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The hidden power of grief rituals

  • Written by Claire White, Professor of Religious Studies, California State University, Northridge
imageShared rituals of grief bring people together.onuma Inthapong/E+ via Getty Images

In Tana Toraja, a mountainous region of Sulawesi, Indonesia, villagers pour massive resources into funeral rituals: lavish feasts, ornate effigies and prized water buffaloes for sacrifice.

I witnessed this funeral ritual in 2024 while accompanying scholar Melanie Nyhof...

Read more: The hidden power of grief rituals

Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM serves their communities

  • Written by Evelyn Valdez-Ward, Postdoctoral Fellow in Science Communication, University of Rhode Island
imagePersonal experiences can help foster a sense of belonging for aspiring scientists from underrepresented backgrounds.kali9/E+ via Getty Images

Lived experiences shape how science is conducted. This matters because who gets to speak for science steers which problems are prioritized, how evidence is translated into practice and who ultimately benefits...

Read more: Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM...

How is China viewing US actions in Venezuela – an affront, an opportunity or a blueprint?

  • Written by Kerry E. Ratigan, Associate Professor of Political Science, Amherst College

China’s public response to the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro played out in a fairly predictable way, with condemnation of a “brazen” act of force against a sovereign nation and accusation of Washington acting like a “world judge.”

But behind closed doors, Beijing’s leaders are likely weighing the more...

Read more: How is China viewing US actions in Venezuela – an affront, an opportunity or a blueprint?

One cure for sour feelings about politics − getting people to love their hometowns

  • Written by Sean Richey, Professor, Georgia State University
imageA young girl holds Old Glory at an Independence Day celebration.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Eileen Higgins won a historic victory in December. She became the first woman ever elected mayor of Miami, as well as its first Democratic mayor since 1997.

Although the stakes in the city’s Dec. 9, 2025, runoff election were high, interest was...

Read more: One cure for sour feelings about politics − getting people to love their hometowns

Most of the 1 million Venezuelans in the United States arrived within the past decade

  • Written by Matt Brooks, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Florida State University
imageThe extraction of Nicolas Maduro was welcome news to many Venezuelans living in the United States.Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

In 2024, the most recent year for which we have data, an estimated 1 million immigrants from Venezuela lived in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, these...

Read more: Most of the 1 million Venezuelans in the United States arrived within the past decade

How mountain terraces have helped Indigenous peoples live with climate uncertainty

  • Written by Stephen Acabado, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles
imageFarmers during harvest season in Batad, Ifugao, Philippines.Paul Connor and the Ifugao Archaeological Project, CC BY

Indigenous communities have lived with changes to the climate for centuries. Their adaptations over those many years are based on their close observation of weather, water, soils and seasonal change, and they have been refined...

Read more: How mountain terraces have helped Indigenous peoples live with climate uncertainty

Supreme Court likely to reject limits on concealed carry but uphold bans on gun possession by drug users

  • Written by Morgan Marietta, Professor of American Civics, University of Tennessee
imageThe Supreme Court recognizes an individual right to self-defense with firearms in public spaces.wildpixel/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court in early 2026 will hear oral arguments in two cases testing the limits of gun rights under the Constitution.

Can a state outlaw carrying a concealed weapon in businesses or restaurants unless the owners post...

Read more: Supreme Court likely to reject limits on concealed carry but uphold bans on gun possession by drug...

New Year’s resolutions usually fall by the wayside, but there is a better approach to making real changes

  • Written by Michele Patterson Ford, Lecturer in Psychology, Dickinson College
imageResolutions often rely on willpower to push through or follow through, but research shows they usually don't work. Guillermo Spelucin Runciman/iStock via Getty Images

How are your New Year’s resolutions going? If you’ve given up on them, you’re not alone.

Every January, people across the world seek a fresh start and set goals for...

Read more: New Year’s resolutions usually fall by the wayside, but there is a better approach to making real...

Before Venezuela’s oil, there were Guatemala’s bananas

  • Written by Aaron Coy Moulton, Associate Professor of Latin American History, Stephen F. Austin State University
imageA woman walks past a banner that says 'against foreign intervention,' in Spanish, in Guatemala in 1954.Bettmann/Getty Images

In the aftermath of the U.S. military strike that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, 2026, the Trump administration has emphasized its desire for unfettered access to Venezuela’s oil more than...

Read more: Before Venezuela’s oil, there were Guatemala’s bananas

Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy

  • Written by Konstantin Zhukov, Assistant Professor of Economics, Indiana University; Institute for Humane Studies
imageNeither of these men -- US President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- likes being held accountable by the press.Contributor/Getty Images

The FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14, 2026, was a rare and intimidating move by an administration focused on repressing criticismand dissent.

