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China's ties to Cuba and growing presence in Latin America raise security concerns in Washington, even as leaders try to ease tensions

  • Written by: Leland Lazarus, Associate Director of National Security, Florida International University
imageU.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, on July 6, 2023. Pedro Pardo/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

There is a push by leaders in Washington and Beijing to get U.S.-China relations back on track. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with President Xi Jinping in China in June 2023 to...

Read more: China's ties to Cuba and growing presence in Latin America raise security concerns in Washington,...

Science activism is surging – which marks a culture shift among scientists

  • Written by: Scott Frickel, Professor of Sociology and Environment and Society, Brown University
imageThe March for Science is one example of scientists advocating for political change. AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz

Hundreds of scientists protested government efforts to restrict educational access to Western science theories, including Darwin’s theory of evolution, in June 2023 in India. Similarly, scientists in Mexico participated in a research...

Read more: Science activism is surging – which marks a culture shift among scientists

Aging is complicated – a biologist explains why no two people or cells age the same way, and what this means for anti-aging interventions

  • Written by: Ellen Quarles, Assistant Professor in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan
imageWhile some people may be older in chronological age, their biological age might be much younger.FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images

You likely know someone who seems to age slowly, appearing years younger than their birth date suggests. And you likely have seen the opposite – someone whose body and mind seem much more ravaged by time than others....

Read more: Aging is complicated – a biologist explains why no two people or cells age the same way, and what...

Police treatment in black and white – report on Minneapolis policing is the latest reminder of systemic racial disparities

  • Written by: Rashad Shabazz, Associate Professor at the School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University
imagePeople in the Brooklyn borough of New York City protest police violence against Black women on Sept. 5, 2020.Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The latest reminder that police officers around the country routinely deny Black people their constitutional rights comes from the Justice Department. This time, it’s about Minneapolis, the...

Read more: Police treatment in black and white – report on Minneapolis policing is the latest reminder of...

_E. coli_ is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science and medicine

  • Written by: Megan Keller, Ph.D. Candidate in Microbiology, Cornell University
image_E. coli_ as a model organism helped researchers better understand how DNA works.Ed Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images

In 1857, a young pediatrician named Theodor Escherich discovered what may very well be the most well-studied organism today. The rod-shaped bacterium named Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli, is a very...

Read more: _E. coli_ is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science...

Christians in Pakistan risk greater persecution from blasphemy laws, while living in poverty

  • Written by: Myriam Renaud, Affiliated Faculty of Bioethics, Religion, and Society, Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University
imagePakistani Christians praying at a church.AP Photo/Fareed Khan

Two Christian Pakistani teenagers, one 18 and another 14, were arrested in their homes in Lahore in May 2023 on charges of blasphemy after a policeman claimed he heard them being disrespectful of the Prophet Muhammad.

Among Muslim-majority countries, Pakistan has the strictest blasphemy...

Read more: Christians in Pakistan risk greater persecution from blasphemy laws, while living in poverty

Astro-tourism – chasing eclipses, meteor showers and elusive dark skies from Earth

  • Written by: Vahe Peroomian, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
imageIn 2024, much of the eastern United States will fall in the path of a total solar eclipse, like the one pictured. Diane Miller/The Image Bank via Getty images

For years, small groups of astronomy enthusiasts have traveled the globe chasing the rare solar eclipse. They have embarked on cruises to the middle of the ocean, taken flights into the...

Read more: Astro-tourism – chasing eclipses, meteor showers and elusive dark skies from Earth

Human exposure to wildfires has more than doubled in two decades – who is at risk might surprise you

  • Written by: Mojtaba Sadegh, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Boise State University
imageSmoke rises from a brush fire near Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles in 2007Hector Mata/AFP via Getty Images

Over the past two decades, a staggering 21.8 million Americans found themselves living within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of a large wildfire. Most of those residents would have had to evacuate, and many would have been exposed to smoke and...

Read more: Human exposure to wildfires has more than doubled in two decades – who is at risk might surprise you

The Global South is on the rise – but what exactly is the Global South?

  • Written by: Jorge Heine, Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University
imageThe world turned upside downiStock / Getty Images Plus

The unwillingness of many leading countries in Africa, Asiaand Latin America to stand with NATO over the war in Ukraine has brought to the fore once again the term “Global South.”

“Why does so much of the Global South support Russia?” inquired one recent headline;...

Read more: The Global South is on the rise – but what exactly is the Global South?

Why are some Beanie Babies worth more than others? Prices for collectibles are about supply and demand

  • Written by: Christophe Spaenjers, Associate Professor of Finance, University of Colorado Boulder
imageFrom limited editions to spelling errors, only the rarest Beanie Babies are worth money.iStock, CC BY-SAimage

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 are some Beanie Babies worth more than others? – Theo R., age 8, Rockford,...

