missing the fluids scientists expected – and it’s changing what we know about earthquake zones
  3. Biological age tests reveal what slows or hastens aging – but they’re useful only for researchers, not consumers
  4. Why the 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline doesn’t actually constrain presidents
  5. What’s in the price of a gallon of gas?
  6. How Harriet Tubman and Philadelphia abolitionists coordinated dangerous journeys to freedom
  7. AI chatbots can prioritize flattery over facts – and that carries serious risks
  8. England’s ‘once in a generation’ housing law takes effect as US housing legislation sits in congressional purgatory
  9. Syphilis cases in expectant mothers have dramatically risen since the pandemic – here’s what’s driving the trend
  10. When immigration detention becomes a system of concentration: Lessons from research on 150 historical cases
  11. Fiber’s structural integrity keeps plants strong – and its indigestibility keeps your digestive system healthy
  12. AI data center boom is leaving consumer electronics short of chips − even though they don’t use the same kinds
  13. Cheers! Welcome to the Nepalese village where everybody knows how to distill
  14. Synthetic biology promised to rewrite life – with the death of its pioneer, J. Craig Venter, how close are scientists?
  15. Gerrymandering is unpopular with Florida voters – my recent survey shows why DeSantis pushed it through anyway
  16. Three women sit for Israeli Rabbinate’s exam, amid growing recognition for Orthodox Jewish women’s religious leadership
  17. ‘A study showed…’ isn’t enough – scientific knowledge builds incrementally as researchers investigate and revisit questions
  18. Seeing an eclipse from Earth is awe-inspiring – for astronauts seeing one from space, the scene was even more grand
  19. Supreme Court ruling: The latest in history of diminishing minority voting rights
  20. What Trump’s post as a Jesus-like figure tells us about political messianism
  21. Warmer temps bring soaring tick populations – here’s how to stay safe from Lyme disease
  22. Supreme Court bolsters donors’ free speech rights in unanimous crisis pregnancy center ruling
  23. Universities returning Native American remains and artifacts isn’t just about physical objects – it’s about dignity and justice
  24. Americans care more about future generations than many think – and that gap could matter for policy
  25. The US has long used economic coercion to achieve foreign policy goals — the war in Iran shows how that power has declined
  26. How much should politics influence science, and vice versa? National Science Board’s ousting resurrects an existential debate
  27. Supreme Court considers how much states can protect consumers when federal agencies won’t
  28. Supreme Court geofencing case weighs constitutionality of digital dragnets – and how far your rights go in the data Big Tech collects on you
  29. Supreme Court considers whether police can use Big Tech data to capture info from all cellphone users in a place and time
  30. Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling makes it harder to protect minority voting power and alters the landscape of future elections
  31. Students are taught to hide in closets and under tables if there is a school shooting – but does practicing for this possibility keep kids safe?
  32. Can the nearly $1 trillion-a-year US military really be depleting key weapons in Iran?
  33. What courage is, how to build it and why you should take a risk
  34. Reclassification of marijuana opens doors for much-needed medical research into the benefits and risks of the drug
  35. Stockings once worn by Philly’s wealthiest man show the value of women’s mending in early America
  36. Thousands of employed Colorado workers need SNAP benefits to make ends meet
  37. Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown may sound sensible, but it could harm Americans who require long-term care
  38. The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor
  39. UAE’s OPEC exit has been long in the works – and may mark the beginning of a Gulf realignment
  40. Facial recognition data is a key to your identity – if stolen, you can’t just change the locks
  41. More than 140,000 Americans die from COPD each year – here’s why survival depends on more than avoiding smoking
  42. Wearable glucose monitors offer real-time data, but for healthy people no guidelines exist to interpret the numbers
  43. How the concept of ‘medical freedom’ is reshaping the military’s decades-long stance on the flu vaccine mandate − and endangering troops’ readiness
  44. Reading gains in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are often touted, but don’t show full picture of literacy
  45. Tapping your genome with AI and quantum computing could deliver on the promise of personalized medicine – but practical and ethical hurdles remain
  46. Your local storm forecast is likely based on weather miles away – we’re trying to bring it closer to home
  47. Why is water wet?
  48. Potential signs of life on distant planets sound exciting – but confirmation can take years
  49. Perseverance doesn’t always pay off for companies – sometimes it’s better to ‘fail fast’
  50. Texas proposes Bible readings for K-12 students, reigniting century-old legal battle over their place in public schools