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We are hardwired to sing − and it’s good for us, too

  • Written by Elinor Harrison, Lecturer, Performing Arts Department, Faculty Affiliate, Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis
imageGospel choir director Clyde Lawrence performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 25, 2025. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

On the first Sunday after being named leader of the Catholic Church in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV stood on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and addressed the tens of thousands of people gathered....

Read more: We are hardwired to sing − and it’s good for us, too

Winter storms blanket the East, while the U.S. West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

  • Written by Adrienne Marshall, Assistant Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
imageMuch of the West has seen a slow start to the 2026 snow season.Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Ski season is here, but while the eastern half of the U.S. digs out from winter storms, the western U.S. snow season has been off to a very slow start.

The snowpack was far below normal across most of the West on Dec. 1, 2025. Denver didn’t see its...

Read more: Winter storms blanket the East, while the U.S. West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

Winter storms blanket the East, while the US West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

  • Written by Adrienne Marshall, Assistant Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
imageMuch of the West has seen a slow start to the 2026 snow season.Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Ski season is here, but while the eastern half of the U.S. digs out from wintery storms, the western U.S. snow season has been off to a very slow start.

The snowpack was far below normal across most of the West on Dec. 1, 2025. Denver didn’t see its...

Read more: Winter storms blanket the East, while the US West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

Stalin’s postwar terror targeted Soviet Jews – in the name of ‘anti-cosmopolitanism’

  • Written by Wendy Z. Goldman, Professor of History, Carnegie Mellon University
imageA plaque in Russia commemorates the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, whose leaders were executed in August 1952.Adam Baker/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

Many Americans know of Josef Stalin’s Terror of the late 1930s, during which more than 1 million people were arrested for political crimes, and over 680,000 executed.

Fewer know about the...

Read more: Stalin’s postwar terror targeted Soviet Jews – in the name of ‘anti-cosmopolitanism’

Rural high school students are more likely than city kids to get their diplomas, but they remain less likely to go to college

  • Written by Sheneka Williams, Professor of Educational Administration, Michigan State University
imageA high school junior looks over a farm where he works in Perry, N.Y., in March 2025. Lauren Petracca/Associated Press

Many high school seniors are currently in the midst of the college application process or are already waiting to hear back from their selected schools.

For high school students in rural parts of the United States, the frantic pace...

Read more: Rural high school students are more likely than city kids to get their diplomas, but they remain...

Texas cities have some of the highest preterm birth rates in the US, highlighting maternal health crisis nationwide

  • Written by Kobi V. Ajayi, Research Assistant Professor of Maternal and Child Health, Texas A&M University
imageThe newest March of Dimes report gives the U.S. a D+ rating on preterm birth rates.IvanJekic/E+ via Getty Images

Seven years ago, at 30 weeks into a seemingly low-risk pregnancy, I unexpectedly began to bleed. Doctors diagnosed me with complete placenta previa. Then, while on bed rest at 32 weeks, my placenta suddenly ruptured, leading to an...

Read more: Texas cities have some of the highest preterm birth rates in the US, highlighting maternal health...

New York’s wealthy warn of a tax exodus after Mamdani’s win – but the data says otherwise

  • Written by Cristobal Young, Associate Professor of Sociology, Cornell University
imageWealthy New Yorkers have threatened to leave the city if Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani follows through on his promise to raise taxes on the rich.Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

New York’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, campaigned on a promise to raise the city’s income tax on its richest residents from 3.9% to 5.9%. Combined with the...

Read more: New York’s wealthy warn of a tax exodus after Mamdani’s win – but the data says otherwise

Why do people get headaches and migraines? A child neurologist explains the science of head pain and how to treat it

  • Written by Katherine Cobb-Pitstick, Assistant Professor of Child Neurology, University of Pittsburgh
imageThere are steps you can take to relieve headache pain and prevent future attacks.Thai Liang Lim/E+ 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.

Why do people get headaches? – Evie V., age 10, Corpus Christi, Texas

Whe...

Read more: Why do people get headaches and migraines? A child neurologist explains the science of head pain...

When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout

  • Written by Ivano W. Aiello, Professor of Marine Geology, San José State University
imageA battery energy storage facility that was built inside an old power plant burned from Jan. 16-18, 2025.Mike Takaki

When fire broke out at the world’s largest battery energy storage facility in January 2025, its thick smoke blanketed surrounding wetlands, farms and nearby communities on the central California coast.

Highways closed,...

Read more: When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands...

Speaker Johnson’s choice to lead by following the president goes against 200 years of House speakers building up the office’s power

  • Written by SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Politics, University of Virginia
imageHouse Speaker Mike Johnson has given a lot of effort to pushing the agenda of President Donald Trump.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

When the framers of what became the U.S. Constitution set out to draft the rules of our government on a hot, humid day in the summer of 1787, debates over details raged on.

