The Conversation

Trump’s second term is reshaping US science with unprecedented cuts and destabilizing policy changes

Written by Kenneth M. Evans, Fellow in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

Before 2025, science policy rarely made headline news. Through decades of changing political winds, financial crises and global conflicts, funding for U.S. research and innovation has remained remarkably stable, reflecting the American public’s strong support for investing in basic science.

In his first year back in office, President Donald...

School shootings dropped in 2025 - but schools are still focusing too much on safety technology instead of prevention

Written by James Densley, Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University

A person mourns at a makeshift memorial outside the Barus and Holley engineering building on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Dec. 14, 2025. Bing Guan/AFP via Getty Images

Active shootings represent a very small percentage of on-campus university violence.

But among those that do happen, there are patterns. And as law...

From record warming to rusting rivers, 2025 Arctic Report Card shows a region transforming faster than expected

Written by Matthew L. Druckenmiller, Senior Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder

As temperatures rise, the timing of the ice thaw changes.Vincent Denarie via Arctic Report Card

The Arctic is transforming faster and with more far-reaching consequences than scientists expected just 20 years ago, when the first Arctic Report Card assessed the state of Earth’s far northern environment.

The snow season is dramatically shorter...

The North Pole keeps moving – here’s how that affects Santa’s holiday travel and yours

Written by Scott Brame, Research Assistant Professor of Earth Science, Clemson University

Could this be the next Blitzen? Feeding a reindeer in Lapland, Finland, north of the Arctic Circle.Roberto Moiola/Sysaworld/Moment via Getty Images

When Santa is done delivering presents on Christmas Eve, he must get back home to the North Pole, even if it’s snowing so hard that the reindeer can’t see the way.

He could use a compass, but...

How rogue nations are capitalizing on gaps in crypto regulation to finance weapons programs

Written by Nolan Fahrenkopf, Research Fellow at Project on International Security, Commerce and Economic Statecraft, University at Albany, State University of New York

Two years after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, families of the victims filed suit against Binance, a major cryptocurrency platform that has been plagued by scandals.

In a Nov. 24, 2025, filing by representatives of more than 300 victims and family members, Binance and its former CEO – recently pardoned Changpeng Zhao – were...

2 superpowers, 1 playbook: Why Chinese and US bureaucrats think and act alike

Written by Daniel E. Esser, Associate Professor of International Studies, American University

An official walks past the U.S. and Chinese national flags on April 6, 2024.Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

The year 2025 has not been a great one for U.S.-Chinese relations. Tit-for-tat tariffs and the scramble over rare earth elements has dampened economic relations between the world’s two leading economies. Meanwhile, territorial disputes...

A, B, C or D – grades might not say all that much about what students are actually learning

Written by Joshua Rowe Eyler, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, University of Mississippi

Letter grades have long been part of the fabric of the American educational system. iStock/Getty Images Plus

Grades are a standard part of the American educational system that most students and teachers take for granted.

But what if students didn’t have just one shot at acing a midterm, or even could talk with their teachers about what grade...

The next frontier in space is closer than you think – welcome to the world of very low Earth orbit satellites

Written by Sven Bilén, Professor of Engineering Design, Electrical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, Penn State

The closer a satellite − like this telecommunications one − orbits to Earth, the more atmospheric drag it faces. janiecbros/iStock via Getty Images Plus

There are about 15,000 satellites orbiting the Earth. Most of them, like the International Space Station and the Hubble Telescope, reside in low Earth orbit, or LEO, which tops out at...

Gazing into the mind’s eye with mice – how neuroscientists are seeing human vision more clearly

Written by Bilal Haider, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Mice have complex visual systems that can clarify how vision works in people.Westend61/Getty Images

Despite the nursery rhyme about three blind mice, mouse eyesight is surprisingly sensitive. Studying how mice see has helped researchers discover unprecedented details about how individual brain cells communicate and work together to create a mental...

If tried by court-martial, senator accused of ‘seditious behavior’ would be deprived of several constitutional rights

Written by Joshua Kastenberg, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks to reporters in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 4, 2025.AP Photo/Kevin Wolf

The Department of Defense in late November 2025 announced that it would investigate U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and NASA astronaut, for what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called seditious behavior. The threat of...