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Who's giving Americans spiritual care? As congregational attendance shrinks, it's often chaplains

  • Written by Wendy Cadge, Professor of Sociology and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University
imageA chaplain hugs a registered nurse at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles.Mario Tama/Getty Images News via Getty Images

When Americans picture a chaplain, many of them likely think of someone like Father Mulcahy, the Irish American priest who cared for Korean War soldiers in the classic TV show “M.A.S.H.”

The reality is...

Read more: Who's giving Americans spiritual care? As congregational attendance shrinks, it's often chaplains

Satellites detect no real climate benefit from 10 years of forest carbon offsets in California

  • Written by Shane Coffield, Postdoctoral Scientist in Biospheric Sciences, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA
imageRedwood forests like this one in California can store large amounts of carbon, but not if they're being cut down.Shane Coffield

Many of the companies promising “net-zero” emissions to protect the climate are relying on vast swaths of forests and what are known as carbon offsets to meet that goal.

On paper, carbon offsets appear to...

Read more: Satellites detect no real climate benefit from 10 years of forest carbon offsets in California

Resounding success of 'Black Panther' franchise says little about the dubious state of Black film

  • Written by Phillip Lamarr Cunningham, Assistant Professor, Media Studies, Wake Forest University
image'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is one of only three Black films since 2018 to have a production budget exceeding $100 million.Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images

When Marvel Studios released “Black Panther” in February 2018, it marked the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to feature a Black superhero and star a...

Read more: Resounding success of 'Black Panther' franchise says little about the dubious state of Black film

Healthy democracy requires trust -- these 3 things could start to restore voters' declining faith in US elections

  • Written by Sarah Bush, Associate Professor, Political Science, Yale University
imageElection workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Nov. 9, 2022, in Phoenix. John Moore/Getty Images

The 2022 U.S. midterm elections ran relatively smoothly and faced few consequential accusations of fraud or mismanagement. Yet many Americans don’t trust this essential element of a democracy.

It’s...

Read more: Healthy democracy requires trust -- these 3 things could start to restore voters' declining faith...

Protests in China are not rare -- but the current unrest is significant

  • Written by Teresa Wright, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Long Beach
imageProtesters march along a street in Beijing on Nov. 28, 2022.Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Street protests across China have evoked memories of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations that were brutally quashed in 1989. Indeed, foreign media have suggested the current unrest sweeping cities across China is unlike anything seen in the country since...

Read more: Protests in China are not rare -- but the current unrest is significant

Ancient DNA from the teeth of 14th-century Ashkenazi Jews in Germany already included genetic variations common in modern Jews

  • Written by Shai Carmi, Associate Professor of Population and Statistical Genetics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
imagePartial layout of the graves discovered during the excavation at the medieval Jewish cemetery of Erfurt.Thuringian State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology/Karin Sczech + Katharina Bielefeld

About two-thirds of Jews today – or about 10 million people – are Ashkenazi, referring to a recent origin from Eastern and Central...

Read more: Ancient DNA from the teeth of 14th-century Ashkenazi Jews in Germany already included genetic...

Oath Keepers convictions shed light on the limits of free speech – and the threat posed by militias

  • Written by Amy Cooter, Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies
imageMembers of the Oath Keepers stand in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The verdicts in a high-profile, monthslong trial of Oath Keepers militia members were, as one defense lawyer acknowledged, “a mixed bag.” Leader Stewart Rhodes was found guilty on Nov. 29, 2022, of the most serious charge –...

Read more: Oath Keepers convictions shed light on the limits of free speech – and the threat posed by militias

Where Mauna Loa’s lava is coming from – and why Hawaii’s volcanoes are different from most

  • Written by Gabi Laske, Professor of Geophysics, University of California, San Diego
imageMagma fountains through a fissure on Mauna Loa, becoming lava, on Nov. 30, 2022. K. Mulliken/USGS

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, began sending up fountains of glowing rock and spilling lava from fissures as its first eruption in nearly four decades began on Nov. 27, 2022.

Where does that molten rock come from?

We...

Read more: Where Mauna Loa’s lava is coming from – and why Hawaii’s volcanoes are different from most

Pregnancy is a genetic battlefield – how conflicts of interest pit mom's and dad's genes against each other

  • Written by Jessica D. Ayers, Assistant Professor of Psychological Science, Boise State University
imagePaternal and maternal genes drive fetal development in different directions.Valentina Kruchinina/iStock via Getty Images

Baby showers. Babymoons. Baby-arrival parties. There are many opportunities to celebrate the 40-week transition to parenthood. Often, these celebrations implicitly assume that pregnancy is cooperative and mutually beneficial to...

Read more: Pregnancy is a genetic battlefield – how conflicts of interest pit mom's and dad's genes against...

What's a polycule? An expert on polyamory explains

  • Written by Riki Thompson, Associate Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Writing Studies, University of Washington
imageGiven the complexity of polycules, it's important for participants to be on the same page.Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images

With the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the media shined a spotlight on the personal lives of founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his inner circle.

