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Hanukkah's true meaning is about Jewish survival

  • Written by Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies, College of the Holy Cross
imagewww.shutterstock.com

Beginning on the evening of Dec. 12, Jews will celebrate the eight-day festival of Hanukkah, perhaps the best-known and certainly the most visible Jewish holiday.

While critics sometimes identify Christmas as promoting the prevalence in America today of what one might refer to as Hanukkah kitsch, this assessment misses the...

Read more: Hanukkah's true meaning is about Jewish survival

DNA has gone digital – what could possibly go wrong?

  • Written by Jenna E. Gallegos, Postdoctoral Researcher in Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University
imageModern advances come with new liabilities.Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com

Biology is becoming increasingly digitized. Researchers like us use computers to analyze DNA, operate lab equipment and store genetic information. But new capabilities also mean new risks – and biologists remain largely unaware of the potential vulnerabilities that come...

Read more: DNA has gone digital – what could possibly go wrong?

Exposure to wildfire smoke: 5 questions answered

  • Written by Richard E. Peltier, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
imageFlames and smoke shroud State Route 33 as a wildfire burns in Ventura, California, Dec. 5, 2017. Daniel Dreifuss via AP

Editor’s note: Wildfires once again are raging in California – this time in the Los Angeles area, where five fires are currently burning. The fast-moving Thomas fire alone has burned more than 65,000 acres in three...

Read more: Exposure to wildfire smoke: 5 questions answered

The GOP tax plan, state and local taxes deductions – and you

  • Written by Capri Cafaro, Executive in Residence, American University
imageThe Capitol is lit up at dawn on Nov. 30, 2017 as Senate Republicans work to pass their sweeping tax bill.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

While Washington is claiming victory, states are crying foul.

Late last week, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the tax reform package that cleared the House a few weeks earlier. Within the hundreds of pages of...

Read more: The GOP tax plan, state and local taxes deductions – and you

What better forensic science can reveal about the JFK assassination

  • Written by Clifford Spiegelman, Distinguished Professor of Statistics, Texas A&M University
imageThe immediate aftermath of the shooting of President Kennedy in November 1963.AP Photo/Mary Ann Moorman

Popular television shows such as the “Law & Order,” “CSI” and “NCIS” franchises glorify forensic science as a magical, near-flawless tool for identifying criminals. Not surprisingly, Hollywood’s...

Read more: What better forensic science can reveal about the JFK assassination

CVS merger with Aetna: Health care cure or curse?

  • Written by Sharona Hoffman, Professor of Health Law and Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University
imageA CVS drugstore in Brooklyn, New York, on Dec. 3, 2017. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

The announcement that CVS plans to acquire Aetna for US$69 billion raises hope and concerns.

The transaction would create a new health care giant. Aetna is the third-largest health insurer in the United States, insuring about 46.7 million people.

CVS operates 9,700...

Read more: CVS merger with Aetna: Health care cure or curse?

Why aren't Hollywood films more diverse? The international box office might be to blame

  • Written by Roberto Pedace, Professor of Economics, Scripps College
imageActress Viola Davis focused her speech at the 2015 Emmy Awards on diversity, saying 'The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.'Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images

In 2014, a hacker group leaked confidential information from Sony Pictures Entertainment, including a controversial email writt...

Read more: Why aren't Hollywood films more diverse? The international box office might be to blame

How the tax package could sap the flow of charitable giving

  • Written by Patrick Rooney, Executive Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
imageHouse Speaker Paul Ryan, left, leads a round of applause after his colleagues took a step toward changing the tax code.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The tax bills currently making their way through Congress could end up making Americans less charitable.

The bills that recently cleared the House and the Senate, which need to be reconciled, would have...

Read more: How the tax package could sap the flow of charitable giving

Literature has long been sounding the alarm about sexual violence in Hollywood

  • Written by Billy J. Stratton, Professor of American Literature and Culture; Native American Studies, University of Denver
imageFor decades, novels have implored readers to look beyond the glamour and riches.Trey Ratcliff, CC BY-NC-SA

Recent revelations about Hollywood’s culture of sexual harassment and violence might come as a surprise to many Americans.

