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Trump’s exchange with Pope Leo reflects deep-rooted tensions between the Vatican and the United States: 4 essential reads

  • Written by Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor, Director of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, The Conversation
imagePope Leo XIV speaks to journalists aboard his flight bound for Algiers on April 13, 2026. Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP

President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church, had an unusual and acrimonious public exchange over the weekend.

In a scathing attack on Truth Social, the social media platform he launched in...

Read more: Trump’s exchange with Pope Leo reflects deep-rooted tensions between the Vatican and the United...

How a new mapping tool helps Florida planners protect wildlife corridors as the state grows

  • Written by Sarah Lockhart, PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Ecology, University of Florida
imageAs Florida's human population grows, wildlife increasingly has nowhere to go.Benjamin Klinger/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Florida added nearly 3 million residents from 2010-2020, making it the fastest-growing state in the United States during that time.

On any given day, a Florida county commission or municipality may approve a new subdivision, a...

Read more: How a new mapping tool helps Florida planners protect wildlife corridors as the state grows

Cannabis legalization spurs innovation, but not always in ways that benefit patients or public health

  • Written by Lucy Xiaolu Wang, Assistant Professor of Resource Economics, UMass Amherst
imageEven after legalization, researchers face significant barriers to studying cannabis.Visoot Uthairam/Moment via Getty Images

Innovation in health care saves lives. But not all health innovations have enough evidence to actually benefit patients.

Barriers to innovation are often higher in illicit or restricted markets, including cannabis, stem cells a...

Read more: Cannabis legalization spurs innovation, but not always in ways that benefit patients or public...

AIs have ‘personalities’ – here’s how they affect you more deeply than you may realize

  • Written by Tamilla Triantoro, Associate Professor of Business Analytics and Information Systems, Quinnipiac University
imageAI personas tap into the ways you respond to other people.Malte Mueller/fStop via Getty Images

Many people are interacting with AI large language models, and most of them would say the models have different “personalities.” Some models come across as calm and useful. Others feel eager, flattering or strangely cold. You can ask two...

Read more: AIs have ‘personalities’ – here’s how they affect you more deeply than you may realize

Artemis II crew brought a human eye and storytelling vision to the photos they took on their mission

  • Written by Christye Sisson, Professor of Photographic Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology
imageAstronaut Jeremy Hansen takes a picture through the camera shroud covering a window on the Orion spacecraft.NASA

In early April 2026, the Artemis II mission captivated me and millions of people watching from across the world. The crew’s courage, skill and infectious wonder served as tangible proof of human persistence and technological...

Read more: Artemis II crew brought a human eye and storytelling vision to the photos they took on their mission

‘Bouncing back’ is a myth – resilience means integrating hard experiences into your life story, not ignoring them

  • Written by Keith M. Bellizzi, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut
imageInto each life some rain must fall.Anastasiia Voloshko/Moment via Getty Images

When Maria looked at herself in the mirror for the first time after her mastectomy, she stood very still.

One hand rested on the bathroom counter. The other hovered near the flat space where her breast had been. The scar was raw and angry. The loss was quiet but enormous....

Read more: ‘Bouncing back’ is a myth – resilience means integrating hard experiences into your life story,...

25 million people lost Medicaid after the COVID-19 pandemic — and state policies shaped who stayed covered

  • Written by Aparna Soni, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, Indiana University
imageMedicaid enrollment surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people covered by Medicaid rose month after month – an unusual pattern for the government’s insurance program for people with low incomes and disabilities.

Why? A policy of continuous coverage during...

Read more: 25 million people lost Medicaid after the COVID-19 pandemic — and state policies shaped who stayed...

Gray whales are dying in San Francisco Bay at an alarming rate – this isn’t normal

  • Written by Josie Slaathaug, Graduate Student in Marine Biology, Sonoma State University
imageGray whales have unique markings, making it possible to track each one in the bay.Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images

At least six gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay from mid-March to early April 2026. These deaths follow a pattern over the past few years, and they are raising concerns among marine biologists like...

Read more: Gray whales are dying in San Francisco Bay at an alarming rate – this isn’t normal

The enduring legacy of medieval Christian depictions of Islam in today’s political discourse

  • Written by Anna Piela, Visiting Scholar in Religious Studies and Gender, Northwestern University
imageA stained-glass window in the Cathedral of Brussels depicting the 'Siege of Jerusalem' by the Crusaders in the 11th century. Jorisvo/iStock / Getty Images Plus

The war with Iran is not just a geopolitical conflict. We see religious rhetoric used to cast strategic interests as a moral or sacred matter.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson described...

Read more: The enduring legacy of medieval Christian depictions of Islam in today’s political discourse

District school boards have become political hotbeds for book bans and more – here’s what they actually do

  • Written by Carrie Sampson, Assistant Professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation, Arizona State University
imagePeople hold signs during a Grossmont Union High School District board meeting in El Cajon, Calif., in July 2025. Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images

Election races for local school boards have become hotly contested in many states as they have become forums for debates over gender-identity discussions, immigrant students and...

