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Microbes can colonize space, produce drugs and create energy − researchers are simulating their inner workings to harness how

  • Written by Blaise Manga Enuh, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Microbial Genomics and Systems Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageGenome-scale metabolic models capture the complex chemical reactions that allow cells to function.Yuri Arcurs/iStock via Getty Images Plus

After so many years learning how microbes work, researchers are now digitally recreating their inner workings to tackle challenges ranging from climate change to space colonization.

In my work as a computational...

Read more: Microbes can colonize space, produce drugs and create energy − researchers are simulating their...

Here’s what happens when teachers tailor their lessons to students’ individual learning styles

  • Written by Virginia Clinton-Lisell, Associate Professor of Educational Foundations and Research, University of North Dakota
imageSome educators believe different students have their own learning style. FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Students do better when lessons are tailored to individual learning styles – but not so much that it’s worth the investment of time and money. That’s the main finding of a recent peer-reviewed study I co-authored.

There has been...

Read more: Here’s what happens when teachers tailor their lessons to students’ individual learning styles

Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows

  • Written by Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University
imageEPA/MIGUEL ANGEL POLO

Last year, Earth experienced its hottest year on record − for the fourth year in a row. Rising temperatures are changing the way water moves around our planet, wreaking havoc on the water cycle.

The 2024 Global Water Monitor Report released today shows how these changes are driving extreme events around the world. Our...

Read more: Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows

Mainstream media faces a credibility crisis – my journalism research shows how the news can still serve the public

  • Written by Anita Varma, Assistant Professor, School of Journalism, The University of Texas at Austin

“The news media is the least trusted group among 10 U.S. civic and political institutions involved in the democratic process,” the polling firm Gallup concluded in a 2024 analysis.

Despite news organizations’ pledges to provide fact-based reporting, and ongoing investments to build trust, people across the political spectrum in...

Read more: Mainstream media faces a credibility crisis – my journalism research shows how the news can still...

Will AI revolutionize drug development? Researchers explain why it depends on how it’s used

  • Written by Duxin Sun, Associate Dean for Research, Charles Walgreen Jr. Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan
imageA high drug failure rate is more than just a pattern recognition problem.Thom Leach/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

The potential of using artificial intelligence in drug discovery and development has sparked both excitementand skepticism among scientists, investors and the general public.

“Artificial intelligence is taking over drug...

Read more: Will AI revolutionize drug development? Researchers explain why it depends on how it’s used

Is the American Dream achievable? These students are examining its promises and pitfalls

  • Written by Mark Robert Rank, Professor of Social Welfare, Washington University in St. Louis
imageThis interdisciplinary course considers the notion's reality.Melissa Ross/Moment via Getty Images

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

“Economic Realities of the American Dream”

What prompted the idea for the course?

One of us – Steve...

Read more: Is the American Dream achievable? These students are examining its promises and pitfalls

Tech law in 2025: a look ahead at AI, privacy and social media regulation under the new Trump administration

  • Written by Sylvia Lu, Faculty Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, University of Michigan
imageThe incoming Trump administration is poised to shake up tech regulation.Adam Gray/AFP via Getty Images

Artificial intelligence harms, problematic social media content, data privacy violations – the issues are the same, but the policymakers and regulators who deal with them are about to change.

As the federal government transitions to a new...

Read more: Tech law in 2025: a look ahead at AI, privacy and social media regulation under the new Trump...

Afghanistan shows what investing in women’s education – or divesting – can do to an economy

  • Written by Harry Anthony Patrinos, Chair in Education Policy, University of Arkansas
imageAfghan girls are barred from attending school after sixth grade. AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

When the Taliban fell from power in Afghanistan in 2001, women were once again allowed to go to school after being banned since 1996. I, along with World Bank education expert Raja Bentaouet Kattan and American University economist Rafiuddin Najam, analyzed...

Read more: Afghanistan shows what investing in women’s education – or divesting – can do to an economy

Can science be both open and secure? Nations grapple with tightening research security as China’s dominance grows

  • Written by Caroline Wagner, Professor of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University
imageChina has been the top scientific collaborator with the U.S. since 2013.kritsapong jieantaratip/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, the two countries signed a bilateral science and technology agreement on Dec. 13, 2024. The event was billed as a “renewal” of a 45-year-old pact to...

