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All government shutdowns disrupt science − in 2025, the consequences extend far beyond a lapse in funding

  • Written by Kenneth M. Evans, Fellow in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
imageThe government shutdown will continue until Congress can pass a bill reopening it. Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. science always suffers during government shutdowns. Funding lapses send government scientists home without pay. Federal agencies suspend new grant opportunities, place expert review panels on hold, and stop collecting and...

Read more: All government shutdowns disrupt science − in 2025, the consequences extend far beyond a lapse in...

Trump’s squeeze of Venezuela goes beyond ‘Monroe doctrine’ – in ideology, intent and scale, it’s unprecedented

  • Written by Alan McPherson, Professor of History, Temple University
imageVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro points at a map in September 2025. AP Photo/Jesus Vargas

A massive military buildup in the Caribbean has sparked speculation that the U.S. is now engaged in its latest chapter of direct intervention in Latin America.

For now, at least, President Donald Trump has walked back suggestions that Washington is...

Read more: Trump’s squeeze of Venezuela goes beyond ‘Monroe doctrine’ – in ideology, intent and scale, it’s...

The shutdown – and the House’s inaction – helps pave Congress’ path to irrelevance

  • Written by Charlie Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University
imageWhere's Congress? The institution is unwilling to assert itself as an equal branch of government.4X6, iStock/Getty Images Plus

Many Americans will be voting on Election Day – or have already cast votes – in races for statewide office, local positions and on ballot initiatives with major implications for democracy.

Congress is not on the...

Read more: The shutdown – and the House’s inaction – helps pave Congress’ path to irrelevance

‘Only death can protect us’: How the folk saint La Santa Muerte reflects violence in Mexico

  • Written by Myriam Lamrani, Associate Researcher, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
imageA devotee carrying his daughter rests his hand on the glass to an altar to La Santa Muerte in Tepito in Mexico City. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

When a life-size skeleton dressed like the Grim Reaper first appeared on a street altar in Tepito, Mexico City, in 2001, many passersby instinctively crossed themselves. The figure was La Santa Muerte...

Read more: ‘Only death can protect us’: How the folk saint La Santa Muerte reflects violence in Mexico

What is DNS? A computer engineer explains this foundational piece of the web – and why it’s the internet’s Achilles’ heel

  • Written by Doug Jacobson, University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University
imageAmazon Web Services, hosted in data centers like this one in Virginia, supports thousands of websites, apps and online services – but not during its recent DNS outage.Nathan Howard/Getty Images

When millions of people suddenly couldn’t load familiar websites and apps during the Amazon Web Services, or AWS, outage on Oct. 20, 2025, the...

Read more: What is DNS? A computer engineer explains this foundational piece of the web – and why it’s the...

Symbolism of cemetery plants: How flowers, trees and other botanical motifs honor those buried beneath

  • Written by Shelley Mitchell, Senior Extension Specialist in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Oklahoma State University
imageThe popularity of rural cemeteries spurred the development of the first city parks. Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images

If you visit a cemetery, look closely and you’ll likely notice many flowering plants – adorning the graves, or maybe even carved into headstones.

As a horticulture Extension specialist and frequent geocacher,...

Read more: Symbolism of cemetery plants: How flowers, trees and other botanical motifs honor those buried...

Wildlife recovery means more than just survival of a species

  • Written by Benjamin Larue, Faculty Affiliate in Wildlife Biology, University of Montana
imageWhat counts as success in species recovery?U.S. Forest Service via AP

For decades, wildlife conservation policy has aimed to protect endangered species until there are enough individual animals alive that the species won’t go extinct. Then the policymakers declare victory.

That principle is enshrined in laws such as the U.S. Endangered Species...

Read more: Wildlife recovery means more than just survival of a species

It’s always been hard to make it as an artist in America – and it’s becoming only harder

  • Written by Joanna Woronkowicz, Associate Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
imageAbout 2.4 million Americans are artists, or 1% of the workforce.Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

“Being an artist is not viewed as a real job.”

It’s a sentiment I’ve heard time and again, one that echoes across studios, rehearsal halls and kitchen tables – a quiet frustration that the labor of making art rarely earns the...

Read more: It’s always been hard to make it as an artist in America – and it’s becoming only harder

Back pain during pregnancy is often dismissed as a passing discomfort − a nurse explains why it should be taken seriously and treated

  • Written by Julie Vignato, Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Iowa
imageSerious and even debilitating back pain during pregnancy is extremely common.Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images

About half to three-quarters of expectant mothers experience pain during pregnancy that is largely untreated, contributing to preventable suffering and harm. Many mothers avoid medications and treatments during pregnancy...

Read more: Back pain during pregnancy is often dismissed as a passing discomfort − a nurse explains why it...

25 Years of the International Space Station: What archaeology tells us about living and working in space

  • Written by Justin St. P. Walsh, Professor of Art History, Archaeology and Space Studies, Chapman University
imageThe International Space Station has housed visitors continuously for roughly 25 years.NASA

The International Space Station is one of the most remarkable achievements of the modern age. It is the largest, most complex, most expensive and most durable spacecraft ever built.

