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What's behind $15,000 electricity bills in Texas?

  • Written by Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and International Affairs, Penn State
imagePower to the people, but it will cost you.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Texans who made it through February’s extreme cold weather without losing power or natural gas must have felt lucky.

But for some, keeping their electricity through the blackout may turn out to be more traumatic than losing it. An undetermined number of homeowners have...

Read more: What's behind $15,000 electricity bills in Texas?

In Texas, price gouging during disasters is illegal – it is also on very shaky ethical ground

  • Written by Elizabeth Brake, Professor of Philosophy, Rice University
imagePrice gouging during disasters further shuts out those living in poverty.AP Photo/Eric Gay

In Houston, as millions suffered power and water outages, food shortages and subfreezing temperatures, another problem confronted families: price hikes.

Steep increases in the price of food, gas and fuel have been reported across Texas. And as millions of...

Read more: In Texas, price gouging during disasters is illegal – it is also on very shaky ethical ground

AI is killing choice and chance – which means changing what it means to be human

  • Written by Nir Eisikovits, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director, Applied Ethics Center, University of Massachusetts Boston
imageAI promises to make life easier, but what will humans lose in the bargain?AP Photo/Frank Augstein

The history of humans’ use of technology has always been a history of coevolution. Philosophers from Rousseau to Heidegger to Carl Schmitt have argued that technology is never a neutral tool for achieving human ends. Technological innovations...

Read more: AI is killing choice and chance – which means changing what it means to be human

Engineered viruses can fight the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

  • Written by Kevin Doxzen, Hoffmann Postdoctoral Fellow, Arizona State University
imageBacteriophage (yellow) are viruses that infect and destroy bacteria (blue). Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library,Getty Images

As the world fights the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, another group of dangerous pathogens looms in the background. The threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been growing for years and appears to...

Read more: Engineered viruses can fight the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Relief or stimulus: What's the difference, and what it means for Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus package

  • Written by William Hauk, Associate Professor of Economics, University of South Carolina
imageBiden made passing his $1.9 trillion bill one of his top priorities. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

The Biden administration and Congress are fast-tracking a US$1.9 trillion coronavirus package that includes aid for states, cities, individuals, the unemployed, schools and much else. It could become law within weeks.

But is it stimulus or relief?

If...

Read more: Relief or stimulus: What's the difference, and what it means for Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus...

Black biomedical scientists still lag in research funding – here's why that matters to all Americans

  • Written by Omolola Eniola-Adefeso, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan Medical School
imageBlack biomedical researchers receive less funding than their white counterparts.hyejin kang/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The statistics tell the story. People of color are more likely to be infected, hospitalized and killed by COVID-19 than white, non-Hispanic people. This grim reality is just one more illustration of an unacceptable truth: Science...

Read more: Black biomedical scientists still lag in research funding – here's why that matters to all Americans

From 'aliens' to 'noncitizens' – the Biden administration is proposing to change a legal term to recognize the humanity of non-Americans

  • Written by Kevin Johnson, Dean and Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Davis
imageIf a proposed law passes, this group of immigrants apprehended at the U.S. border near Mission, Texas, would be called 'noncitizens,' not 'aliens.'Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images

A profound change has been proposed by the Biden administration for U.S. immigration law. Following up on candidate Joe Biden’s promise of...

Read more: From 'aliens' to 'noncitizens' – the Biden administration is proposing to change a legal term to...

How New York's 19th-century Jews turned Purim into an American party

  • Written by Zev Eleff, Associate Professor of Jewish History, Touro College
imageThe Jewish Museum's Purim Ball at the Park Avenue Armory in 2015 in New York City.Andrew Toth/Getty Images

Purim, which falls this year on Feb. 26, ranks among Judaism’s most joyous holidays.

In synagogues, Jews read the Scroll of Esther, a book in the Hebrew Bible that explains how Purim came to be. Jewish people dress up in costumes and...

Read more: How New York's 19th-century Jews turned Purim into an American party

How Black cartographers put racism on the map of America

  • Written by Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee
imageAn early 20th-century NAACP map showing lynchings between 1909 and 1918. The maps were sent to politicians and newspapers in an effort to spur legislation protecting Black Americans.Library of Congress

How can maps fight racism and inequality?

The work of the Black Panther Party, a 1960s- and 1970s-era Black political group featured in a new movie an...

