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Biological age tests reveal what slows or hastens aging – but they’re useful only for researchers, not consumers

  • Written by Idan Shalev, Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State

Imagine receiving a test result that tells you your body is biologically five years older than your chronological age. You exercise regularly, get good sleep, eat healthy meals and have a happy personal life. What have you been doing wrong? Can this test be trusted?

Dozens of companies are marketing products that promise to reveal a person’s...

Read more: Biological age tests reveal what slows or hastens aging – but they’re useful only for researchers,...

Why the 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline doesn’t actually constrain presidents

  • Written by Jasmine Farrier, Professor of Political Science, University of Louisville
imageA TV displays U.S. President Donald Trump's prime-time address on the war in Iran inside a Cheesecake Factory on April 1, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

May 1, 2026, marks the 60th day of Operation Epic Fury in Iran – a symbolically significant date designating when a president who has mounted unilateral military...

Read more: Why the 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline doesn’t actually constrain presidents

What’s in the price of a gallon of gas?

  • Written by Robert I. Harris, Assistant Professor of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageGas prices were well over $4 a gallon on April 28, 2026, in Brooklyn, N.Y.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects nationwide retail gasoline prices to average near US$4.30 a gallon for April 2026 – the highest monthly average of the year. The political response has been familiar. Georgia has suspended its...

Read more: What’s in the price of a gallon of gas?

How Harriet Tubman and Philadelphia abolitionists coordinated dangerous journeys to freedom

  • Written by Nilgun Anadolu-Okur, Professor of Africology and African American Studies, Temple University
imageA large-scale version of artist Alvin Pettit's design of a Harriet Tubman statue is coming to Philadelphia. Courtesy of Alvin Pettit

A roughly 14-foot-tall bronze statue of the United States’ most famous abolitionist, Harriet Tubman, will become a permanent fixture outside Philadelphia’s City Hall later this year. It will be the first...

Read more: How Harriet Tubman and Philadelphia abolitionists coordinated dangerous journeys to freedom

AI chatbots can prioritize flattery over facts – and that carries serious risks

  • Written by Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Applied Ethics Center, UMass Boston
imageSycophancy eats away at truth and trust.Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

In the summer of 2025, OpenAI released ChatGPT 5 and removed its predecessor from the market. Many subscribers to the old model had become attached to its warm, enthusiastically agreeable tone and complained at the loss of their ingratiating robotic companion. Such...

Read more: AI chatbots can prioritize flattery over facts – and that carries serious risks

England’s ‘once in a generation’ housing law takes effect as US housing legislation sits in congressional purgatory

  • Written by Allyson Gold, Professor of Law, Wake Forest University
imageThe U.K. Parliament passed legislation in an effort to control spiraling rental costs and reverse rising homelessness rates. Matt Cardy/Getty Image

Housing costs are eating up more and more of Americans’ monthly budgets.

Half of renters and a quarter of homeowners are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than a third of their income to pay...

Read more: England’s ‘once in a generation’ housing law takes effect as US housing legislation sits in...

Syphilis cases in expectant mothers have dramatically risen since the pandemic – here’s what’s driving the trend

  • Written by Casey Pinto, Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences, Penn State
imageA pregnant mother with untreated syphilis can pass it to the unborn fetus.Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum.

During pregnancy, this bacteria can pass from a mother with untreated syphilis, known as maternal syphilis, to her child in utero, causing the...

Read more: Syphilis cases in expectant mothers have dramatically risen since the pandemic – here’s what’s...

When immigration detention becomes a system of concentration: Lessons from research on 150 historical cases

  • Written by Alex Braithwaite, Distinguished Professor & Director, School of Government & Public Policy, University of Arizona
imageBarbed wire surrounds the GEO Group ICE detention facility in Adelanto, Calif. on July 10, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The phrase “concentration camp” is freighted with dark historical meaning. Most people hear it and instinctively think of concentration camps used by the Nazis to exterminate Jews and other minority...

Read more: When immigration detention becomes a system of concentration: Lessons from research on 150...

Fiber’s structural integrity keeps plants strong – and its indigestibility keeps your digestive system healthy

  • Written by Julie Pollock, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Richmond
imageVegetables, fruits, beans, seeds and nuts are all fiber-rich foods. tbralnina/iStock via Getty Images Plus

If you’re over the age of 10, the World Health Organization recommends that you consume at least 25 grams of fiber every day. The best fiber-containing foods come from plants: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes.

Whi...

Read more: Fiber’s structural integrity keeps plants strong – and its indigestibility keeps your digestive...

