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Christmas trees are more expensive than ever in Colorado — what gives?

  • Written by Ali Besharat, Professor of Marketing, University of Denver
imageAll festive products are getting more expensive. d3sign/GettyImages

The holiday season sparks a significant increase in consumer spending. This year, Black Friday alone saw consumers shell out a record US$11.8 billion. It’s the time of year when many Americans make purchases to decorate for the holidays — lights, ornaments and Christmas...

Read more: Christmas trees are more expensive than ever in Colorado — what gives?

Pardons are political, with modern presidents expanding their use

  • Written by Stewart Ulrich, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Sam Houston State University
imagePresident Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, center, who is the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The senior Kusher now serves as U.S. ambassador to France.Marko Georgiev/AP

President Donald Trump is making full use of his pardon power. This year, Trump has issued roughly 1,800 pardons, or nearly six times the number he issued during the four...

Read more: Pardons are political, with modern presidents expanding their use

How the NIH became the backbone of American medical research and a major driver of innovation and economic growth

  • Written by Fred D. Ledley, Director, Center for Integration of Science and Industry, Bentley University
imageNIH researchers conducted some of the earliest experiments for developing chemotherapy to treat cancer, circa 1950.National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

As a young medical student in 1975, I walked into a basement lab at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, to interview for a summer job.

It turned out to be the...

Read more: How the NIH became the backbone of American medical research and a major driver of innovation and...

Getting peace right: Why justice needs to be baked into ceasefire agreements – including Ukraine’s

  • Written by Valerie Morkevicius, Associate Professor, Political Science, Colgate University
imageFrom left, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Britain Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz leave a meeting on Dec. 8, 2025, at 10 Downing Street in London.AP Photo/Kin Cheung

Efforts to end the war in Ukraine have grabbed global attention, fueled by debates over U.S. President...

Read more: Getting peace right: Why justice needs to be baked into ceasefire agreements – including Ukraine’s

From civil disobedience to networked whistleblowing: What national security truth-tellers reveal in an age of crackdowns

  • Written by Kate Kenny, Professor of Business and Society, University of Galway

Across the world, governments are tightening controls on speech, expanding surveillance and rolling back rights once thought to be secure.

From anti-protest laws and curbs on workers’ rights to the growing criminalization of leaks and dissent, the trend is chilling: People who speak out about government wrongdoing are increasingly...

Read more: From civil disobedience to networked whistleblowing: What national security truth-tellers reveal...

Best way for employers to support employees with chronic mental illness is by offering flexibility

  • Written by Sherry Thatcher, Regal Distinguished Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Tennessee

More than 20% of Americans will be diagnosed with mental illness in their lifetimes. They will, that is, experience conditions that influence the way they think, feel and act – and that may initially seem incompatible with the demands of work.

Our new research suggests that what people living with chronic mental illnesses need most to...

Read more: Best way for employers to support employees with chronic mental illness is by offering flexibility

How are dark matter and antimatter different?

  • Written by Dipangkar Dutta, Professor of Nuclear Physics, Mississippi State University
imageSpiral galaxies, like Messier 77 shown here, helped astronomers learn about the existence of dark matter. NASA, ESA & A. van der Hoeven, CC BY

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

What is dark matter and what is antimatter?...

Read more: How are dark matter and antimatter different?

Coup contagion? A rash of African power grabs suggests copycats are taking note of others’ success

  • Written by Salah Ben Hammou, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rice University
imageBenin's coup leaders appear on state TV on Dec. 7, 2025, to announce the suspension of the country's constitution.Reuters/YouTube

In a scene that has become familiar across parts of Africa of late, a group of armed men in military garb appeared on state TV on Dec. 7, 2025, to announce that they had suspended the constitution and seized control.

This...

Read more: Coup contagion? A rash of African power grabs suggests copycats are taking note of others’ success

Pandas, pingpong and ancient canals: President Xi’s hosting style says a lot about Chinese diplomacy

  • Written by Xianda Huang, Ph.D. Student in Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles
imageChinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron take in the view at the UNESCO World Heritage site in Dujiangyan, southwestern China'.Sarah Meyssonnier/AFP via Getty Images

When French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to China in early December for his fourth state visit, the itinerary began with the expected formalities. There...

Read more: Pandas, pingpong and ancient canals: President Xi’s hosting style says a lot about Chinese diplomacy

2025’s extreme weather had the jet stream’s fingerprints all over it, from flash floods to hurricanes

  • Written by Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton

The summer of 2025 brought unprecedented flash flooding across the U.S., with the central and eastern regions hit particularly hard. These storms claimed hundreds of lives across Texas, Kentucky and several other states and caused widespread destruction.