Read more: Can science be both open and secure? Nations grapple with tightening research security as China’s...

More Articles ...

  1. New Orleans attacker’s apparent loyalty to Islamic State group highlights persistent threat of lone wolf terrorism
  2. Mindfulness is about ‘remembering’ − a practice of coming back to the now
  3. Selling fear: Marketing for cybersecurity products often leaves consumers less secure
  4. Righting a wrong, name by name − the Irei monument honors Japanese Americans imprisoned by the US government during World War II
  5. How effective is tutoring in the United States? – 4 essential reads
  6. Brain implants, agentic AI and answers on dark matter: what to expect from science in 2025 – podcast
  7. Faced with Trump’s tariffs − and crackdowns on migration and narcotrafficking − Mexico is weighing retaliatory options
  8. NASA’s micro-mission Lunar Trailblazer will make macro-measurements of the lunar surface in 2025
  9. Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life
  10. What if you could rank food by ‘healthiness’ as you shopped? Nutrient profiling systems use algorithms to simplify picking healthy groceries
  11. 5 elections to watch in 2025
  12. New Year’s Eve celebrates St. Silvester – the 4th-century pope whose legend shaped ideas of church and state
  13. What are macros? An exercise and nutrition scientist explains
  14. What does 2025 hold for interest rates, inflation and the American consumer?
  15. From new commercial Moon landers to asteroid investigations, expect a slate of exciting space missions in 2025
  16. 3 years after the Marshall Fire: Wildfire smoke’s health risks can linger long-term in homes that escape burning
  17. Wildfire smoke’s health risks can linger in homes that escape burning − as Colorado’s Marshall Fire survivors discovered
  18. Whales can live way longer than scientists had thought, with potential lifespans as much as double previous estimates
  19. Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures
  20. Bob Dylan and the creative leap that transformed modern music
  21. After Hurricane Helene, survivors have been in a race against time to protect family heirlooms, photographs and keepsakes
  22. In Disney’s ‘Moana,’ the characters navigate using the stars, just like real Polynesian explorers − an astronomer explains how these methods work
  23. Climate change is making plants less nutritious − that could already be hurting animals that are grazers
  24. The ‘choking game’ and other challenges amplified by social media can come with deadly consequences
  25. Language AIs in 2024: Size, guardrails and steps toward AI agents
  26. 2 populations of dark comets in the solar system could tell researchers where the Earth got its oceans
  27. Detroit’s reparations task force now has until 2025 to make its report, but going slow with this challenging work may not be a bad thing
  28. Climate of fear is driving local officials to quit – new study from California finds threats, abuse rampant
  29. What does the US attorney general actually do? A law professor explains
  30. 3D-printed guns, like the one allegedly used to kill a health care CEO, are a growing threat in the US and around the world
  31. Colorado now has one of the nation’s most liberal abortion access laws, but ballot measures to restrict abortion have a long history in the state
  32. A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics
  33. How should we look to history to make sense of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?
  34. The Wanamaker organ has been part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future
  35. What are pharmacy benefit managers? A health economist explains how lack of competition drives up drug prices for everyone
  36. How a small Brazilian town became an unlikely battleground over Confederate memory
  37. The moral dimension to America’s flawed health care system
  38. How to avoid the latest generation of scams this holiday season
  39. Federal protection for monarch butterflies could help or harm this iconic species, depending on how it’s carried out
  40. Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season
  41. For enslaved people, the holiday season was a time for revelry – and a brief window to fight back
  42. The Moon might be older than scientists previously thought − a new study shines light on its history
  43. Yes, Philadelphia is a sanctuary city − but that offers undocumented immigrants little protection from mass deportations
  44. Rules against insider trading also boost innovation, research finds
  45. Why Syria’s reconstruction may depend on the fate of its minorities
  46. What is an AI agent? A computer scientist explains the next wave of artificial intelligence tools
  47. Trust in U.S. media hit an all-time low in 2024 − a new survey shows Black midwesterners have found other trusted messengers of news
  48. Luigi Mangione isn’t the first alleged criminal to capture many people’s imaginations – and hearts
  49. Assault on DEI: Critics use simplistic terms to attack the programs, but they are key to uprooting workplace bias
  50. Nixon’s official acts against his enemies list led to a bipartisan impeachment effort