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Why the Iran war is breaking the US-European strategic alliance

  • Written by Farah N. Jan, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Pennsylvania
imageGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrive for a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on April 17, 2026.Jeanne Accorsini/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Days after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, 2026, Spanish Prime...

Read more: Why the Iran war is breaking the US-European strategic alliance

From beef ribs to a ‘heavenly’ walk: Xi-Trump summit symbolism underscored American power and Chinese tradition

  • Written by Xianda Huang, Ph.D. Student in Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles
imageChina's President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on May 14, 2026.Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Diplomacy often masquerades as theater. And nearly nine years after his first state visit to China, Donald Trump returned to Beijing with an extended cast of characters.

Alongside the U.S. president on...

Read more: From beef ribs to a ‘heavenly’ walk: Xi-Trump summit symbolism underscored American power and...

Supreme Court preserves access to mifepristone via telehealth – at least for now

  • Written by Sonia Suter, Professor of Law, George Washington University
image Mifepristone is one of two drugs typically used in medication abortions.Carl Lokko/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that patients can continue to getmifepristone, one of the two drugs used for medication abortion, via telehealth and by mail. At least for now.

A lower court had temporarily blocked this access...

Read more: Supreme Court preserves access to mifepristone via telehealth – at least for now

Trump-Xi summit: Cautious progress on trade, ties and some ‘win-wins’

  • Written by Yan Bennett, Professorial Lecturer, American University

President Donald Trump departed China on May 15, 2026, after a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that was scrutinized from every angle for clues on where the relationship is heading.

Trump hailed the trip as “incredible,” while Xi remarked that it marked a “new bilateral relationship.” Other observers were a...

Read more: Trump-Xi summit: Cautious progress on trade, ties and some ‘win-wins’

You can persuade AI models to accept falsehoods as truth, study shows

  • Written by Ashique KhudaBukhsh, Assistant Professor of Computing and Information Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageYou can make AI chatbots spout information that's not true.Nicoletaionescu/iStock via Getty Images

When you ask a large language model a question, the reply may include falsehoods, and if you challenge those statements with facts, the AI may still uphold the reply as true. That’s what my research group found when we asked five leading models...

Read more: You can persuade AI models to accept falsehoods as truth, study shows

Is baby talk bad? Why ‘parentese’ actually helps babies learn language

  • Written by Karen Stollznow, Senior Research Fellow of Linguistics, University of Colorado Boulder; Griffith University
imageEmphasizing the sounds of certain words to young children can help them retain language, not confuse them about speaking properly. MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Many parents have heard the warning: Don’t use baby talk with babies and toddlers. Instead, caregivers are often encouraged to speak properly and use adultlike...

Read more: Is baby talk bad? Why ‘parentese’ actually helps babies learn language

A fungal disease, along with climate change, threatens Colorado’s prized peaches

  • Written by Jane Stewart, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, Colorado State University
imageColorado's peach industry is threatened by a fungal disease. Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images

In western Colorado, home to the treasured Palisade peach, cytospora canker is one of the most economically consequential fungal diseases faced by growers.

A recent survey conducted by Colorado State University in Orchard Mesa found...

Read more: A fungal disease, along with climate change, threatens Colorado’s prized peaches

Would a $1 rideshare fee affect wealthier or working-class Philadelphians more? 2 Chicago studies offer some perspective

  • Written by Parth Vaishnav, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Systems Climate + Energy, University of Michigan
imageRiders will pay about $30 per hour in time saved when deciding between using a ride-hailing app or public transportation, one study found.Michele Pevide/E+ Collection via Getty Images

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has proposed a US$1 fee on all Uber, Lyft and other rideshare trips in the city to begin in 2027. The projected $48 million annual...

Read more: Would a $1 rideshare fee affect wealthier or working-class Philadelphians more? 2 Chicago studies...

From medieval plague ships to hantavirus: How outbreaks at sea helped to shape the international public health system

  • Written by Katrine L. Wallace, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois Chicago
imagePassengers on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026AP Photo/Uncredited

Cruise ships are convenient floating hotels by which to see far-flung parts of the world – but as an epidemiologist, I know they are also everything an infectious pathogen could want:...

Read more: From medieval plague ships to hantavirus: How outbreaks at sea helped to shape the international...

More Articles ...

