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Drought can hit almost anywhere: How 5 cities that nearly ran dry got water use under control

  • Written by Sara Hughes, Adjunct Professor of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
imageLas Vegas' water supplier offers rebates to residents who tear out their grass lawns to save water.LPETTET/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Water scarcity is often viewed as an issue for the arid American West, but the U.S. Northeast’s experience in 2024 shows how severe droughts can occur in just about any part of the country.

Cities in the Northeast...

Read more: Drought can hit almost anywhere: How 5 cities that nearly ran dry got water use under control

Fossil shark teeth are abundant and can date the past in a unique way

  • Written by Stephanie Killingsworth, Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences, University of Florida
imageA paleontologist holds a megalodon fossil tooth. Kristen Grace/FLMNH, CC BY-SA

The ratios of strontium isotopes in fossil shark teeth can be used to better understand how coastal environments evolved in ancient times, according to our newly published work.

As paleontologists with the Florida Museum of Natural History, we’re interested in...

Read more: Fossil shark teeth are abundant and can date the past in a unique way

Rare portraits reveal the humanity of the slaves who revolted on the Amistad

  • Written by Kate McMahon, Historian of Global Slavery, Smithsonian Institution
imageJohn Warner Barber's 'Death of Capt. Ferrer,' 1839.Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

On the night of July 1, 1839, 53 enslaved Africans revolted aboard the slaving schooner La Amistad – Spanish for “Friendship” – while they were being shipped to a plantation in Puerto Príncipe, Cuba.

Kidnapped and...

Read more: Rare portraits reveal the humanity of the slaves who revolted on the Amistad

Your environment affects how well your medications work − identifying exactly how could make medicine better

  • Written by Gary W. Miller, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
imageEven the air you breathe may influence how effective a drug may be for you.Jorg Greuel/Photodisc via Getty Images

Your genes play a major role in determining your height, hair and eye color, and skin tone, but they don’t tell the entire story of who you are. Your environment is incredibly important in shaping your personality, your likes and...

Read more: Your environment affects how well your medications work − identifying exactly how could make...

Where does black fall on the color spectrum? A color scientist explains

  • Written by Michael J. Murdoch, Associate Professor of Color Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageYou perceive electromagnetic radiation in the form of light in all the colors of the rainbow.MirageC/Movement 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.

Where does black fall on the color spectrum? – Utsav, age...

Read more: Where does black fall on the color spectrum? A color scientist explains

The Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender and passing as white

  • Written by Deborah W. Parker, Professor of Italian, University of Virginia
imageA 1910 watercolor portrait of Belle da Costa Greene by Laura Coombs Hills.The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, gift of the Estate of Belle da Costa Greene.

“Just Because I am a Librarian doesn’t mean I have to dress like one.”

With this breezy pronouncement, Belle da Costa Greene handily differentiated herself from most...

Read more: The Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender and passing as white

Bogus scientific papers are enriching fraudsters and slowing lifesaving medical research

  • Written by Frederik Joelving, Contributing editor, Retraction Watch
imageAssistant professor Frank Cackowski, left, and researcher Steven Zielske at Wayne State University in Detroit became suspicious of a paper on cancer research that was eventually retracted.Amy Sacka, CC BY-ND

Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialized the production, sale and dissemination of bogus...

Read more: Bogus scientific papers are enriching fraudsters and slowing lifesaving medical research

Property and sovereignty in space − as countries and companies take to the stars, they could run into disputes

  • Written by Wayne N White Jr, Adjunct Professor of Aviation and Space Law, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
imageAs travel to the Moon grows more accessible, countries may have to navigate territorial disputes.Neil A. Armstrong/NASA via AP

Private citizens and companies may one day begin to permanently settle outer space and celestial bodies. But if we don’t enact governing laws in the meantime, space settlers may face legal chaos.

Many wars on Earth sta...

Read more: Property and sovereignty in space − as countries and companies take to the stars, they could run...

Can a charter school be religious? The Supreme Court decision about St. Isidore, a Catholic school in Oklahoma, could redraw lines around church and state in education

  • Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton
imageIf approved, St. Isidore's would be the first religious charter school.Jonathan Kirn/The Image Bank via Getty Images

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Oklahoma can open St. Isidore: an online Roman Catholic charter school named after the patron saint of the internet. If affirmed, the school would be the nation’s first faith-based...

Read more: Can a charter school be religious? The Supreme Court decision about St. Isidore, a Catholic school...

AI gives nonprogrammers a boost in writing computer code

  • Written by Leo Porter, Teaching Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego
imageAI coding handles the hard parts for nonprogrammers.Andriy/Moment via Getty Images

What do you think there are more of: professional computer programmers or computer users who do a little programming?

It’s the second group. There are millions of so-called end-user programmers. They’re not going into a career as a professional programmer...

Read more: AI gives nonprogrammers a boost in writing computer code

More Articles ...

