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Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future − alongside the old one

  • Written by Mike Shriberg, Professor of Practice & Engagement, School for Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan
imageAnn Arbor, Michigan's new sustainable energy utility doesn't have to rely on old power lines. Brittany Greeson for The Washington Post via Getty Images

An experiment is underway in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that could change how communities generate and distribute power in the future.

The city, with voters’ strong support, is launching its own...

Read more: Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future −...

5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since COVID-19

  • Written by Rachel Besharat Mann, Assistant Professor in Education Studies, Wesleyan University
imageStudents sit in pop-up tents during wind ensemble class at Wenatchee High School on Feb. 26, 2021 in Wenatchee, Wash..David Ryder/Getty Images

The U.S. educational landscape has been drastically transformed since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered school campuses five years ago.

Access to high-quality teachers and curriculum developed by teachers is...

Read more: 5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since COVID-19

Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? A physicist explains

  • Written by Rae Robertson-Anderson, Professor of Physics & Biophysics, University of San Diego
imageIt pours like a liquid but maintains its shape like a solid.Jack Andersen/Stone via Getty Images

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.

Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? – Gabriel, age 8, DeLand, Florida

Imagine...

Read more: Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? A physicist explains

America is becoming a nation of homebodies

  • Written by Brian D. Taylor, Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles
imageThe COVID-19 pandemic merely accelerated a trend that began in 2003.C.P. George/ClassicStock via Getty Images

In his February 2025 cover story for The Atlantic, journalist Derek Thompson dubbed our current era “the anti-social century.”

He isn’t wrong. According to our recent research, the U.S. is becoming a nation of homebodies.

Us...

Read more: America is becoming a nation of homebodies

5 reasons veterans are especially hard-hit by federal cuts

  • Written by Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst
imageA protester holds a sign during a demonstration against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the Trump administration outside the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to cut 83,000 jobs, slashing employment by over 17% at the federal agency that...

Read more: 5 reasons veterans are especially hard-hit by federal cuts

Daylight saving time and early school start times cost billions in lost productivity and health care expenses

  • Written by Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh
imageDaylight saving time kicks in on March 9, 2025, but some say it leads to more heart attacks, depression and car accidents.Lord Henri Voton/E+ via Getty Images

Investigations into the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster revealed that key decision-makers worked on little sleep, raising concerns that fatigue impaired their judgment. Similarly, in...

Read more: Daylight saving time and early school start times cost billions in lost productivity and health...

How Trump’s $2B court battle over foreign aid could reshape executive authority

  • Written by Charles Wise, Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University
imageA sign outside of the U.S. Agency for International Development building in Washington, D.C. Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Amid the chaos of the Trump administration’s first few weeks in office, a court case regarding the president’s legal right to stop payment of nearly US$2 billion in U.S. Agency for...

Read more: How Trump’s $2B court battle over foreign aid could reshape executive authority

Pause in aid has introduced uncertainty into Ukraine’s military planning − forever changing its war calculus

  • Written by Benjamin Jensen, Professor of Strategic Studies at the Marine Corps University School of Advanced Warfighting; Scholar-in-Residence, American University School of International Service
imageIs the Sun setting on Ukraine's offensive capabilities?Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images

War is a numbers game. Each side involved must marshal the supplies, troops and firepower needed to sustain the fight, thwart advancing armies and, hopefully, prevail.

But it’s also a game of uncertainty.

For the past three years,...

Read more: Pause in aid has introduced uncertainty into Ukraine’s military planning − forever changing its...

NIH funding cuts will hit red states, rural areas and underserved communities the hardest

  • Written by Prakash Nagarkatti, Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina
imageProtesters on the University of Illinois Chicago campus raise concerns over funding cuts for medical research on Feb. 19, 2025.Scott Olson via Getty Images

The National Institutes of Health is the largest federal funder of medical research in the U.S. NIH funds drive research and innovation, leading to better understanding and treatment of diseases...

Read more: NIH funding cuts will hit red states, rural areas and underserved communities the hardest

‘Pac-Man with a ponytail’ proteins regulate everything from night vision to heartbeats – studying what GRKs look like could improve an array of drugs

  • Written by Priyanka Naik, Ph.D. Candidate in Structural Biology, Purdue University
imageRhodopsin kinase – GRK1 – is a GRK found in the retina of your eyes.Priyanka Naik, CC BY-ND

Each cell in your body relies on precise communication with other cells to function properly. At the center of this process are the molecular switches that turn communication signals in the body on and off. These molecules are key players in...

