The Conversation

Wildfire smoke’s health risks can linger in homes that escape burning − as Colorado’s Marshall Fire survivors discovered

Written by Colleen E. Reid, Associate Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder

The Marshall Fire spared some homes, shown here a day later, but smoke had blanketed the area.Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

On Dec. 30, 2021, a wind-driven wildfire raced through two communities just outside Boulder, Colorado. In the span of about eight hours, more than 1,000 homes and businesses burned.

The fire left...

Whales can live way longer than scientists had thought, with potential lifespans as much as double previous estimates

Written by Greg Breed, Associate Professor of Quantitative Ecology, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Animals with long lifespans tend to reproduce extremely slowly.Els Vermeulen

Southern right whales have lifespans that reach well past 100 years, and 10% may live past 130 years, according to our new research published in the journal Science Advances. Some of these whales may live to 150. This lifespan is almost double the 70-80 years they are...

Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures

Written by Rachel Blaser, Professor of Neuroscience, Cognition and Behavior, University of San Diego

A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) off Croatia in the Mediterranean Sea.Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images

We named him Squirt – not because he was the smallest of the 16 cuttlefish in the pool, but because anyone with the audacity to scoop him into a separate tank to study him was likely to get soaked. Squirt had notoriously...

Bob Dylan and the creative leap that transformed modern music

Written by Ted Olson, Professor of Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies, East Tennessee State University

Dylan and singer-songwriter Mimi Farina relax at the Viking Hotel in Newport, R.I., in July 1964.John Byrne Cooke Estate/Getty Images

The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” starring Timothée Chalamet, focuses on Dylan’s early 1960s transition from idiosyncratic singer of folk songs to internationally renowned...

After Hurricane Helene, survivors have been in a race against time to protect family heirlooms, photographs and keepsakes

Written by Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor

Damage and residual flooding from Mill Creek in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 29, 2024, in Old Fort, N.C.Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

The total damage from Hurricane Helene to North Carolina – be it physical, psychological or economic – is difficult to quantify. But the numbers reported by the Office of State Budget and...

In Disney’s ‘Moana,’ the characters navigate using the stars, just like real Polynesian explorers − an astronomer explains how these methods work

Written by Christopher Palma, Teaching Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State

Wayfarers around the world have used the stars to navigate the sea. Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images Plus

If you have visited an island like one of the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti or Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, you may have noticed how small these land masses appear against the vast Pacific Ocean. If you’re on Hawaii, the nearest...

Climate change is making plants less nutritious − that could already be hurting animals that are grazers

Written by Ellen Welti, Research Ecologist, Great Plains Science Program, Smithsonian Institution

The giant panda's diet is almost 100% bamboo.Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

More than one-third of all animals on Earth, from beetles to cows to elephants, depend on plant-based diets. Plants are a low-calorie food source, so it can be challenging for animals to consume enough energy to meet their needs. Now climate change is reducing the...

The ‘choking game’ and other challenges amplified by social media can come with deadly consequences

Written by Steven Wolterning, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University

Video clips of teens playing dangerous games are easily accessible on many social media sites.Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images

The “choking game” has potentially deadly consequences, as players are challenged to temporarily strangle themselves by restricting oxygen to the brain. It sounds terrifying, but rough estimates...

Language AIs in 2024: Size, guardrails and steps toward AI agents

Written by John Licato, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Director of AMHR Lab, University of South Florida

2024 saw smaller models and new guardrails for language AIs.pagadesign/E+ via Getty Images

I research the intersection of artificial intelligence, natural language processing and human reasoning as the director of the Advancing Human and Machine Reasoning lab at the University of South Florida. I am also commercializing this research in an AI...

2 populations of dark comets in the solar system could tell researchers where the Earth got its oceans

Written by Darryl Z. Seligman, Postdoctoral Fellow in Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University

Dark comets accelerate through space but don't have a dusty tail like most comets. Adina Feinstein and NASA’s Earth Observatory

The water that makes up the oceans acted as a key ingredient for the development of life on Earth. However, scientists still do not know where the water here on Earth came from in the first place.

One leading idea is...