  1. Teens on social media: Red, blue and purple states are all passing laws to restrict and protect adolescents
  2. Nonprofits that provide shelter for homeless people, disaster recovery help, and food for low-income Americans rely heavily on federal funding – they would be reeling if Trump froze that money
  3. From breakbeats to the dance floor: How hip-hop and house revolutionized music and culture
  4. How nonprofits abroad can fill gaps when the US government cuts off foreign aid
  5. Biden targeted the online right-wing terrorism threat − now it’s up to Trump
  6. A federal policy expert weighs in on Trump’s efforts to stifle gender-affirming care for Americans under 19
  7. How satellites and AI help fight wildfires today
  8. Why Trump’s meme coin is a cash grab
  9. Stricter abortion laws may cause increased infant deaths − 2 maternal and child health researchers explain the data
  10. ‘We painted our fear, hope and dreams’ − examining the art and artists of Guantánamo Bay
  11. Gen Z seeks safety above all else as the generation grows up amid constant crisis and existential threat
  12. Philly Whole Foods store becomes first to unionize – a labor expert explains what’s next and how Trump could stall workers’ efforts
  13. Bennu asteroid reveals its contents to scientists − and clues to how the building blocks of life on Earth may have been seeded
  14. Problematic Paper Screener: Trawling for fraud in the scientific literature
  15. Why building big AIs costs billions – and how Chinese startup DeepSeek dramatically changed the calculus
  16. Fake papers are contaminating the world’s scientific literature, fueling a corrupt industry and slowing legitimate lifesaving medical research
  17. Rest, reorientation and hope – the pillars of 2025’s Catholic Jubilee year
  18. President Carter had to balance employers’ demands for foreign workers with pressure to restrict immigration – and so does Trump
  19. Skin phantoms help researchers improve wearable devices without people wearing them
  20. Almost half of evicted women and families in metro Detroit say they were illegally pushed out of their homes
  21. ‘Aliens’ and ‘animals’ – language of hate used by Trump and others can be part of a violent design
  22. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination signals a new era of anti-intellectualism in American politics
  23. What’s behind Trump’s flurry of executive action: 4 essential reads on autocrats and authoritarianism
  24. Commerce oversees everything from weather and salmon to trade and census − here are 3 challenges awaiting new secretary
  25. ¿Trump va en serio con cambiar el nombre del Golfo de México al ‘Golfo de América’? Esto explica una geógrafa
  26. Engineering the social: Students in this course use systems thinking to help solve human rights, disease and homelessness
  27. Medical research depends on government money – even a day’s delay in the intricate funding process throws science off-kilter
  28. In asking Trump to show mercy, Bishop Budde continues a long tradition of Christian leaders ‘speaking truth to power’
  29. St. Thomas Aquinas’ skull just went on tour − here’s what the medieval saint himself would have said about its veneration
  30. Disaster evacuations can take much longer than people expect − computer simulations could help save lives and avoid chaos
  31. Global wildlife trade is an enormous market – a look at the billions of animals the US imports from nearly 30,000 species
  32. Global wildlife trade is an enormous market – the US imports billions of animals from nearly 30,000 species
  33. Donors are down, but dollars are up – how US charitable giving is changing
  34. Canada and Greenland aren’t likely to join the US anytime soon – but ‘GrAmeriCa’ is a revealing thought experiment
  35. Getting mail to your door is just one part of what the postmaster general does
  36. Nutrition advice is rife with misinformation − a medical education specialist explains how to tell valid health information from pseudoscience
  37. Happiness in poorer countries does not follow the typical U-shaped curve − people are often happiest in middle age
  38. Federal threats against local officials who don’t cooperate with immigration orders could be unconstitutional − Justice Antonin Scalia ruled against similar plans
  39. I study democracy worldwide − here’s how Texas is eroding human rights, free expression and civil liberties
  40. Why does it hurt when you get a scrape? A neuroscientist explains the science of pain
  41. How does raw water compare to tap water? A microbiologist explains why the risks outweigh the benefits
  42. Why government can’t make America ‘healthier’ by micromanaging groceries purchased with SNAP benefits
  43. Why Trump’s tariffs can’t solve America’s fentanyl crisis
  44. Assad’s fall opens window for Syrian refugees to head home − but for many, it won’t be an easy decision
  45. ‘Sorry, I didn’t get that’: AI misunderstands some people’s words more than others
  46. Norovirus, aka the winter vomiting bug, is on the rise – an infectious disease expert explains the best ways to stay safe
  47. Understanding paranormal beliefs and conspiracy theories isn’t just about misinformation – this course unpacks the history
  48. College course teaches Philly students to appreciate beer − whether they’re tailgating or fine dining
  49. Can Trump just order new names for Denali and the Gulf of Mexico? A geographer explains who decides what goes on the map
  50. Trump inherits the Guantánamo prison, complete with 4 ‘forever prisoners’