Read more: ‘Pac-Man with a ponytail’ proteins regulate everything from night vision to heartbeats – studying...

More Articles ...

  1. What Amazon MGM’s creative control over the James Bond film franchise means for the future of 007
  2. Exhausted by the news? Here are 6 strategies to stay informed without getting overwhelmed − or misled by misinformation
  3. The US has pardoned insurrectionists twice before – and both times, years of violent racism followed
  4. Beyond AI regulation: How government and industry can team up to make the technology safer without hindering innovation
  5. Knocking down abandoned buildings has a lot of benefits for Detroit − but it’s costly for cities
  6. Why getting the numbers right isn’t enough for pollsters to be credible in today’s polarized climate
  7. Butterflies declined by 22% in just 2 decades across the US – there are ways you can help save them
  8. How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters
  9. Anger is a flow of emotion like water through a hose − at work, it helps to know when to turn it up or down and how to direct it
  10. DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power
  11. As tuberculosis cases rise in the US and worldwide, health officials puzzle over the resurgence of a disease once in decline
  12. What’s that microplastic? Advances in machine learning are making identifying plastics in the environment more reliable
  13. Why Muslim American nonprofits are taking steps to build trust with donors during Ramadan
  14. Death by firing squad set to resume in the US – but no matter the method, all means of execution come with a troubling history
  15. Philly’s street fentanyl contains an industrial chemical called BTMPS that’s an ingredient in plastic
  16. The US energy market has its troubles, though it may not be a ‘national emergency’
  17. Carolina wildfires followed months of weather whiplash, from drought to hurricane-fueled floods and back to drought
  18. The child boss in ‘Severance’ reveals a devastating truth about work and child-rearing in the 21st century
  19. Supreme Court sides with San Francisco, requiring EPA to set specific targets in water pollution permits
  20. COVID-19 is the latest epidemic to show biomedical breakthroughs aren’t enough to eliminate a disease
  21. Learning ethics − one Marvel movie at a time
  22. USAID’s history shows decades of good work on behalf of America’s global interests, although not all its projects succeeded
  23. Influencers have trouble figuring out their tax obligations − and with good reason
  24. Trump is the kinglike president many feared when arguing over the US Constitution in 1789 – and his address to Congress showed it
  25. A potential $110B economic hit: How Trump’s tariffs could mean rising costs for families, strain for states
  26. Extreme heat silently accelerates aging on a molecular level − new research
  27. Gifts from top 50 US philanthropists rebounded to $16B in 2024 − Mike Bloomberg; Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin; and Michael and Susan Dell lead the list of biggest givers
  28. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs advises the president on use of America’s military power
  29. How the hidden epidemic of violence against nurses affects health care
  30. How Trump’s second term might affect the market and your finances
  31. Many more Denver teens have experienced homelessness than official counts show
  32. Out-of-balance bacteria is linked to multiple sclerosis − the ratio can predict severity of disease
  33. How are clouds’ shapes made? A scientist explains the different cloud types and how they help forecast weather
  34. GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard
  35. Who’s who at the Vatican?
  36. What is isolationism? The history and politics of an often-maligned foreign policy concept
  37. From opposing robber barons to the New Deal to desegregation to DOGE, state attorneys general have long taken on Washington
  38. America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures
  39. What is Tren de Aragua? How the Venezuelan gang started − and why US policies may only make it stronger
  40. The only ‘winner’ here is Putin: Ukraine unites in response to Trump-Zelenskyy spat and resigns itself to new reality
  41. How Trump’s compulsion to dominate sabotages dealmaking, undermines democracy and threatens global stability
  42. Making English the official US language can’t erase the fact that the US has millions of Spanish speakers and a long multilingual history
  43. As flu cases break records this year, vaccine rates are declining, particularly for children and 65+ adults
  44. Texas records first US measles death in 10 years – a medical epidemiologist explains how to protect yourself and your community from this deadly, preventable disease
  45. Coastal economies rely on NOAA, from Maine to Florida, Texas and Alaska – even if they don’t realize it
  46. Just having a pet doesn’t help mental health – but pet-owners with secure relationships with their pets are less depressed
  47. What are conflicts of interest and what can be done about them?
  48. What’s a constitutional crisis? Here’s how Trump’s recent moves are challenging the Constitution’s separation of powers
  49. As the Kremlin eyes a thaw with the White House, Russia’s pro-war hawks aren’t too happy
  50. The science behind airplane deicing – a mechanical engineer explains how chemistry and physics make flying a more uplifting experience