By Marla Miller, Distinguished Professor of History, UMass Amherst
Betsy Ross probably did not sew the first American flag, but she was one of many craftswomen whose wartime labor helped build a nation.
(Full Story)
|
By Robert S. Olick, Associate Professor Emeritus of Bioethics and Humanities, SUNY Upstate Medical University
Karen Ann Quinlan fell into a coma in 1975. The high-profile legal case over her parents’ wish to remove her ventilator shapes American patients’ rights today.
(Full Story)
|
By Laela Sayigh, Senior Research Specialist, Cetacean Communication, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
A database of sounds from a community of wild dolphins is proving to be a great resource for researchers studying dolphin communication.
(Full Story)
|
By Sundeep Venkatesan, Assistant Professor of Speech and Language Pathology, Binghamton University, State University of New York
As you get older, the muscles your body uses to chew can weaken, which may make enjoying holiday treats like Easter candy more difficult.
(Full Story)
|
By Matt A. Barreto, Professor of Political Science, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Gary M. Segura, Professor of Public Policy, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Trump promised to fix the economy, and that helped increase his Latino support in 2024. But the cost of living and ICE raids may be bringing Latinos back to the Democrats in 2026.
(Full Story)
|
By Joseph J. Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Global Studies, Appalachian State University
If President Trump gets his way, the future of the US and Cuba will look very much like a partnership of unequals.
(Full Story)
|
By William McCorkle, Associate Professor of Education, College of Charleston
The Heritage Foundation released a policy document in February 2026 that spells out how states can try to challenge a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that enshrined immigrant students’ right to attend school.
(Full Story)
|
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…
(Full Story)
|
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…
(Full Story)
|
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.
(Full Story)
|