By Perry Samson, Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science, University of Michigan
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.
Can a person survive inside a tornado? – Sophia, age 14, Greencastle, Indiana
I have seen the center of a monster. Most people describe the sound of a tornado as like a freight train, but up close, it’s more…
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By Beth Schinoff, Assistant Professor of Management, University of Delaware
Elana Feldman, Associate Professor of Management, UMass Lowell
Your back pain gets worse as you sit through a long meeting. Your wrist pain flares when you’re typing furiously to meet a tight deadline. During a busy shift at the grocery store, you feel a migraine coming on.
If that sounds familiar, you’ve got plenty of company. About 1 in 4 U.S. adults suffer from chronic pain. The share who say they are in chronic pain either on most days or every day in the past three months is growing: It jumped by nearly…
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By Carsten Schradin, Director of Research, Université de Strasbourg; University of the Witwatersrand
What if harsh environments don’t stress animals at all? Research on South Africa’s striped mice shows survival can depend on conserving energy, not fighting back.
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By Siyabulela Christopher Fobosi, Senior Researcher, UNESCO 'Oliver Tambo' Chair of Human Rights, University of Fort Hare, University of Fort Hare
In many rural parts of South Africa, getting to a hospital, school or workplace depends on the condition of a gravel road. When that road collapses during rain or potholes make it impassable, the consequences are immediate: ambulances cannot reach patients, children miss school, workers lose income.
This is the reality for many communities in the Eastern Cape, one of South Africa’s poorest provinces. Here, four…
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By Jenny Hall, Associate Professor in Tourism and Events, York St John University
Brendan Paddison, Professor of Tourism Geographies, York St John University
At the end of the day, as the sky begins to darken, many people instinctively retreat indoors, turn on the lights and miss the arrival of dusk.
A small but growing movement suggests people can benefit from doing the opposite: stepping outside and observing the slow transition from day to night. This practice, often described as “dusking”, involves watching the light start to disappear, noticing the changing colours of the sky, the emergence…
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By Christopher Saville, Clinical Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology and Sport Science, Bangor University
Life expectancy in the UK has risen dramatically since the Industrial Revolution. For more than a century, people lived increasingly long and healthy lives. But around the turn of the millennium, that progress began to slow.
In 2015, economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton published a landmark study showing something unexpected. From the late 1990s onwards, death rates among middle-aged white Americans without university degrees had started…
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By Elaine Nsoesie, Assistant Professor, Department of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston University
Blessing Mberu, Head of Urbanisation and Wellbeing, African Population and Health Research Center, African Population and Health Research Center
A new book called Urban Health in Africa explores how rapid urbanisation across the continent shapes public health and wellbeing. Drawing on diverse research and case studies, the book reframes African cities not just as sites of challenge, but as places of innovation, resilience and opportunity.
We spoke to global health researcher Elaine Nsoesie and urbanisation and wellbeing sociologist Blessing Mberu, co-editors…
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By Howard Stein, Development Economist and Professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan
Michael Olabisi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) and the department of Agricultural Food and Resource Economics (AFRE), Michigan State University
Africa holds key green energy minerals but exports them raw. If the continent had its own Green Bank, it could finance local manufacturing and green industry.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Smoke from a building in the center of Beirut, Lebanon, which has been hit by the IDF after an evacuation order, on March 12, 2026. © 2026 Adri Salido/Getty Images (Beirut, March 23, 2026) – Israeli forces have expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon after indicating an intent to forcibly displace residents, destroy civilian homes and conduct strikes that could target civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Forcible displacement, wanton destruction and attacks deliberately targeting civilians are war crimes. Countries that continue to provide Israel…
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Monday, March 23, 2026
The war in the Middle East is well into its fourth week and the humanitarian emergency it has sparked continues to be the focus of international attention, along with the energy crisis caused by attacks on shipping in key Strait of Hormuz and other oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.
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