  1. More than just a critical blow to Keir Starmer and Labour, local votes signal a dis-United Kingdom
  2. America’s musical founding father: ‘Liberty songs’ by a self-taught singer and tanner helped fuel the Revolution
  3. Who shops at farmers markets in the US?
  4. A ‘super El Niño?’ Why it’s too early to forecast one with certainty, but not too soon to prepare
  5. How much is a bat worth? Protecting these tiny insect-eaters isn’t just good for farms – their deaths cost taxpayers and the wider economy
  6. Why a growing number of Trump supporters are experiencing voter’s remorse
  7. Astrophysicists use ‘space archaeology’ to trace the history of a spiral galaxy
  8. Will future missions to the Moon be sustainable? It may depend on whom you ask
  9. TikTok’s popular microdramas shrink TV into bite-sized chunks
  10. Is AI really ‘writing’? From a priestess to philosophers, ancient authors would have said ‘no’
  11. How Trump plans to keep tariffs at the center of his economic policy despite stinging court losses
  12. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson disagreed about the American Revolution’s meaning even as they lay dying
  13. Baloch insurgency: Suicide bombs and uptick in violence threaten Pakistan, regional security
  14. Most people don’t know what they don’t know, but think they do – correcting your metaknowledge can make you a better teacher and learner
  15. Immigrant patients often choose doctors with a shared cultural background – what they are seeking isn’t sameness but connection
  16. Why Trump’s call to pull 5,000 US troops from Germany will hurt America
  17. Falling space debris poses an escalating risk as spacecraft get stronger and more heat resistant
  18. We tested the new World Cup ball – this is what you need to know about how it will fly, dip and swerve
  19. Detroit’s water affordability crisis is tied to the uneven distribution of stormwater management costs – a fraught history explains why
  20. How tarot readers are using AI – and what it says about our growing reliance on chatbots for emotional support and advice
  21. Why Pennsylvania’s low-income residents are feeling the squeeze as gas prices rise
  22. Suspending federal gas tax wouldn’t save drivers as much as they might hope – here’s what goes into the price of a gallon of gas
  23. Many of the Caribbean’s most important reefs are going unprotected
  24. You can change your emotions – but it’s a 2-step process that takes some effort
  25. How America’s independence from England revolutionized US philanthropy
  26. Why Kevin Warsh might still prove to be an independent Federal Reserve chair
  27. A deep-ocean climate plan wins rare EPA approval, but is sinking plants in the sea the answer?
  28. The Cherokee Bible, one of the language’s first books, is a window between worldviews
  29. Genome sequencing is rewriting the history of disease outbreaks – but without social context, it can tell only part of the story
  30. Button-pushing explorers: How to grasp that AI agents can do amazing things while knowing nothing
  31. Trump-Xi summit will be no ‘Nixon in China’ moment – that they are talking is enough for now
  32. Why political gerrymandering in the South will likely continue to consider voters’ race despite Supreme Court ruling
  33. Racial gerrymandering may be here to stay
  34. What makes a good teacher? Ask a Republican and a Democrat, and they are likely to agree
  35. We studied what happened when financially struggling artists received $1,000 a month, no strings attached, for 18 months
  36. When you don’t have the facts, argue the law: How Trump’s EPA is limiting its own ability to protect public health far into the future
  37. The missing link in America’s critical minerals push isn’t mining – it’s processing expertise
  38. ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ shows how Christian imagery circulates in unusual ways through the fashion industry
  39. What to do if someone you know in Philadelphia or elsewhere is detained by ICE
  40. Why did ‘Tyrannosaurus rex’ have such short arms?
  41. Delta-8, delta-9, THCA? What sets the different THC forms available in regulated cannabis products apart
  42. How AI can lead to false arrests and wrongful convictions
  43. How does your brain decide between the road not taken or the same old route? Resolving conflicting memories is key to navigation
  44. Why a landmark Supreme Court ruling has failed to keep racial bias out of jury selection
  45. How Pennsylvania’s new paid leave bill leaves the sandwich generation behind
  46. Black, Hispanic, female and low-income elementary students are less likely to be identified with autism
  47. Teens aren’t as disengaged as you may think: What adults get wrong about adolescents’ civic contributions
  48. Thoreau the scientist – how environmental research informed ‘Walden’ and later works
  49. People with premenstrual dysphoric disorder have higher rates of suicidal thinking, planning and attempts
  50. Conspiracy theorists are building AI interfaces to the Epstein files – and presenting their views as data analysis