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Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks – here's why they need protection

  • Written by Ellen Wohl, Professor of Geosciences, Colorado State University
Biscuit Brook, a popular fly fishing spot in New York's Catskill Mountains.Ellen Wohl, CC BY-ND

The Trump administration is proposing to redefine a key term in the Clean Water Act: “Waters of the United States.” This deceptively simple phrase describes which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies qualify for federal protection...

Read more: Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks – here's why they need protection

Congress's First Step Act reflects a new criminal justice consensus, but will it reduce mass incarceration?

  • Written by Michelle S Phelps, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Law, University of Minnesota

When Donald Trump was elected president, many people feared his “law and order” campaign rhetoric would mean the end of criminal justice reform.

Trump confirmed this impression by appointing Jeff Sessions, an aggressive supporter of the “wars” on crime and drugs, to lead the Justice Department. Sessions quickly reversed a...

Read more: Congress's First Step Act reflects a new criminal justice consensus, but will it reduce mass...

Europe's refugee crisis explains why border walls don't stop migration

  • Written by Eleanor Paynter, PhD Candidate, Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University
Migrants on a ship intercepted offshore near the Libyan town of Gohneima, east of the capital Tripoli, in July 2018.Libyan Coast Guard via AP, File

President Trump has long called migration a security crisis, but in recent weeks he has also referred to the situation along the southern border as a humanitarian crisis.

As he ended the government...

Read more: Europe's refugee crisis explains why border walls don't stop migration

School suspensions don't stop violence – they help students celebrate it

  • Written by Charles Bell, Assistant Professor, Illinois State University
The code of the street – where respect is won by fighting – often follows children into school.Pixel-Shot/www.shutterstock.com

When school officials suspend students, the idea is to maintain a safe environment and deter violence and other problematic behavior on the school campus.

But when I interviewed 30 children in southeast Michigan...

Read more: School suspensions don't stop violence – they help students celebrate it

How Facebook went from friend to frenemy

  • Written by Elizabeth Stoycheff, Assistant Professor of Communication, Wayne State University
How do you feel about Facebook?AlesiaKan/Shutterstock.com

As Facebook celebrates 15 years of virtual friendship, social science has compiled an expansive body of research that documents the public’s love-hate relationship with its best frenemy.

What many once viewed as a confidant has devolved into a messy codependence, mired by ambiguity and...

Read more: How Facebook went from friend to frenemy

How Jackie Robinson’s wife, Rachel, helped him break baseball's color line

  • Written by Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, IUPUI
An the field and off, Rachel Robinson was a pillar of emotional support.AP Photo/Harry Harris

Jackie Robinson will be remembered for his courage, athleticism, tenacity and sacrifice on Jan. 31, the centennial of his birth. By confronting Jim Crow – both as a baseball player and as a civil rights activist – he changed America.

“Back...

Read more: How Jackie Robinson’s wife, Rachel, helped him break baseball's color line

Teaching hope during the 2020 campaign season

  • Written by Sarah Stitzlein, Professor of Education and Affiliate Faculty in Philosophy, University of Cincinnati
Educators can use story-telling to make students more politically aware.Rido/Shutterstock.com

The 2020 presidential election campaign has already started.

Election campaigns inspire hope, but they can also quickly lead to political despair. During the last two elections, America’s polarized citizens experienced significant swings between hope...

Read more: Teaching hope during the 2020 campaign season

What would happen if hospitals openly shared their prices?

  • Written by Zach Y. Brown, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
Many patients are surprised to learn what their health care procedures cost. 9dream studio/shutterstock.com

Imagine there was a store where there were no prices on items, and you never knew what you’d pay until you’d picked out your purchases and were leaving the shop. You might be skeptical that the store would have any incentive to...

Read more: What would happen if hospitals openly shared their prices?

What 4 economists say about the state of the union

  • Written by David Bishai, Professor of Health Economics, Johns Hopkins University
A hallowed chamber for an important address. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The State of the Union is back on after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she invited President Donald Trump to address Congress and the nation on Feb. 5.

