The Conversation

Researchers created sound that can bend itself through space, reaching only your ear in a crowd

Written by Jiaxin Zhong, Postdoctoral Researcher in Acoustics, Penn State

For your ears only.Cinefootage Visuals/iStock via Getty Images Plus

What if you could listen to music or a podcast without headphones or earbuds and without disturbing anyone around you? Or have a private conversation in public without other people hearing you?

Our newly published research introduces a way to create audible enclaves –...

Washington Post’s turnaround on its opinion pages is returning journalism to its partisan roots − but without the principles

Written by Joseph Jones, Assistant Professor of Media Ethics and Law at Reed College of Media, West Virginia University

Owner Jeff Bezos has made big changes to The Washington Post's editorial pages.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos, the world’s third-richest person and owner of The Washington Post, announced in February 2025 significant changes to the editorial pages of his Pulitzer-Prize winning newspaper.

The editorial section, also called the opinion...

What is the rules-based order? How this global system has shifted from ‘liberal’ origins − and where it could be heading next

Written by Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College

Global order? Put a pin in it.Getty Images

The phrase “international rules-based order” has long been a fixture in global politics.

Western leaders often use it to describe a framework of rules, norms and institutions designed to guide state behavior. Advocates argue that this framework has provided the foundation for decades of...

Colorado and other states have expanded access to abortion, but not for adolescents

Written by Kate Coleman-Minahan, Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Since 2022, Colorado and 10 other states have passed voter initiatives to protect or expand abortion access. Yet, seven of these states, including Colorado, require people under the age of 18 to get consent from or notify a parent prior to receiving abortion services.

In January 2025, my colleagues and I published research using in-depth...

Fewer deaths, new substances and evolving treatments in Philly’s opioid epidemic − 4 essential reads

Written by Kate Kilpatrick, Philadelphia Editor

Opioid overdose deaths in Philly dropped in 2023. Data for 2024 has not yet been released. Jeff Fusco/The Conversation U.S., CC BY-NC-SA

In Philadelphia, fatal overdoses are the No. 3 cause of death after heart disease and cancer. That’s been the case each year since 2016, except in 2020 and 2021 when COVID-19 deaths outpaced overdose deaths....

Remembering China’s Empress Dowager Ling, a Buddhist who paved the way for future female rulers

Written by Stephanie Balkwill, Associate Professor of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles

In sixth-century China, a woman known to history as Empress Dowager Ling ruled over an empire called the Northern Wei. Historians do not know her birth name or in what year she was born, but they do know that she served as empress dowager between 515 and 528. As the spouse of a ruling emperor prior to his death, she retained the title of empress...

From pulpits to protest, the surprising history of the phrase ‘pride and prejudice’

Written by Margie Burns, Lecturer of English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Despite the phrase's rich history, the fame of Jane Austen's novel ended up drowning out all other associations.Suzy Hazelwood/Pexels

Most readers hear “pride and prejudice” and immediately think of Jane Austen’s most famous novel, that salty-sweet confection of romance and irony with a fairy-tale ending.

Few people, however, know...

The US military has cared about climate change since the dawn of the Cold War – for good reason

Written by Paul Bierman, Fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Vermont

Military engineers managing supply routes in Greenland in the 1950s paid attention to the weather and climate. US Army/Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images

In 1957, Hollywood released “The Deadly Mantis,” a B-grade monster movie starring a praying mantis of nightmare proportions. Its premise: Melting Arctic ice has released a...

Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible − but standardizing and organizing it across fields won’t be easy

Written by Bradley Wade Bishop, Professor of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee

Museum collections are invaluable to many researchers. Miguel Habano/E+ via Getty Images

Ice cores in freezers, dinosaurs on display, fish in jars, birds in boxes, human remains and ancient artifacts from long gone civilizations that few people ever see – museum collections are filled with all this and more.

These collections are treasure...

What was the first thing scientists discovered? A historian makes the case for Babylonian astronomy

Written by James Byrne, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Herbst Program for Engineering, Ethics & Society, University of Colorado Boulder

Ancient Babylonians looked to the skies to predict what would happen.mikroman6/Moment 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.

What was the first thing scientists discovered? – Jacob, age 9, Santiago, Panama

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