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The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

What does the NASA administrator do? The agency’s leader reaches for the stars while navigating budgets and politics back on Earth

  • Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air University
imageThe head of NASA represents the agency to Congress and on the global stage. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Leaders of NASA sit in an awkward position. While they are the head of a widely recognized organization, they’re often not the most famous individual in the agency. More people probably know the names of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the...

Read more: What does the NASA administrator do? The agency’s leader reaches for the stars while navigating...

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  1. Trump attacks diversity, but a fellow New Yorker − US Rep. Vito Marcantonio − worked to represent all Americans in a multiracial democracy
  2. What is Salt Typhoon? A security expert explains the Chinese hackers and their attack on US telecommunications networks
  3. Extraterrestrial life may look nothing like life on Earth − so astrobiologists are coming up with a framework to study how complex systems evolve
  4. Protests, sectarian violence and a growing spat with India: Bangladesh’s new leaders are beset with challenges to its democracy
  5. What is the ‘way of the warrior’? Students investigate the arts of war and peace in this course about virtue and the ethics of violence
  6. Love it or hate it, nonliteral ‘literally’ is here to stay: Here’s why English will survive
  7. Adults grow new brain cells – and these neurons are key to learning by listening
  8. White and Black activists worked strategically in parallel in Detroit 50 years ago, fighting for civil rights
  9. What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend
  10. Some black holes at the centers of galaxies have a buddy − but detecting these binary pairs isn’t easy
  11. Long-standing American principle of birthright citizenship under attack from Trump allies
  12. Avian flu virus has been found in raw milk − a reminder of how pasteurization protects health
  13. Can you choose to believe something, just like that?
  14. ‘Lebanon wanted us gone … it was a risk to leave’ − Syrian refugees who fled Israeli bombs face hostility and uncertainty on return
  15. Bluesky isn’t the ‘new Twitter,’ but its resemblance to the old one is drawing millions of new users
  16. How a director of national intelligence helps a president stay on top of threats from around the world
  17. Prenatal supplements largely lack the recommended amount of omega-3 fatty acids to help prevent preterm birth − new research
  18. Supreme Court could narrow the scope of federal environmental reviews, with less consideration of how projects would contribute to climate change
  19. Water fluoridation helps prevent tooth decay – how growing opposition threatens a 70-year-old health practice
  20. Notre Dame reopens in Paris 5 years after fire – its reconstruction preserves the past and illuminates France’s modern ambitions
  21. America’s counties are less purple than they used to be
  22. AI Jesus might ‘listen’ to your confession, but it can’t absolve your sins − a scholar of Catholicism explains
  23. One’s a Hugh Grant thriller, one’s a hot-mess reality show – and both center on stereotypes about Mormon women
  24. Is masculine anxiety spurring support for Trump among Gen Z?
  25. How right-wing media is like improv theater
  26. What South Korea’s short-lived martial law says about nation’s democracy and the autocratic tendencies of President Yoon
  27. Why you should talk to people you disagree with about politics
  28. Threatening texts targeting minorities after election were vile − but they might not be illegal
  29. Rape survivors like Gisèle Pelicot are choosing to speak out, refuting the idea that they should feel shame
  30. We surveyed hundreds of vacationers to confirm this ancient wisdom: The journey matters as much as the destination
  31. New IRS funding boosted tax enforcement and improved taxpayer services during the Biden administration
  32. NEOWISE, the NASA mission that cataloged objects around Earth for over a decade, has come to an end
  33. Noam Chomsky at 96: The linguist, educator, philosopher and public thinker has had a massive intellectual and moral influence
  34. Are trans women ‘biologically male’? The answer is complicated
  35. Wildland firefighters face a big pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress
  36. Wildland firefighters face up to $20,000 pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress
  37. What is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham? And how did the Islamist group evolve into a key player in Syria’s civil war?
  38. Pardon who? Hunter Biden case renews ethical debate over use and limits of peculiar presidential power
  39. Do Mom and Dad really know what’s best? A psychologist explains why kids see their parents as bossier than they are
  40. Music can change how you feel about the past
  41. The apocalypse that wasn’t: AI was everywhere in 2024’s elections, but deepfakes and misinformation were only part of the picture
  42. Why sending a belated gift is not as bad as you probably think − and late is better than never
  43. Tip pressure might work in the moment, but customers are less likely to return
  44. Dozens of cyclists and pedestrians are killed each year in Philly − an injury epidemiologist explains how to better protect bike lanes, slow drivers down and reduce collisions
  45. US attorney general’s professionalism can protect Americans’ privacy, former federal judge explains
  46. Tiff Massey’s ‘7 Mile Livernois’ exhibition isn’t just about a neighborhood – it’s a tribute to Black Detroit
  47. Fossilized footprints reveal 2 extinct hominin species living side by side 1.5 million years ago
  48. 208 million Americans are classified as obese or overweight, according to new study synthesizing 132 data sources
  49. An upward spiral – how small acts of kindness and connection really can change the world, according to psychology research
  50. Why Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire now − and what it means for Israel, Lebanon, Biden and Trump