Commerce oversees everything from weather and salmon to trade and census − here are 3 challenges awaiting new secretary
By Linda J. Bilmes
Howard Lutnick, left, is President Donald Trumps nominee to run the Commerce Department. AP Photo/Evan Vucci The U.S. secretary of commerce oversees the smallest but arguably most complex of all Cabinet-level departments....
As the Myanmar junta’s hold on power weakens, could the devastating war be nearing a conclusion?
By Adam Simpson1 Et Al
It has now been four years since the Myanmar military launched its cataclysmic coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 2021, starting a civil war that has devastated the...
As the Black Summer megafires neared, people rallied to save wildlife and domestic animals. But it came at a real cost
By Danielle Celermajer Et Al
As the 2019-2020 megafires took hold across eastern Australia, many of us reeled at the sight of animals trying and often failing to flee. Our screens filled up with images of koalas with burned paws and possums in...
What’s in the supplements that claim to help you cut down on bathroom breaks? And do they work?
By Nial Wheate
Christian Moro/Shutterstock With one in four Australian adults experiencing problems with incontinence, some people look to supplements for relief. With ingredients such as pumpkin seed oil and soybean extract, a range of...
Lessons from Ireland: How the country’s electoral system would strengthen Canadian democracy
By Seána Glennon
Justin Trudeaus biggest regret, he said at his resignation news conference, is failing to achieve electoral reform in Canada even though hed promised to do so, and had the opportunity during his first majority government,...
How to get control of your time
By Boróka Bó Et Al
GoodStudio/Shutterstock You wake up at 7:00 and reflexively reach for your phone. Between the stream of emails, WhatsApps and breaking news alerts, you see a worrying reminder: you averaged 11 hours of daily screen time...
Five reasons why vertical farming is still the future, despite all the recent business failures
By Gail Taylor
Dont believe the tripe. Amorn Suriyan Plant factories are failing, with multiple companies closing or going bankrupt in recent months. This includes the largest vertical farm on the planet, in Compton, Los Angeles. Owned...
Omagh bombing: why a public inquiry is being held more than 25 years after the atrocity
By Peter John McLoughlin
The 1998 Good Friday agreement is commonly seen to have ended what were euphemistically termed the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, just four months after the peace accord was signed, an attack on the town of Omagh...
Why not all plans for a four-day working week would be a win for health
By Anne Skeldon Et Al
Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock The right to request a short working week, with four longer shifts and three days off is being proposed as part of new flexible working legislation in the UK. Also known as working compressed...
Why fizzy water won’t help you lose weight – despite what some studies might suggest
By Duane Mellor
Fizzy water will probably not have a measurable effect on metabolism and weight. Jari Hindstroem/ Shutterstock For years it has been claimed that sparkling water may aid weight loss by helping you feel fuller reducing...
Suffocating seas: low oxygen levels emerging as third major threat to tropical coral reefs
By Maggie D. Johnson Et Al
Corals in low-oxygen seawater may not show visible signs of stress. Mike Workman/Shutterstock Coral reef research has focused on the twin evils birthed by record-high greenhouse gas emissions: warming oceans and...
Southport attacks: why the UK needs a unified approach to all violent attacks on the public
By Barry Richards
The conviction of Axel Rudakubana for the murder of three young girls in Southport has prompted many questions about how the UK handles violence without a clear ideological motive. This case has also shown up the confusion...
Skin-to-skin contact is good for your baby and you – and not just straight after birth
By Viren Swami
SvetlanaFedoseyeva/Shutterstock In the 1950s, the American psychologist Harry Harlow provided a stark demonstration of the importance of a mothers touch. He famously and controversially showed that rhesus monkeys would...
Peace in Sudan: a fresh mediation effort is needed – how it could work
By Gerrit Kurtz
Intense fighting has ravaged Sudan since 15 April 2023. The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its erstwhile comrades-in-arms, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has created one of the worst humanitarian crises...
Rereading Rembrandt: how the slave trade helped establish the golden age of Dutch painting
By Caroline Fowler
Detail from Rembrandt van Rijns painting Two African Men. Sailko/The Mauritshuis/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY The so-called golden age of Dutch painting in the 1600s coincided with an economic boom that had a lot to do with...
Cameroon could do with some foreign help to solve anglophone crisis – but the state doesn’t want it
By Julius A. Amin
What began in late 2016 as a peaceful protest by lawyers and teachers in Cameroons North West and South West regions quickly turned violent and developed into whats become known as Cameroons anglophone crisis. The protest...
France’s military withdrawal presents opportunities and risks to West African states
By Yolaine Frossard de Saugy
In early January, Cte dIvoire announced that French troops would be withdrawing from the country and the military base of Port-Bout would be handed over to Cte dIvoires army. The announcement is part of a seismic shift in...