It turns out that Bankman-Fried, his on-and-off...

Read more: What's a polycule? An expert on polyamory explains

More Articles ...

  1. Beware of 'Shark Week': Scientists watched 202 episodes and found them filled with junk science, misinformation and white male 'experts' named Mike
  2. Sci-fi books for young readers often omit children of color from the future
  3. Black Twitter's expected demise would make it harder to publicize police brutality and discuss racism
  4. Fatherhood changes men's brains, according to before-and-after MRI scans
  5. More than 4 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths are preventable in the US, and mental health is the leading cause
  6. Even weak tropical cyclones have grown more intense worldwide – we tracked 30 years of them using currents
  7. A sampler of our most popular articles of 2022
  8. White landowners in Hawaii imported Russian workers in the early 1900s, to dilute the labor power of Asians in the islands
  9. Alabama’s execution problems are part of a long history of botched lethal injections
  10. 'Y'all,' that most Southern of Southernisms, is going mainstream – and it's about time
  11. Is China ready to lead on protecting nature? At the upcoming UN biodiversity conference, it will preside and set the tone
  12. Graphene is a proven supermaterial, but manufacturing the versatile form of carbon at usable scales remains a challenge
  13. Still recovering from COVID-19, US public transit tries to get back on track
  14. We're decoding ancient hurricanes' traces on the sea floor – and evidence from millennia of Atlantic storms is not good news for the coast
  15. This course takes a broad look at failure – and what we can all learn when it occurs
  16. How can you tell if something is true? Here are 3 questions to ask yourself about what you see, hear and read
  17. Celebrities in politics have a leg up, but their advantages can't top fundraising failures
  18. Treating mental illness with electricity marries old ideas with modern tech and understanding of the brain – podcast
  19. Rampage at Virginia Walmart follows upward trend in supermarket gun attacks – here's what we know about retail mass shooters
  20. Wilma Mankiller, first female principal chief of Cherokee Nation, led with compassion and continues to inspire today
  21. What is ethical animal research? A scientist and veterinarian explain
  22. Scientists discover five new species of black corals living thousands of feet below the ocean surface near the Great Barrier Reef
  23. Midterm election results reflect the hodgepodge of US voters, not the endorsement or repudiation of a candidate’s or party’s agenda
  24. Dreaming of beachfront real estate? Much of Florida's coast is at risk of storm erosion that can cause homes to collapse, as Daytona just saw
  25. The World Cup puts the spotlight on Qatar, but also brings attention to its human rights record and politics – 4 things to know
  26. Suspect in the Colorado LGBTQ shootings faces hate crimes charges – what exactly are they?
  27. Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common health problem that can have serious consequences – but doctors often overlook it
  28. After COP27, all signs point to world blowing past the 1.5 degrees global warming limit – here's what we can still do about it
  29. Student loan cancellation got blocked. Now what? 3 questions answered
  30. Railroad unions and their employers at an impasse: Freight-halting strikes are rare, and this would be the first in 3 decades
  31. 4 plays that dramatize the kidnapping of children during wars
  32. Scientists uncovered the structure of the key protein for a future hepatitis C vaccine – here's how they did it
  33. Red flag laws and the Colorado LGBTQ club shooting – questions over whether state's protection order could have prevented tragedy
  34. Thanksgiving hymns are a few centuries old, tops – but biblical psalms of gratitude and praise go back thousands of years
  35. COP27's ‘loss and damage’ fund for developing countries could be a breakthrough – or another empty climate promise
  36. Rappers are victims of an epidemic of gun violence – just like all of America
  37. Retailers may see more red after Black Friday as consumers say they plan to pull back on spending – acting as if the US were already in a recession
  38. When's the best time to use frequent flyer miles to book flights? Two economists crunched the numbers on maximizing their dollar value
  39. 18th- and 19th-century Americans of all races, classes and genders looked to the ancient Mediterranean for inspiration
  40. This course teaches how to judge a book by its cover - and its pages, print and other elements of its design
  41. How to design clean energy subsidies that work – without wasting money on free riders
  42. People don't mate randomly – but the flawed assumption that they do is an essential part of many studies linking genes to diseases and traits
  43. Air pollution harms the brain and mental health, too – a large-scale analysis documents effects on brain regions associated with emotions
  44. 6 feet of snow in Buffalo: What causes lake-effect storms like this?
  45. What to watch for when you are watching the World Cup: Essential reads for on and off the field
  46. What the world would lose with the demise of Twitter: Valuable eyewitness accounts and raw data on human behavior, as well as a habitat for trolls
  47. How medieval Catholic traditions of thanksgiving prayers and feasting shaped the Protestant celebration of Plymouth's pilgrims
  48. Why I teach a course connecting Taylor Swift's songs to the works of Shakespeare, Hitchcock and Plath
  49. World Cup: This year's special Al Rihla ball has the aerodynamics of a champion, according to a sports physicist
  50. COVID-19, RSV and the flu are straining health care systems – two epidemiologists explain what the 'triple threat' means for children