After all, Los Angeles – home of what some call “the American image factory” – has long...

Read more: Literature has long been sounding the alarm about sexual violence in Hollywood

How a group of California nuns challenged the Catholic Church

  • Written by Diane Winston, Associate Professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
imageImmaculate Heart College Art Department c. 1955. Photograph by Fred Swartz. Image courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles.

California in the 1960s was the epicenter for spiritual experimentation. Indian gurus and New Age prophets, Jesus freaks and Scientologists all found followings in the Golden State.

But among...

Read more: How a group of California nuns challenged the Catholic Church

More Articles ...

  1. Venezuela's elections are just a new way for Maduro to cling to power
  2. Bajo Maduro, las elecciones venezolanas son otra forma de mantener el poder
  3. The obscure federal agency that soon could raise your electric bill: 5 questions answered on FERC
  4. President Trump's national monument rollback is illegal and likely to be reversed in court
  5. The constitutional right to education is long overdue
  6. Why the president's anti-Muslim tweets could increase tensions
  7. A new collaborative approach to investigate what happens in the brain when it makes a decision
  8. How the tax bill opens wide a big back door to overhaul health care
  9. Turning hurricanes into music: Can listening to storms help us understand them better?
  10. Two little-known ways GOP tax bill would make chasm between rich and poor even wider
  11. Taking a second look at the learn-to-code craze
  12. Should lying to the FBI be a crime?
  13. When should you unfriend someone on Facebook?
  14. Why psychiatrists should not be involved in presidential politics
  15. Historic tax overhaul nears finish line: 5 essential reads
  16. The new tax bill will make Americans less healthy – and that's bad for the economy
  17. The latest threat to peace in Colombia: Congress
  18. The GOP doesn't care if you like their tax plan. Here's why
  19. The GOP doesn't care if you like its tax plan. Here's why
  20. Tax bill's attack on higher education undermines America's economic vitality
  21. Is the British monarchy actually adapting to changing social norms?
  22. Teaching machines to teach themselves
  23. Could the ERA pass in the #Metoo era?
  24. Why society should talk about forced sex in intimate relationships, too
  25. Stop criticizing bizarrely shaped voting districts. They might not be gerrymandered after all
  26. Who are the Baha'is and why are they so persecuted?
  27. Charles Manson and the perversion of the American dream
  28. In growing algae for biofuels, it matters who used the water last
  29. Why Silicon Valley wants you to text and drive
  30. Atomic age began 75 years ago with the first controlled nuclear chain reaction
  31. Got a boss who denies reality? A behavioral scientist's guide to tactful truth telling
  32. Kurdistan earthquake: politics creates roadblocks to relief
  33. Kurdistan earthquake: Politics create roadblocks to relief
  34. A tax increase that's proven to save lives
  35. As students near graduation, career and technical education provides a boost
  36. Living and aging well with HIV: New strategies and new research
  37. Rosie the Riveters discovered a wartime California dream
  38. Has Trump's presidency triggered the movement against sexual harassment?
  39. Taxpayers want more fairness. GOP plan to 'reform' the tax code doesn't deliver
  40. When envisioning the future of TV, think of a shopping mall
  41. Fewer crops are feeding more people worldwide – and that's not good
  42. An ethical guide to responsible giving
  43. The messy reality of religious liberty in America
  44. Philip Morris hides data in plain sight on dangers of new heat-not-burn product
  45. An armed robber's Supreme Court case could affect all Americans' digital privacy for decades to come
  46. Each volcano has unique warning signs that eruption is imminent
  47. Redefining 'safety' for self-driving cars
  48. Parole violations are driving prison’s revolving door
  49. Why faith inspires people to give
  50. Keeping score of 'friends' on Facebook and Instagram may be harmful to your health