But one thing the men agreed on was the power of...

Read more: Speaker Johnson’s choice to lead by following the president goes against 200 years of House...

More Articles ...

  1. Iran’s president calls for moving its drought-stricken capital amid a worsening water crisis – how Tehran got into water bankruptcy
  2. Guinea-Bissau’s military takeover highlights the nation’s sorry history of coups and a deepening crisis across the region
  3. Drones, physics and rats: Studies show how the people of Rapa Nui made and moved the giant statues – and what caused the island’s deforestation
  4. As US hunger rises, Trump administration’s ‘efficiency’ goals cause massive food waste
  5. A year on, the Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire looks increasingly fragile − could a return to cyclical violence come next?
  6. How does Narcan work? Mapping how it reverses opioid overdose can provide a molecular blueprint for more effective drugs
  7. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence – and that affects what scientific journals choose to publish
  8. George Plimpton’s 1966 nonfiction classic ‘Paper Lion’ revealed the bruising truths of Detroit Lions training camp
  9. Pentagon investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly revives Cold War persecution of Americans with supposedly disloyal views
  10. A database could help revive the Arapaho language before its last speakers are gone
  11. How food assistance programs can feed families and nourish their dignity
  12. What makes a true Santa is inside – and comes with the red suit
  13. ‘Without prejudice’: What this 2-word legalese means for the dismissed charges against James Comey and Letitia James
  14. From concrete to community: How synthetic data can make urban digital twins more humane
  15. The ChatGPT effect: In 3 years the AI chatbot has changed the way people look things up
  16. When darkness shines: How dark stars could illuminate the early universe
  17. Fern stems reveal secrets of evolution – how constraints in development can lead to new forms
  18. A quarter of early child care educators in Colorado reported mistreatment from co-workers
  19. Sea level doesn’t rise at the same rate everywhere – we mapped where Antarctica’s ice melt would have the biggest impact
  20. Automated systems decide which homeless Philadelphians get housing and who stays on the street – often in ways that feel arbitrary to those waiting
  21. Treating love for work like a virtue can backfire on employees and teams
  22. Colleges teach the most valuable career skills when they don’t stick narrowly to preprofessional education
  23. Thousands of genomes reveal the wild wolf genes in most dogs’ DNA
  24. Peace plan presented by the US to Ukraine reflects inexperienced, unrealistic handling of a delicate situation
  25. Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges
  26. More than half of new articles on the internet are being written by AI – is human writing headed for extinction?
  27. Nonprofit news outlets are often scared that selling ads could jeopardize their tax-exempt status, but IRS records show that’s been rare
  28. How will the universe end?
  29. AI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient – and could even lead to nuclear-powered rockets
  30. Mid-Atlantic mushroom foragers collect 160 species for food, medicine, art and science
  31. We created health guidelines for fighting loneliness - here’s what we recommend
  32. Nick Fuentes is a master of exploiting the current social media opportunities for extremism
  33. What Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t tell you about ‘Operation Northwoods,’ the false flag operation he loves to denounce
  34. From invasive species tracking to water security – what’s lost with federal funding cuts at US Climate Adaptation Science Centers
  35. Just follow orders or obey the law? What US troops told us about refusing illegal commands
  36. Colorado is pumping the brakes on first-of-its-kind AI regulation to find a practical path forward
  37. The plague of frog costumes demonstrates the subversive power of play in protests
  38. John Fetterman is an unusual politician – but his rise from borough mayor to US senator reflects a recent trend
  39. Making GLP-1 weight loss drugs cheaper isn’t enough to address America’s obesity problem – here’s why
  40. Off-label use of COVID-19 vaccines was once discouraged but has become common amid new guidelines
  41. From ‘mail-order brides’ to ‘passport bros,’ the international dating industry often sells traditional gender roles
  42. $2B Counter-Strike 2 crash exposes a legal black hole: Your digital investments aren’t really yours
  43. Farmers – long Trump backers – bear the costs of new tariffs, restricted immigration and slashed renewable energy subsidies
  44. First Amendment in flux: When free speech protections came up against the Red Scare
  45. AI is providing emotional support for employees – but is it a valuable tool or privacy threat?
  46. Who wins and who loses as the US retires the penny
  47. ‘Jeffrey Epstein is not unique’: What his case reveals about the realities of child sex trafficking
  48. College students are now slightly less likely to experience severe depression, research shows – but the mental health crisis is far from over
  49. 50 years after Franco’s death, giving a voice to Spanish dictator’s imprisoned mothers
  50. Beyond the habitable zone: Exoplanet atmospheres are the next clue to finding life on planets orbiting distant stars