The Conversation

• Iran-US nuclear talks may fail due to both nations’ red lines – but that doesn’t make them futile
  The US administration may sense that Iran is weak and ready to do a deal. But negotiations could be undone by intransigent red lines.
• Coffee crops are dying from a fungus with species-jumping genes – researchers are ‘resurrecting’ their genomes to understand how and why
  Coffee wilt disease has continually devastated farms around the world. Understanding the fungus’s genetics can help protect everyone’s cup of joe.
• In World War II’s dog-eat-dog struggle for resources, a Greenland mine launched a new world order
  Strategic resources have been central to the American-led global system for decades, as a historian explains. But US actions toward Greenland today are different.
• Revisiting the story of Clementine Barnabet, a Black woman blamed for serial murders in the Jim Crow South
  In 1912, a young Black woman’s supposed religious beliefs were quickly blamed to make sense of a terrifying crime spree.
• New dietary guidelines prioritize ‘real food’ – but low-income pregnant women can’t easily obtain it
  New research reveals a deepening crisis in prenatal health as geography and income increasingly dictate whether a mother can meet her basic nutritional needs.
• 3 generations of Black Philadelphia students report persistent anti-Black attitudes in schools
  A sociologist explains how Black students in Philadelphia navigate racial prejudice and find affirmation in their schools.
• Warming winters are disrupting the hidden world of fungi – the result can shift mountain grasslands to scrub
  Over a three-decade experiment in the Rocky Mountains, fungi and plant life fundamentally changed. The result has consequences for cattle and wildlife.
• Atrocities take place in democratic nations as well as autocratic ones – our database has logged them all
  Forty years of data suggests atrocities are on the rise globally.
• White men file workplace discrimination claims but are less likely to face inequity than other groups
  Research shows that white men who file discrimination charges experience employer retaliation at similar rates as other racial groups.
• How do people know their interests? The shortest player in the NBA shows how self-belief matters more than biology
  Some people seem to be born to excel at certain activities. But having opportunities to try new things and get better at them can lead to lifelong passions.
• How a largely forgotten Supreme Court case can help prevent an executive branch takeover of federal elections
  An FBI raid on a Georgia elections facility has sparked concern about Trump administration interference in the 2026 midterms. An obscure 1970s Supreme Court case provides guardrails against that.
• Do special election results spell doom for Republicans in 2026?
  Special election results have anticipated recent midterm outcomes. With Democrats now overperforming, that could spell trouble for the GOP in 2026.
• 3D scanning and shape analysis help archaeologists connect objects across space and time to recover their lost histories
  Digital tools allow archaeologists to identify similarities between fragments and artifacts and potentially recover previously unknown parts of their stories.
• The intensity and perfectionism that drive Olympic athletes also put them at high risk for eating disorders
  Athletes in sports where weight and body image come into play, such as figure skating and wrestling, can be particularly vulnerable.
• Are women board members risk averse or agents of innovation? It’s complicated, new research shows
  The effect of women board members on patent activity hinges on whether the company is meeting performance targets.
• OpenAI has deleted the word ‘safely’ from its mission – and its new structure is a test for whether AI serves society or shareholders
  OpenAI’s restructuring may serve as a test case for how society oversees the work of organizations with the potential to both provide benefits and harm humanity.
• Colorectal cancer is increasing among young people, as James Van Der Beek’s death reminds us – cancer experts explain ways to decrease your risk
  Colon cancer symptoms can be subtle. While lifestyle changes can help reduce your risk, open communication with your family and doctor is essential.
• Counter-drone technologies are evolving – but there’s no surefire way to defend against drone attacks
  Companies are selling a range of anti-drone devices, from guns that fire nets to powerful laser weapons, but no one system is sufficient for defending airports, power plants and other critical sites.
• Trump’s EPA decides climate change doesn’t endanger public health – the evidence says otherwise
  Climate change is making people sicker and more vulnerable to disease, doctors and scientists explain. Erasing the federal endangerment finding increases the risk.
• FDA rejects Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application - for reasons with no basis in the law
  The move signals an escalation in the agency’s efforts to interfere with established procedures for testing and approving vaccines.
• Nearly every state in the US has dyslexia laws – but our research shows limited change for struggling readers
  Dyslexia laws are now nearly universal across the US. But the data shows that passing a law is not the same as improving how children learn to read.
• Citizenship voting requirement in SAVE America Act has no basis in the Constitution – and ignores precedent that only states decide who gets to vote
  The House has passed a bill to require proof of citizenship for voting. Although it likely won’t become law, the bill raises constitutional questions.
• How the 9/11 terrorist attacks shaped ICE’s immigration strategy
  The growth of today’s aggressive immigration tactics traces back 25 years, when enforcement took on the dimension of counterterrorism.
• Cement has a climate problem — here’s how geopolymers with add-ins like cork could help fix it
  Cement is responsible for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and demand is growing. Alternatives like geopolymers can help lower the impact.
• How business students learn to make ethical decisions by studying a soup kitchen in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods
  For 50 years, St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia has served the poorest and most vulnerable people in Kensington.