Its first modules were launched in 1998. The first crew to live on the...

Read more: 25 Years of the International Space Station: What archaeology tells us about living and working in...

More Articles ...

  1. Health headlines can be confusing - these 3 questions can help you evaluate them
  2. People abused by intimate partners have worse asthma – but researchers are still untangling the reasons behind this surprising link
  3. The Jew in King Shaka’s court: How a 19th-century castaway shaped a Zulu leader’s legacy
  4. Trump’s ability to counter Netanyahu’s spoiler tactics in public may have been key to advancing a ceasefire in Gaza
  5. US squeeze on Venezuela won’t bring about rapid collapse of Maduro – in fact, it might boomerang on Washington
  6. 4 urgent lessons for Jamaica from Puerto Rico’s troubled hurricane recovery – and how the Jamaican diaspora could help after Melissa
  7. Voters lose when maps get redrawn before every election instead of once a decade − a trend started in Texas, moving to California and likely spreading across the country
  8. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ helped me process the Tree of Life massacre and other real-world horrors
  9. Beware the Anglo-Saxons! Why Russia likes to invoke a medieval tribe when talking about the West
  10. ‘My gender is like an empty lot’ − the people who reject man, woman and any other gender label
  11. Atorvastatin recall may affect hundreds of thousands of patients – and reflects FDA’s troubles inspecting medicines manufactured overseas
  12. What both sides of America’s polarized divide share: Deep anxieties about the meaning of life and existence itself
  13. Where does human thinking end and AI begin? An AI authorship protocol aims to show the difference
  14. Signature size and narcissism − a psychologist explains a long-ago discovery that helped establish the link
  15. With more Moon missions on the horizon, avoiding crowding and collisions will be a growing challenge
  16. Water bears survive cosmic radiation with one DNA-protecting protein – learning how could boost human resilience, too
  17. How autism rates are rising – and why that could lead to more inclusive communities
  18. Polarizing political events are leading Americans to increasingly call for a national divorce
  19. Nuclear-powered missiles: An aerospace engineer explains how they work – and what Russia’s claimed test means for global strategic stability
  20. Why are 4.7 million Floridians insured through ACA marketplace plans, and what happens if they lose their subsidies?
  21. Rediscovery of African American burial grounds provides long-overdue opportunities for collective healing
  22. Trump’s anti-Venezuela actions lack strategy, justifiable targets and legal authorization
  23. SNAP benefit freeze will leave millions nationwide struggling to pay for food – including 472,711 people in Philadelphia
  24. US leaders view China as a ‘pacing threat’ − has Washington enough stamina to last the race?
  25. Hurricane Melissa turned sharply to devastate Jamaica − how forecasters knew where it was headed
  26. Washington state settles controversy over child abuse law that tested the limits of ‘priest-penitent’ privilege
  27. How Hershey’s chocolate survived an attack from Mars − and adopted a business strategy alien to its founder
  28. CDC’s ability to prevent injuries like drowning, traumatic brain injury and falls is severely compromised by Trump cuts
  29. Agricultural drones are taking off globally, saving farmers time and money
  30. More than 40 years after police killed Eleanor Bumpurs in her Bronx apartment, people still #sayhername
  31. Fed struggles to assess state of US economy as government shutdown shuts off key data
  32. Fed lowers interest rates as it struggles to assess state of US economy without key government data
  33. Why you can salvage moldy cheese but never spoiled meat − a toxicologist advises on what to watch out for
  34. Future of nation’s energy grid hurt by Trump’s funding cuts
  35. Solar storms have influenced our history – an environmental historian explains how they could also threaten our future
  36. The Glozel affair: A sensational archaeological hoax made science front-page news in 1920s France
  37. AI reveals which predators chewed ancient humans’ bones – challenging ideas on which ‘Homo’ species was the first tool-using hunter
  38. How the Philadelphia Art Museum is reinventing itself for the Instagram age
  39. AI chatbots are becoming everyday tools for mundane tasks, use data shows
  40. Children learn to read with books that are just right for them – but that might not be the best approach
  41. Why the Trump administration’s comparison of antifa to violent terrorist groups doesn’t track
  42. Xi-Trump summit: Trade, Taiwan and Russia still top agenda for China and US presidents – 6 years after last meeting
  43. How the explosion of prop betting threatens the integrity of pro sports
  44. The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant housing policy reflects a long history of xenophobia in public housing
  45. An Indigenous approach shows how changing the clocks for daylight saving time runs counter to human nature – and nature itself
  46. AI is changing who gets hired – what skills will keep you employed?
  47. Despite naysayers and rising costs, data shows that college still pays off for students – and society overall
  48. Woven baskets aren’t just aesthetically pleasing – materials science research finds they’re sturdier and more resilient than stiff containers
  49. What’s the difference between ghosts and demons? Books, folklore and history reflect society’s supernatural beliefs
  50. Trump’s ‘golden age’ economic message undercut by his desire for much lower interest rates – which typically signal a weak jobs market