At the same time, every hurricane that formed, including the three powerful Category 5 storms, s...

Read more: 2025’s extreme weather had the jet stream’s fingerprints all over it, from flash floods to...

More Articles ...

  1. Science has always been marketed, from 18th-century coffeehouse demos of Newton’s ideas to today’s TikTok explainers
  2. What’s at stake in Trump’s executive order aiming to curb state-level AI regulation
  3. The Bible says little about Jesus’ childhood – but that didn’t stop medieval Christians from enjoying tales of him as holy ‘rascal’
  4. Whether Netflix or Paramount buys Warner Bros., entertainment oligopolies are back – bigger and more anticompetitive than ever
  5. Sleep problems and depression can be a vicious cycle, especially during pregnancy − here’s why it’s important to get help
  6. Data centers need electricity fast, but utilities need years to build power plants – who should pay?
  7. Can scientists detect life without knowing what it looks like? Research using machine learning offers a new way
  8. How a niche Catholic approach to infertility treatment became a new talking point for MAHA conservatives
  9. Donor-advised funds have more money than ever – and direct more of it to politically active charities
  10. How I rehumanize the college classroom for the AI-augmented age
  11. Sharks and rays get a major win with new international trade limits for 70+ species
  12. Trump administration replaces America 250 quarters honoring abolition and women’s suffrage with Mayflower and Gettysburg designs
  13. A Colorado guaranteed income program could help families, but the costs are high
  14. West Bank violence is soaring, fueled by a capitulation of Israeli institutions to settlers’ interests
  15. Black-market oil buyers will push Venezuela for bigger discounts following US seizure – starving Maduro of much-needed revenue
  16. As a former federal judge, I’m concerned by a year of challenges to the US justice system
  17. Songbirds swap colorful plumage genes across species lines among their evolutionary neighbors
  18. The Ivies can weather the Trump administration’s research cuts – it’s the nation’s public universities that have the most to lose
  19. Polytechnic universities focus on practical, career-oriented skills, offering an alternative to traditional universities
  20. AI-generated political videos are more about memes and money than persuading and deceiving
  21. AI’s errors may be impossible to eliminate – what that means for its use in health care
  22. How one Florida program reduced preterm births – and how it could serve as a model for other communities
  23. Even with Trump’s support, coal power remains expensive – and dangerous
  24. The dystopian Pottersville in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is starting to feel less like fiction
  25. Tariffs 101: What they are, who pays them, and why they matter now
  26. Time banks could ease the burden of elder care and promote connection
  27. Hanukkah celebrates both an ancient military victory and a miracle of light – modern Jews can pick from either tradition
  28. ‘Are you married?’ Why doctors ask invasive questions during treatment
  29. From FIFA to the LA Clippers, carbon offset scandals are exposing the gap between sports teams’ green promises and reality
  30. 2026’s abortion battles will be fought more in courthouses and FDA offices than at the voting booth
  31. Trump administration’s immigrant detention policy broadly rejected by federal judges
  32. Doulas play essential roles in reproductive health care – and more states are beginning to recognize it
  33. From early cars to generative AI, new technologies create demand for specialized materials
  34. Germany’s plan to deport Syrian refugees echoes 1980s effort to repatriate Turkish guest workers
  35. New industry standards and tech advances make pre-owned electronics a viable holiday gift option
  36. Exposure to neighborhood violence leads some Denver teens to use tobacco and alcohol earlier, new study shows
  37. Newly discovered link between traumatic brain injury in children and epigenetic changes could help personalize treatment for recovering kids
  38. US oil industry doesn’t see profit in Trump’s ‘pro-petroleum’ moves
  39. Sabrina Carpenter’s and Chappell Roan’s sexy pop hits have roots in the bedroom ballads of Teddy Pendergrass and Philly soul
  40. 6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong
  41. Young, undocumented immigrants are finding it increasingly hard to attend college as South Carolina and other states restrict in-state tuition or ban them altogether
  42. Outside the West, the Kundalini tradition presents a model of the ‘divine feminine’ beyond binary gender
  43. Pope Leo XIV’s visits to Turkey and Lebanon were about religious diplomacy
  44. How crime in Brazil drags down the economy and heaps economic pain on the nation’s poor
  45. You care about fairness at work – so why do you feel like a fake?
  46. Lower-cost space missions like NASA’s ESCAPADE are starting to deliver exciting science – but at a price in risk and trade‑offs
  47. PFAS in pregnant women’s drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds
  48. Health insurance premiums rose nearly 3x the rate of worker earnings over the past 25 years
  49. Merry Jewish Christmas: How Chinese food and the movies became a time-honored tradition for American Jews
  50. Are sanctuary policing policies no more than a public relations facade?