Read more: District school boards have become political hotbeds for book bans and more – here’s what they...

More Articles ...

  1. 4 ways the war in Iran has weakened the United States in the great power game
  2. Artemis II crew used modern photography to tell the visual story of their lunar journey – and update some classic Apollo images
  3. Artemis II moonshot reflects a spacefaring vision present in Jules Verne’s 19th-century novel
  4. US ceasefire with Iran: What’s next? A former diplomat explains 3 possible scenarios
  5. In his efforts to remake federal architecture, Trump repudiates the ‘republican ideals’ that have long informed it
  6. I found a new meteor shower, and it comes from an asteroid getting broken down by the Sun
  7. As a philosopher, I’m convinced that Trump isn’t lying − he’s doing something worse
  8. Doctors can refuse to treat LGBTQ+ patients in several states – these religious exemption laws lead to drops in HIV testing
  9. Tobacco is still one of the world’s top killers – here are the key obstacles to enacting generational smoking bans
  10. What declining vaccination rates mean for families in Allegheny County – where 1 in 3 kindergarten classrooms lack herd immunity for measles
  11. Health care sticker shock has become the norm, but talking to your doctor about costs can help you rein it in
  12. After ceasefire, negotiating a lasting deal with Iran would require overcoming regional rivalries and strategic incoherence
  13. 80 years later, scholarship is breaking silence on women’s suffering and strength at Treblinka – including their role in its uprising
  14. It’s OK to love all the bees (the honey bees, too)
  15. We collected data on how 779 Michigan school districts are regulating student cellphones − here are the trends
  16. AI can design and run thousands of lab experiments without human hands. Humanity isn’t ready for the new risks this brings to biology
  17. Psilocybin mushrooms are going mainstream, but scientific research and regulation lag behind
  18. What a Chinese crackdown on corruption meant for Beijing’s high-end restaurant market
  19. Standards-based grading offers a different model of assessing student learning in the classroom
  20. Trump administration’s lawsuits against Harvard and UCLA have roots in a decades-old fight over civil rights law
  21. Pope Leo XIV’s Africa journey: How each stop reflects his message of peace
  22. The good life requires two things, self-knowledge and friends – you can’t have one without the other
  23. Israeli threats to occupy or annex south Lebanon dust off a decades-old playbook
  24. Presidential words can turn the unthinkable into the thinkable − for better or for worse
  25. Philadelphia’s 40-year history of protecting undocumented immigrants began with churches hiding refugees from El Salvador
  26. Mutual aid and self-sufficiency are key to life near USSR’s contaminated nuclear test zone in Kazakhstan
  27. City animals act in the same brazen ways around the world
  28. Water conservation works, but climate change is outpacing it: Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas offer a glimpse of the future
  29. From a vaccine mascot to business leadership, lessons for the US from Brazil’s public health system in building public trust and keeping it
  30. Why Americans are buying $22 smoothies despite feeling terrible about the economy
  31. When a president is unfit for office, here’s what the Constitution says can happen
  32. Why the Persian Gulf has more oil and gas than anywhere else on Earth
  33. ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! Speedy Gonzales set to make his triumphant return to the silver screen
  34. Hosting the NFL draft is less about weekend beer sales and more about long-term brand value
  35. Israel’s death penalty law has little to do with criminal justice and everything to do with ethno-nationalism
  36. 1776’s Declaration of Independence inspired Washington’s troops to fight against the odds – and also helped bring in powerful allies
  37. US refugee policy for white South Africans is part of a century-long effort to keep some English-speaking nations white
  38. AI is reengineering drug discovery by speeding up testing and scanning petabytes of data for connections between diseases
  39. Massive eye drop recall reflects ongoing issues with manufacturing and FDA inspection
  40. We teach at a Florida university that agreed to cooperate with ICE – and we worry that it is making our students feel less safe
  41. How does spider venom damage human cells? Researchers uncover the killer mechanism of recluse spider toxin
  42. Hormuz closure threatens the global food supply – why grocery price hikes are coming
  43. Philadelphia’s founding years were rife with conspiracy fears about ‘godless’ Freemasons and the Illuminati
  44. What is CREC and how does it shape Pete Hegseth’s religious rhetoric?
  45. What I learned from analyzing 789 ‘Shark Tank’ pitches: Narcissists get funding if they’re not arrogant or defensive
  46. About 80% of breast cancer biopsies turn out benign – new imaging tool promises clearer diagnoses and fewer biopsies
  47. Teenagers and younger kids are learning coded predator phrases like ‘MAP’ online, long before their parents have even heard of it
  48. What gig workers and employees who get tips need to know about the new no-tax-on-tips tax break
  49. Lebanon’s political elites are using displacement and humanitarian crisis to delay elections again
  50. US and Iran: A brief history of how decades of mistrust and bad blood led to open warfare