The Conversation

Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM serves their communities

Written by Evelyn Valdez-Ward, Postdoctoral Fellow in Science Communication, University of Rhode Island

Personal experiences can help foster a sense of belonging for aspiring scientists from underrepresented backgrounds.kali9/E+ via Getty Images

Lived experiences shape how science is conducted. This matters because who gets to speak for science steers which problems are prioritized, how evidence is translated into practice and who ultimately benefits...

How is China viewing US actions in Venezuela – an affront, an opportunity or a blueprint?

Written by Kerry E. Ratigan, Associate Professor of Political Science, Amherst College

China’s public response to the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro played out in a fairly predictable way, with condemnation of a “brazen” act of force against a sovereign nation and accusation of Washington acting like a “world judge.”

But behind closed doors, Beijing’s leaders are likely weighing the more...

One cure for sour feelings about politics − getting people to love their hometowns

Written by Sean Richey, Professor, Georgia State University

A young girl holds Old Glory at an Independence Day celebration.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Eileen Higgins won a historic victory in December. She became the first woman ever elected mayor of Miami, as well as its first Democratic mayor since 1997.

Although the stakes in the city’s Dec. 9, 2025, runoff election were high, interest was...

Most of the 1 million Venezuelans in the United States arrived within the past decade

Written by Matt Brooks, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Florida State University

The extraction of Nicolas Maduro was welcome news to many Venezuelans living in the United States.Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

In 2024, the most recent year for which we have data, an estimated 1 million immigrants from Venezuela lived in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, these...

How mountain terraces have helped Indigenous peoples live with climate uncertainty

Written by Stephen Acabado, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Farmers during harvest season in Batad, Ifugao, Philippines.Paul Connor and the Ifugao Archaeological Project, CC BY

Indigenous communities have lived with changes to the climate for centuries. Their adaptations over those many years are based on their close observation of weather, water, soils and seasonal change, and they have been refined...

Supreme Court likely to reject limits on concealed carry but uphold bans on gun possession by drug users

Written by Morgan Marietta, Professor of American Civics, University of Tennessee

The Supreme Court recognizes an individual right to self-defense with firearms in public spaces.wildpixel/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court in early 2026 will hear oral arguments in two cases testing the limits of gun rights under the Constitution.

Can a state outlaw carrying a concealed weapon in businesses or restaurants unless the owners post...

New Year’s resolutions usually fall by the wayside, but there is a better approach to making real changes

Written by Michele Patterson Ford, Lecturer in Psychology, Dickinson College

Resolutions often rely on willpower to push through or follow through, but research shows they usually don't work. Guillermo Spelucin Runciman/iStock via Getty Images

How are your New Year’s resolutions going? If you’ve given up on them, you’re not alone.

Every January, people across the world seek a fresh start and set goals for...

Before Venezuela’s oil, there were Guatemala’s bananas

Written by Aaron Coy Moulton, Associate Professor of Latin American History, Stephen F. Austin State University

A woman walks past a banner that says 'against foreign intervention,' in Spanish, in Guatemala in 1954.Bettmann/Getty Images

In the aftermath of the U.S. military strike that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, 2026, the Trump administration has emphasized its desire for unfettered access to Venezuela’s oil more than...

Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy

Written by Konstantin Zhukov, Assistant Professor of Economics, Indiana University; Institute for Humane Studies

Neither of these men -- US President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- likes being held accountable by the press.Contributor/Getty Images

The FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14, 2026, was a rare and intimidating move by an administration focused on repressing criticism and dissent.

In its story...

Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – our new study examines each method’s risks

Written by Kelsey Roberts, Post-Doctoral Scholar in Marine Ecology, Cornell University; UMass Dartmouth

Phytoplankton blooms, seen by satellite in the Baltic Sea, pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.European Space Agency via Flickr, CC BY-SA

Climate change is already fueling dangerous heat waves, raising sea levels and transforming the oceans. Even if countries meet their pledges to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate...