NewsPronto

 
The Times Real Estate

.

The Conversation

I study refugees, and here are the facts on the history and impact of refugee resettlement in the US

  • Written by Tazreena Sajjad, Senior Professorial Lecturer of Global Governance, Politics and Security, American University School of International Service
imageBorders: closed.Anton Petrus/Moment via Getty

Refugees haven’t been welcome in the United States since the first day of President Donald Trump’s second term, when he signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 90 days. Despite a February 2025 federal court order to resume refugee resettlement, the...

Read more: I study refugees, and here are the facts on the history and impact of refugee resettlement in the US

You’ve likely heard the Serenity Prayer − but not its backstory

  • Written by Scott Paeth, Professor of Religious Studies, DePaul University
imageIt may be timeless wisdom, but the prayer itself isn't ancient.Roy Morsch/The Image Bank via Getty Images

I’m not sure when I first encountered the Serenity Prayer, or when it first occurred to me to ask who wrote it. For much of my life it never occurred to me that prayers were the kind of things that people actually wrote down, especially...

Read more: You’ve likely heard the Serenity Prayer − but not its backstory

3D printing will help space pioneers make homes, tools and other stuff they need to colonize the Moon and Mars

  • Written by Sven Bilén, Professor of Engineering Design, Electrical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, Penn State
image3D printing could make many of the components for future structures on Mars.3000ad/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Throughout history, when pioneers set out across uncharted territory to settle in distant lands, they carried with them only the essentials: tools, seeds and clothing. Anything else would have to come from their new environment.

So they...

Read more: 3D printing will help space pioneers make homes, tools and other stuff they need to colonize the...

Can the Trump administration legally deport Palestinian rights advocate Mahmoud Khalil? 3 things to know about green card holders’ rights

  • Written by Gabriel J. Chin, Professor of Criminal Law, Immigration, and Race and Law, University of California, Davis
imageMahmoud Khalil, center, a permanent resident facing deportation, speaks at a press conference organized by Palestinian rights protesters at Columbia University in New York City on June 1, 2024. Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the government will deport lawful permanent residents who support Hamas...

Read more: Can the Trump administration legally deport Palestinian rights advocate Mahmoud Khalil? 3 things...

America’s clean air rules have boosted health and the economy − here’s what EPA’s deregulation spree ignores

  • Written by Richard E. Peltier, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, UMass Amherst
imageRegulations have cleaned up cars, power plants and factories, leaving cleaner air while economies have grown. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

The Trump administration announced on March 12, 2025, that it is “reconsidering” more than 30 air pollution regulations in a series of moves that could impact air quality across the United States.

&ldqu...

Read more: America’s clean air rules have boosted health and the economy − here’s what EPA’s deregulation...

America’s clean air rules boost health and the economy − here’s what EPA’s new deregulation plans ignore

  • Written by Richard E. Peltier, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, UMass Amherst
imageRegulations have cleaned up cars, power plants and factories, leaving cleaner air while economies have grown. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

The Trump administration announced on March 12, 2025, that it is “reconsidering” more than 30 air pollution regulations in a series of moves that could impact air quality across the United States.

&ldqu...

Read more: America’s clean air rules boost health and the economy − here’s what EPA’s new deregulation plans...

Mass layoffs at Education Department signal Trump’s plan to gut the agency

  • Written by Joshua Cowen, Professor of Education Policy, Michigan State University
imageThe Department of Education is seen on Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Trump administration on Tuesday slashed staff at the Department of Education – firing roughly 1,300 employees – as part of its long-planned effort to eliminate the agency entirely. The move leaves the department with 2,183 employees, down...

Read more: Mass layoffs at Education Department signal Trump’s plan to gut the agency

Is the US heading for a government shutdown? 5 essential reads to occupy the mind while we wait to find out

  • Written by Matt Williams, Senior International Editor
imageHello, shutdown, my old friend ...Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Brinkmanship, a political scramble to keep the lights on in Washington and finger-pointing over who is to the blame – we’ve been here before, right?

The threat of government shutdowns seems to be a regular feature of modern American politics.

And while this is...

Read more: Is the US heading for a government shutdown? 5 essential reads to occupy the mind while we wait to...

How do researchers determine how toxic a chemical is? A toxicologist explains alternatives to animal testing

  • Written by Brad Reisfeld, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Public Health, Colorado State University

A vast number of chemicals are registered for production and use around the world. But only a portion have been thoroughly evaluated for their toxicity due to time, cost, ethical concerns and regulatory limitations.

To safeguard public health, researchers at organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Food and Drug...

Read more: How do researchers determine how toxic a chemical is? A toxicologist explains alternatives to...

The fediverse promises social media without Big Tech – if it can avoid familiar pitfalls

  • Written by Aram Sinnreich, Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication
imageIn the fediverse, you can have your own social media platform but also connect to many others.Aram Sinnreich, CC BY-ND

You’ve probably noticed lately that a lot of people are trying out alternatives to the big social media networks X, Instagram and Facebook. For example, after Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and started allowing far more...

Read more: The fediverse promises social media without Big Tech – if it can avoid familiar pitfalls

More Articles ...

  1. For superfans, comic-con culture is more than fun – it’s sacred, a sociologist explains
  2. Alien and Sedition Acts were reviled in their time, and John Adams was not sorry to see them go
  3. Pennsylvania’s mushroom industry faces urgent labor shortage − and latest immigration policies will likely make it worse
  4. US workers with remote-friendly jobs are still working from home nearly half the time, 5 years after the pandemic began
  5. How Jesse Jackson embodied Southern politics − and changed American elections
  6. The parallels between Kash Patel and William J. Burns, a scandal-mongering 1920s FBI director — an FBI historian explains
  7. Middle age is a time when women are vulnerable to eating disorders
  8. Arrest of ex-president Duterte will shake up dynastic politics in the Philippines – and hand initiative to rival Marcos family
  9. US-Ukraine deal highlights Ukraine’s wealth of critical minerals, but extracting them isn’t so simple
  10. The world regulated sulfur in ship fuels − and the lightning stopped
  11. 5 years of COVID-19 underscore value of coordinated efforts to manage disease – while CDC, NIH and WHO face threats to their ability to respond to a crisis
  12. What is a SLAPP suit? Legal experts explain how these lawsuits suppress free speech
  13. How Trump’s foreign aid and diplomatic cuts will make it harder for the US to wield soft power to maintain its friendships and win new ones
  14. Mission possible − parastronaut programs can make space travel more inclusive and attainable for all
  15. From TB to HIV/AIDS to cancer, disease tracking has always had a political dimension, but it’s the foundation of public health
  16. End-of-life planning can be hampered by misconceptions − but the process is easier than you might think
  17. Trump’s DOGE campaign accelerates 50-year trend of government privatization
  18. What happens when leaders have loyalists in charge of men with guns: Lessons for the US from Nicaragua, Syria and other authoritarian countries
  19. The sun is setting on government transparency in Florida – and secrecy creep is affecting the rest of the US, too
  20. How the color of St. Patrick’s Day went from blue to green
  21. George Washington, a real estate investor and successful entrepreneur, knew the difference between running a business and running the government
  22. Taking a leap of faith into imaginary numbers opens new doors in the real world through complex analysis
  23. DEI initiatives removed from federal agencies that fund science, but scientific research continues
  24. The dark parallels between 1920s America and today’s political climate
  25. The fear of deportation hangs over unauthorized workers trying to fight exploitation, but all workers in the US have rights
  26. The FACE Act was enacted to protect reproductive health clinics − here’s why its history matters today
  27. Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future − alongside the old one
  28. 5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since COVID-19
  29. Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? A physicist explains
  30. America is becoming a nation of homebodies
  31. 5 reasons veterans are especially hard-hit by federal cuts
  32. Daylight saving time and early school start times cost billions in lost productivity and health care expenses
  33. How Trump’s $2B court battle over foreign aid could reshape executive authority
  34. Pause in aid has introduced uncertainty into Ukraine’s military planning − forever changing its war calculus
  35. NIH funding cuts will hit red states, rural areas and underserved communities the hardest
  36. ‘Pac-Man with a ponytail’ proteins regulate everything from night vision to heartbeats – studying what GRKs look like could improve an array of drugs
  37. What Amazon MGM’s creative control over the James Bond film franchise means for the future of 007
  38. Exhausted by the news? Here are 6 strategies to stay informed without getting overwhelmed − or misled by misinformation
  39. The US has pardoned insurrectionists twice before – and both times, years of violent racism followed
  40. Beyond AI regulation: How government and industry can team up to make the technology safer without hindering innovation
  41. Knocking down abandoned buildings has a lot of benefits for Detroit − but it’s costly for cities
  42. Why getting the numbers right isn’t enough for pollsters to be credible in today’s polarized climate
  43. Butterflies declined by 22% in just 2 decades across the US – there are ways you can help save them
  44. How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters
  45. 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
  46. DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power
  47. As tuberculosis cases rise in the US and worldwide, health officials puzzle over the resurgence of a disease once in decline
  48. What’s that microplastic? Advances in machine learning are making identifying plastics in the environment more reliable
  49. Why Muslim American nonprofits are taking steps to build trust with donors during Ramadan
  50. Death by firing squad set to resume in the US – but no matter the method, all means of execution come with a troubling history