In its story...

Read more: Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps...

More Articles ...

  1. Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – our new study examines each method’s risks
  2. Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – new study examines each method’s risks
  3. Reddit and TikTok - with the help of AI - are reshaping how researchers understand substance use
  4. Broncos say their new stadium will be ‘privately financed,’ but ‘private’ often still means hundreds of millions in public resources
  5. For some Jewish women, ‘passing’ as Christian during the Holocaust could mean survival – but left scars all the same
  6. There’s an intensifying kind of threat to academic freedom – watchful students serving as informants
  7. Building ‘beloved community’: Remembering the friendship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh
  8. US military has a long history in Greenland, from mining during WWII to a nuclear-powered Army base built into the ice
  9. Could ChatGPT convince you to buy something? Threat of manipulation looms as AI companies gear up to sell ads
  10. From a new flagship space telescope to lunar exploration, global cooperation – and competition – will make 2026 an exciting year for space
  11. The ‘drug threat’ that justified the US ouster of Maduro won’t be fixed by his arrest
  12. South Florida’s Brightline has highlighted an old problem – every year for the past decade, 900 pedestrians were killed by trains
  13. Iran’s protests have spread across provinces, despite skepticism and concern among ethnic groups
  14. Why unlocking Venezuelan oil won’t mean much for US energy prices
  15. Martin Luther King Jr. was ahead of his time in pushing for universal basic income
  16. Rural areas have darker skies but fewer resources for students interested in astronomy – telescopes in schools can help
  17. Research institutions tout the value of scholarship that crosses disciplines – but academia pushes interdisciplinary researchers out
  18. From flammable neighborhoods to moral hazards, fire insurance maps capture early US cities and the landscape of discrimination
  19. Viruses aren’t all bad: In the ocean, some help fuel the food web – a new study shows how
  20. 3 ways US actions in Venezuela violated international law
  21. Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall
  22. Small businesses say they aren’t planning to hire many recent graduates for entry-level jobs – here’s why
  23. Wars without clear purpose erode presidential legacies, and Trump risks political consequences with further military action in Venezuela
  24. Colorado ranks among the highest states in the country for flu – an emergency room physician describes why the 2025-26 flu season is hitting hard
  25. DOJ criminal probe highlights risk of Fed losing independence – a central bank scholar explains what’s at stake
  26. How social media is channeling popular discontent in Iran during ongoing period of domestic unrest
  27. Ukraine is under pressure to trade land for peace − if it does, history shows it might not ever get it back
  28. What is Christian Reconstructionism − and why it matters in US politics
  29. Eating less ultraprocessed food supports healthier aging, new research shows
  30. Saudi-UAE bust-up over Yemen was only a matter of time − and reflects wider rift over vision for the region
  31. Financial case for college remains strong, but universities need to add creative thinking to their curriculum
  32. What is below Earth, since space is present in every direction?
  33. Trump lawsuits seek to muzzle media, posing serious threat to free press
  34. Venezuela’s oil industry has flailed under government control – Mexico and Brazil have had more success with nationalizing
  35. CPR on TV is often inaccurate – but watching characters jump to the rescue can still save real lives
  36. NASA’s Pandora telescope will study stars in detail to learn about the exoplanets orbiting them
  37. Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty as he moves to dismantle America’s climate protections
  38. Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty in latest move to dismantle America’s climate protections
  39. George Washington’s foreign policy was built on respect for other nations and patient consideration of future burdens
  40. Why the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s closure exposes a growing threat to democracy
  41. The 6-7 craze offered a brief window into the hidden world of children
  42. Meth inflames and stimulates your brain through similar pathways – new research offers potential avenue to treat meth addiction
  43. ‘Shared decision-making’ for childhood vaccines sounds empowering – but it may mean less access for families already stretched thin
  44. Live healthier in 2026 by breathing cleaner air at home
  45. Americans have had their mail-in ballots counted after Election Day for generations − a Supreme Court ruling could end the practice
  46. The 17th-century Pueblo leader who fought for independence from colonial rule – long before the American Revolution
  47. Superheavy-lift rockets like SpaceX’s Starship could transform astronomy by making space telescopes cheaper
  48. ICE killing of driver in Minneapolis involved tactics many police departments warn against − but not ICE itself
  49. New US dietary guidelines recommend more protein and whole milk, less ultraprocessed foods
  50. Illness is more than just biological – medical sociology shows how social factors get under the skin and cause disease