• Exiled Iranians and Venezuelans may well support regime change – but diasporas don’t always reflect the politics back home
  Diasporas are often treated by media and policymakers as monolithic blocs, but the reality is more complicated.
• Addiction affects your brain as well as your body – that’s why detoxing is just the first stage of recovery
  Substance use disorders are widespread in the US, but many people wrongly equate detoxing with being cured.
• More than a feeling – thinking about love as a virtue can change how we respond to hate
  Love and hate seem like obvious opposites – but for philosophers of virtue, it’s not so simple.
• Swarms of AI bots can sway people’s beliefs – threatening democracy
  A simulation shows that social media bots powered by today’s AI can infiltrate human networks on social media and influence what people believe.
• Hesitation is costly in sports but essential to life – neuroscientists identified its brain circuitry
  There are specific parts of the brain that trigger hesitation in times of uncertainty.
• Trump administration losing credibility with judges and grand juries – a former federal judge explains why this is ‘remarkable and unprecedented’
  Grand juries, historically rubber stamps for prosecutors’ attempts to indict, are rejecting the Trump administration’s moves to indict the president’s perceived enemies. That’s unprecedented.
• Living in space can change where your brain sits in your skull – new research
  These changes aren’t permanent – the brain goes gradually back to normal after coming back to Earth. Understanding the physical effects of spaceflight helps plan space missions.
• Green or not, US energy future depends on Native nations
  Native American lands contain 30% of the nation’s coal, 50% of its uranium and 20% of its natural gas, as well as copper, lithium and rare earth elements.
• The rise of ‘Merzoni’: How an alliance between Germany’s and Italy’s leaders is reshaping Europe
  The center of gravity in Europe is increasingly aligning along a Rome-Berlin axis.
• Martha Washington’s enslaved maid Ona Judge made a daring escape to freedom – but the National Park Service has erased her story from Philadelphia exhibit
  Ona Judge was one of 9 people George Washington owned when he lived in the President’s House in Philadelphia.
• ‘Proportional representation’ could reduce polarization in Congress and help more people feel like their voices are being heard
  The electoral system used by many global democracies eliminates gerrymandering and has been shown to give more equal representation to minorities and women.
• Distrust and disempowerment, not apathy, keep employees from supporting marginalized colleagues
  The reasons colleagues stay silent when co-workers are mistreated may not be what you assume − and it’s not what companies typically spend money on in their efforts to create a fair environment.
• Why is US health care still the most expensive in the world after decades of cost-cutting initiatives?
  To lower health care costs, the Trump administration will have to wrangle a complex system fraught with competing interests.
• What is and isn’t new about US bishops’ criticism of Trump’s foreign policy
  The Catholic Church’s teachings on ‘just war’ have guided leaders’ long history of opposing many military interventions.
• Reading to young kids improves their social skills − and a new study shows it doesn’t matter whether parents stop to ask questions
  New research shows that parents who read to their 6- to 8-year-olds nightly boost their children’s creativity and empathy.
• Historically Black colleges and universities do more than offer Black youths a pathway to opportunity and success – I teach criminology, and my research suggests another benefit
  HBCUs make up just 3% of the country’s colleges and universities. But their graduates include 40% of Black engineers and 50% of Black lawyers.
• How a 22-year-old George Washington learned how to lead, from a series of mistakes in the Pennsylvania wilderness
  Washington’s fundamental character as a military leader was forged in the Ohio River Valley, where he also inadvertently helped ignite the French and Indian War.
• Local governments provide proof that polarization is not inevitable
  Partisan debates are less heated at the local level, providing lessons that might help calm the waters nationally.
• Mapping cemeteries for class – how students used phones and drones to help a city count its headstones
  Cemeteries are a treasure trove of local history and family connection. Technology and ingenuity have made mapping them easier.
• RNA is key to the dark matter of the genome − scientists are sequencing it to illuminate human health and disease
  Researchers are embarking on the RNA equivalent of the Human Genome Project, including sequencing all the chemical modifications that make cells unique.
• ‘Which Side Are You On?’: American protest songs have emboldened social movements for generations, from coal country to Minneapolis
  Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ within days of Alex Pretti’s killing, continuing a long tradition of songs as protest against violence and repression.
• Why eating cheap chocolate can feel embarrassing – even though no one else cares
  Researchers describe what they call a consumption stigma – when you feel judged or looked down on for using certain products or services.
• As Jeff Bezos dismantles The Washington Post, 5 regional papers chart a course for survival
  Other billionaires who own newspapers are doing a better job, a journalism professor explains.
• Why Christian clergy see risk as part of their moral calling
  Clergy sometimes place themselves in harm’s way for moral and religious reasons. A scholar of religious ethics explains when – and why.
• Held captive in their own country during World War II, Japanese Americans used nature to cope with their unjustified imprisonment
  Incarcerated in rough barracks surrounded by barbed wire and armed soldiers, Japanese Americans made functional and beautiful items to ease their suffering.