Read more: Why are some Beanie Babies worth more than others? Prices for collectibles are about supply and...

More Articles …

  1. A business can decline service based on its beliefs, Supreme Court rules – but what will this look like in practice?
  2. Now that President Biden's student loan cancellation program has been canceled, here's what's next
  3. Cambodia PM Hun Sen will shut down opposition on election day – even if he can no longer threaten voters on Facebook
  4. A subtle symphony of ripples in spacetime – astronomers use dead stars to measure gravitational waves produced by ancient black holes
  5. 'We the People' includes all Americans – but July 4 is a reminder that democracy remains a work in progress
  6. Military academies can still consider race in admissions, but the rest of the nation's colleges and universities cannot, court rules
  7. What Beijing's muted response to Wagner mutiny tells us about China-Russia relations – and what it doesn't
  8. Locally transmitted malaria in the US could be a harbinger of rising disease risk in a warming climate – 5 questions answered
  9. From Stonewall to Pride, the fight for equal rights has been rooted in resistance led by Black transwomen
  10. Inside the grogue wars of Cabo Verde
  11. By 'helping' wild animals, you could end their freedom or even their lives – here's why you should keep your distance
  12. Visual misinformation is widespread on Facebook – and often undercounted by researchers
  13. Is it legal to sell human remains?
  14. 3 myths about immigration in America
  15. A 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding affirmative action planted the seeds of its overturning, as justices then and now thought racism an easily solved problem
  16. IceCube neutrino detector in Antarctica spots first high-energy neutrinos emitted in our own Milky Way galaxy
  17. Researchers can learn a lot with your genetic information, even when you skip survey questions – yesterday's mode of informed consent doesn't quite fit today's biobank studies
  18. Yes, debates do help voters decide – and candidates are increasingly reluctant to participate
  19. Bridge collapses, road repairs, evacuations: How transportation agencies plan for large-scale traffic disruptions
  20. Meltwater is hydro-fracking Greenland’s ice sheet through millions of hairline cracks – destabilizing its internal structure
  21. Think being a NASCAR driver isn't as physically demanding as other sports? Think again
  22. US agencies buy vast quantities of personal information on the open market – a legal scholar explains why and what it means for privacy in the age of AI
  23. Ringworm fungal infections are common in the US and are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment – 6 questions answered
  24. English dialects make themselves heard in genes
  25. Americans in former Confederate states more likely to say violent protest against government is justified, 160 years after Gettysburg
  26. What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?
  27. Putin's Ukraine war keeps yielding dividends -- but not for him
  28. A trauma-focused therapy is helping Ukrainian children besieged by war – a clinical psychologist explains how it could bring resilience to kids around the world
  29. Lab-grown meat techniques aren't new – cell cultures are common tools in science, but bringing them up to scale to meet society's demand for meat will require further development
  30. States are weakening their child labor restrictions nearly 8 decades after the US government took kids out of the workforce
  31. Do you crush microbes when you step on them?
  32. Taking students to the range to learn about gun culture firsthand
  33. BMI alone will no longer be treated as the go-to measure for weight management – an obesity medicine physician explains the seismic shift taking place
  34. Asian folktales offer moral lessons that help reduce racial prejudice in children
  35. Ja Morant shows how a 'good guy with a gun' can never be Black
  36. Supreme Court rules the US is not required to ensure access to water for the Navajo Nation
  37. Titan submersible disaster underscores dangers of deep-sea exploration – an engineer explains why most ocean science is conducted with crewless submarines
  38. Fear trumps anger when it comes to data breaches – angry customers vent, but fearful customers don't come back
  39. How pardoning extremists undermines the rule of law
  40. How will AI affect workers? Tech waves of the past show how unpredictable the path can be
  41. Ocean heat is off the charts – here's what that means for humans and ecosystems around the world
  42. Islam's call to prayer is ringing out in more US cities -- affirming a long and growing presence of Muslims in America
  43. China and the US are locked in struggle -- and the visit by Secretary of State Blinken is only a start to improving relations
  44. Why no living people appear on US postage stamps
  45. Announcing The Conversation's new investigative unit – we're looking for collaborators in academia
  46. Heists Worth Billions: An investigation found criminal gangs using sham bank accounts and secret online marketplaces to steal from almost anyone – and little being done to combat the fraud
  47. Behind the scenes of the investigation: Heists Worth Billions
  48. Hurricanes push heat deeper into the ocean than scientists realized, boosting long-term ocean warming, new research shows
  49. How to protect yourself from drop account fraud -- tips from our investigative unit
  50. US charitable donations fell to $499 billion in 2022 as stocks slumped and inflation surged