Earlier, she had disinvited the president from giving the speech in the House on the scheduled date of Jan. 29.

While...

Read more: What 4 economists say about the state of the union

Dam collapse at Brazilian mine exposes grave safety problems

  • Written by Julian D. Olden, Professor of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington
After 48 hours of frantic effort, Brazilian rescue workers have called off their search for survivors at a collapsed dam in Minas Gerais state.AP Photo/Leo Correa

Brazilian rescue workers continue searching for more than 300 people missing after a dam burst at an iron ore mine over the weekend.

The dam, which ruptured on Jan. 25 close to the...

Read more: Dam collapse at Brazilian mine exposes grave safety problems

More Articles ...

  1. Why women still earn a lot less than men
  2. 3 ways that big data reveals what you really like to watch, read and listen to
  3. Mexico is bleeding. Can its new president stop the violence?
  4. Together, more heat and more carbon dioxide may not alter quantity or nutritional quality of crops
  5. How to have productive disagreements about politics and religion
  6. Stressed out by shutdown chaos? 4 evidence-based tools to help you cope
  7. How frigid polar vortex blasts are connected to global warming
  8. What are Muslim prayer rugs?
  9. Community schools score key victory in LA teachers strike
  10. Rap music and threats of violence: A case for the Supreme Court to decide
  11. How Gates Foundation's push for 'high-quality' curriculum will stifle teaching
  12. The shutdown took so long to end because it became a moral issue
  13. Separation of powers: An invitation to struggle
  14. Amazon deforestation, already rising, may spike under Bolsonaro
  15. Sylvia Plath's new short story was never 'lost' – so why is the media saying it was 'just discovered'?
  16. A proposal to reduce vaccine exemptions while respecting rights of conscience
  17. Rural people with disabilities are still struggling to recover from the recession
  18. Can you life-hack your way to love?
  19. How will generations that didn't experience the Holocaust remember it?
  20. Vital economic data was likely lost during the shutdown – here's why it matters to all Americans
  21. How corruption in forensic science is harming the criminal justice system
  22. In Haiti, climate aid comes with strings attached
  23. Live cargo: How scientists pack butterflies, frogs and sea turtles for safe travels
  24. 3 ways to make your voice heard besides protesting
  25. Why the Davos elites are still relevant
  26. I studied buttons for 7 years and learned these 5 lessons about how and why people push them
  27. University scientists feel the pain of the government shutdown, too
  28. Are federal workers being forced into involuntary servitude?
  29. There's a wider scandal suggested by the Trump investigations
  30. You can't control what you can't find: Detecting invasive species while they're still scarce
  31. Not so long ago, cities were starved for trees
  32. Gene drive technology makes mouse offspring inherit specific traits from parents
  33. Digital technology offers new ways to teach lessons from the Holocaust
  34. What Trump and Pelosi can learn from a different kind of shutdown that crippled the nation
  35. Venezuela power struggle plunges nation into turmoil: 3 essential reads
  36. Data privacy rules in the EU may leave the US behind
  37. Why it's wrong to label students 'at-risk'
  38. How to show gratitude to TSA workers
  39. Personal diplomacy has long been a presidential tactic, but Trump adds a twist
  40. Inside the Kingdom of Hayti, 'the Wakanda of the Western Hemisphere'
  41. Have you caught a catfish? Online dating can be deceptive
  42. Women are better than men at the free throw line
  43. We can't save everything from climate change – here's how to make choices
  44. The Trump administration wants to tighten SNAP work requirements, bypassing Congress
  45. Why paper maps still matter in the digital age
  46. Are microbes causing your milk allergy?
  47. Shutdown's economic impact is a forceful reminder of why government matters
  48. Lessons from 'Spider-Man': How video games could change college science education
  49. Nazis and communists tried it too: Foreign interference in US elections dates back decades
  50. It's cold! A physiologist explains how to keep your body feeling warm