Read more: How Black cartographers put racism on the map of America

When men started to obsess over six-packs

  • Written by Conor Heffernan, Assistant Professor of Physical Culture and Sport Studies, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts
imageThe ideal male body didn't always include chiseled abs.Chris von Wangenheim/Conde Nast via Getty Images

The cultural obsession with six-pack abdominals shows no signs of abating. And if research into male body image is to be believed, it will likely only grow, thanks to social media.

Today, there’s an entire industry centered on obtaining...

Read more: When men started to obsess over six-packs

More Articles ...

  1. Decision-making experts explain how to avoid arguments over where to get dinner together
  2. Why Black and Hispanic small-business owners have been so badly hit in the pandemic recession
  3. 5 ways parents can help kids avoid gender stereotypes
  4. How Philadelphia's Black churches overcame disease, depression and civil strife
  5. How to really fix COVID-19 vaccine appointment scheduling
  6. Child poverty in the U.S. could be slashed by monthly payments to parents – an idea proved in other rich countries and proposed by a prominent Republican decades ago
  7. Rev. Raphael Warnock's historic US Senate win broke more barriers than you may think
  8. Biden's Cabinet of many women shows other world leaders that US takes gender equality seriously
  9. How safe is your baby food? Company reports show arsenic, lead and other heavy metals – here's what you need to know
  10. An ancient Greek approach to risk and the lessons it can offer the modern world
  11. How safe is your baby food?
  12. What are the origins of Lent?
  13. John Keats' concept of 'negative capability' – or sitting in uncertainty – is needed now more than ever
  14. What I learned when I recreated the famous 'doll test' that looked at how Black kids see race
  15. How do arctic foxes hunt in the snow?
  16. If Big Tech has the will, here are ways research shows self-regulation can work
  17. Keeping trees in the ground where they are already growing is an effective low-tech way to slow climate change
  18. Space Force sounds like a joke thanks to pop culture – that could be a problem for an important military branch
  19. 3 ways companies could offer more father-friendly policies that will help women
  20. Women of color spend more than $8 billion on bleaching creams worldwide every year
  21. Rethinking the US-China fight: Does China really threaten American power abroad?
  22. Why do mass shootings spawn conspiracy theories?
  23. Australia, fighting Facebook, is the latest country to struggle against foreign influence on journalism
  24. How the Texas electricity system produced low-cost power but left residents out in the cold
  25. One month in, how Biden has changed disaster management and the US COVID-19 response
  26. How a mass suicide by slaves caused the legend of the flying African to take off
  27. Americans still need a lifeline despite trillions in coronavirus aid
  28. I interviewed 48 bankrupt Americans – here's who they blame for their financial troubles
  29. Air filters can scrub out pollutants near highways, reduce blood pressure
  30. Election violence spiked worldwide in 2020 – will this year be better?
  31. What belief in extraterrestrial visitors to Earth reveals about trust in elections
  32. 6 important truths about COVID-19 vaccines
  33. Black sororities have stood at the forefront of Black achievement for more than a century
  34. Debunking the myth of legislative gridlock
  35. Taking it to the street: Food vending during and after COVID-19
  36. How the National Guard became the go-to military force for riots and civil disturbances
  37. Faith in numbers: Behind the gender difference of nonreligious Americans
  38. Why Indian farmers' protests are being called a 'satyagraha' – which means 'embracing the truth'
  39. 5 ways for teachers to build a good rapport with their students online
  40. How many people get ‘long COVID’ – and who is most at risk?
  41. How the media may be making the COVID-19 mental health epidemic worse
  42. Power outages across the Plains: 4 questions answered about weather-driven blackouts
  43. 46,218 news transcripts show ideologically extreme politicians get more airtime
  44. 'Indian Country' is excited about the first Native American secretary of the interior – and the promise she has for addressing issues of importance to all Americans
  45. How public schools fail to recognize Black prodigies
  46. Private planes, mansions and superyachts: What gives billionaires like Musk and Abramovich such a massive carbon footprint
  47. Why herd immunity may be impossible without vaccinating children against COVID-19
  48. Indian farmers are a powerful force in Indian politics, and here's why their protests matter
  49. Bendable concrete and other CO2-infused cement mixes could dramatically cut global emissions
  50. Trump's acquittal is a sign of ‘constitutional rot’ – partisanship overriding principles