AI data center boom is leaving consumer electronics short of chips − even though they don’t use the same kinds

  • Written by Vidya Mani, Associate Professor of Business Administration, University of Virginia; Cornell University
imageIt takes a huge investment to be able to manufacture computer chips like these.Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

The boom in data center construction is taking up much of the supply of high-tech components, especially processor and memory chips. This demand is squeezing consumer device makers, which are having trouble acquiring enough chips.

This is...

Read more: AI data center boom is leaving consumer electronics short of chips − even though they don’t use...

More Articles ...

  1. Cheers! Welcome to the Nepalese village where everybody knows how to distill
  2. Synthetic biology promised to rewrite life – with the death of its pioneer, J. Craig Venter, how close are scientists?
  3. Gerrymandering is unpopular with Florida voters – my recent survey shows why DeSantis pushed it through anyway
  4. Three women sit for Israeli Rabbinate’s exam, amid growing recognition for Orthodox Jewish women’s religious leadership
  5. ‘A study showed…’ isn’t enough – scientific knowledge builds incrementally as researchers investigate and revisit questions
  6. Seeing an eclipse from Earth is awe-inspiring – for astronauts seeing one from space, the scene was even more grand
  7. Supreme Court ruling: The latest in history of diminishing minority voting rights
  8. What Trump’s post as a Jesus-like figure tells us about political messianism
  9. Warmer temps bring soaring tick populations – here’s how to stay safe from Lyme disease
  10. Supreme Court bolsters donors’ free speech rights in unanimous crisis pregnancy center ruling
  11. Universities returning Native American remains and artifacts isn’t just about physical objects – it’s about dignity and justice
  12. Americans care more about future generations than many think – and that gap could matter for policy
  13. The US has long used economic coercion to achieve foreign policy goals — the war in Iran shows how that power has declined
  14. How much should politics influence science, and vice versa? National Science Board’s ousting resurrects an existential debate
  15. Supreme Court considers how much states can protect consumers when federal agencies won’t
  16. Supreme Court geofencing case weighs constitutionality of digital dragnets – and how far your rights go in the data Big Tech collects on you
  17. Supreme Court considers whether police can use Big Tech data to capture info from all cellphone users in a place and time
  18. Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling makes it harder to protect minority voting power and alters the landscape of future elections
  19. Students are taught to hide in closets and under tables if there is a school shooting – but does practicing for this possibility keep kids safe?
  20. Can the nearly $1 trillion-a-year US military really be depleting key weapons in Iran?
  21. What courage is, how to build it and why you should take a risk
  22. Reclassification of marijuana opens doors for much-needed medical research into the benefits and risks of the drug
  23. Stockings once worn by Philly’s wealthiest man show the value of women’s mending in early America
  24. Thousands of employed Colorado workers need SNAP benefits to make ends meet
  25. Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown may sound sensible, but it could harm Americans who require long-term care
  26. The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor
  27. UAE’s OPEC exit has been long in the works – and may mark the beginning of a Gulf realignment
  28. Facial recognition data is a key to your identity – if stolen, you can’t just change the locks
  29. More than 140,000 Americans die from COPD each year – here’s why survival depends on more than avoiding smoking
  30. Wearable glucose monitors offer real-time data, but for healthy people no guidelines exist to interpret the numbers
  31. How the concept of ‘medical freedom’ is reshaping the military’s decades-long stance on the flu vaccine mandate − and endangering troops’ readiness
  32. Reading gains in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are often touted, but don’t show full picture of literacy
  33. Tapping your genome with AI and quantum computing could deliver on the promise of personalized medicine – but practical and ethical hurdles remain
  34. Your local storm forecast is likely based on weather miles away – we’re trying to bring it closer to home
  35. Why is water wet?
  36. Potential signs of life on distant planets sound exciting – but confirmation can take years
  37. Perseverance doesn’t always pay off for companies – sometimes it’s better to ‘fail fast’
  38. Texas proposes Bible readings for K-12 students, reigniting century-old legal battle over their place in public schools
  39. Donkeys are a symbol of endurance for Palestinians – they are also a target of settler violence and care
  40. America’s founding promise of religious freedom has long coexisted with prejudice, even as many Christians have worked to confront it
  41. Older Americans who vote live longer than those who don’t – new research
  42. Sora’s downfall signals broader problems with AI’s creative utility
  43. Latest attack threatening President Trump reflects rising political violence in US
  44. What to know about sex trafficking as Pittsburgh hosts the NFL draft
  45. Justice Department’s effort to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans could face widespread judicial pushback
  46. What the Declaration of Independence does – and doesn’t – say about God
  47. Meloni and Trump’s cooling relationship marks the failure of an EU-MAGA middle ground
  48. ‘Just war’ has guided Catholic thinking on conflict for centuries – including criticism of Iran war
  49. Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die
  50. You probably wouldn’t notice if an AI chatbot slipped ads into its responses