4 steps to building a healthier relationship with your phone
By Jamie Gruman
Being constantly connected to your electronic devices, and the social media they enable, may be bad for your health and well-being and working remotely only compounds these challenges. Until very recently, I didnt have a...
Medical research depends on government money – even a day’s delay in the intricate funding process throws science off-kilter
By Aliasger K. Salem
In the early days of the second Trump administration, a directive to pause all public communication from the Department of Health and Human Services created uncertainty and anxiety among biomedical researchers in the U.S....
Engineering the social: Students in this course use systems thinking to help solve human rights, disease and homelessness
By Raúl Ordóñez
Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Title of course: Engineering Systems for the Common Good What prompted the idea for the course? As a...
The global wildlife trade is an enormous market – the US imports billions of animals from nearly 30,000 species
By Michael Tlusty Et Al
When people think of wildlife trade, they often picture smugglers sneaking in rare and endangered species from far-off countries. Yet most wildlife trade is actually legal, and the United States is one of the worlds...
Trump 2.0: the rise of an ‘anti-elite’ elite in US politics
By William Genieys Et Al
US president Donald Trump is surrounded by a new cohort of politicians and officials. While one of his campaign promises was to overthrow the corrupt elites he accuses of flooding the American political arena, his second...
Disaster evacuations can take much longer than people expect − computer simulations could help save lives and avoid chaos
By Ashley Bosa
When a wildfire notification goes off on your mobile phone, it can trigger all kinds of emotions and confusion. You might glance outside and see no smoke. Across the street, your neighbors have mixed reactions: One is...
Nutrition advice is rife with misinformation − a medical education specialist explains how to tell valid health information from pseudoscience
By Aimee Pugh Bernard
The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated a vast landscape of misinformation about many topics, science and health chief among them. Since then, information overload continues unabated, and many people are rightfully confused by...
Getting mail to your door is just one part of what the postmaster general does
By Jena Martin
The postmaster general is responsible for getting billions of pieces of mail across the globe, managing hundreds of thousands of employees and caring for some of the countrys most vulnerable Americans. The agency is...
What are sleep retreats? A sleep scientist explains the latest wellness trend
By Jason Ellis
Considering the effect of poor sleep on the individual as well as on society and the economy, it is hardly surprising sleep has become an intense area of research focus in recent years. Most recently we have seen an...
Deepseek: China’s gamechanging AI system has big implications for UK tech development
By Feng Li
DeepSeek sent ripples through the global tech landscape this week as it soared above ChatGPT in Apples app store. The meteoric rise has shifted the dynamics of US-China tech competition, shocked global tech stock...
Flu vaccines have prevented millions of deaths – our research proves it
By Estanislao Nistal Villán Et Al
The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was caused by a particularly virulent strain of influenza virus. It infected 500 million people, caused around 50 million deaths, and its impact was so severe that global life expectancy fell...
DeepSeek shatters beliefs about the cost of AI, leaving US tech giants reeling
By Michael J. Davern Et Al
Almost A$1 trillion (US$600 billion) was wiped off the value of artificial intelligence microchip maker Nvidia overnight on Monday, when a little-known Chinese start up, DeepSeek, threatened to upend the US tech market....
DeepSeek: how a small Chinese AI company is shaking up US tech heavyweights
By Tongliang Liu
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek has sent shockwaves through the tech community, with the release of extremely efficient AI models that can compete with cutting-edge products from US companies such as...
Fermented clothing? Here’s how the biofilm on kombucha can be turned into green textiles
By Rajkishore Nayak Et Al
A SCOBY biofilm atop kombucha l i g h t p o e t/Shutterstock If youve ever made kombucha, you will be familiar with the term SCOBY a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Its impossible to miss its the floating...
What is the story of hongbao, the red envelopes given out at celebrations like Lunar New Year?
By Ming Gao
Remi Chow/Unsplash Red envelopes, known as hongbao in Mandarin, are a cherished cultural tradition in China and many other parts of Asia. In China, the vibrant red colour symbolises good fortune and joy. Hongbao can be...
New York to Paris in 30 mins? How to achieve Elon Musk’s vision of rockets replacing long haul
By Angadh Nanjangud
Of all the things that Donald Trumps return as US president could mean, one is that Elon Musks plan to use Starship rockets for long-distance flights on Earth could move forward. Dubbed Starship Earth to Earth, this would...
How Canada and the U.S. can still tackle climate change in a second Trump era
By Andy Hira Et Al
U.S. President Donald Trump has once again withdrawn the United States from the Paris agreement on climate change. There is a palpable sense of fear among environmentalists and those concerned about climate change...
Assad’s fall opens window for Syrian refugees to head home − but for many, it won’t be an easy decision
By Kelsey Norman Et Al
For more than a decade, Syrians have been the worlds largest refugee population. More than 6 million Syrians have fled the country since 2011, when an uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad transformed into a 13-year...
Why Trump’s tariffs can’t solve America’s fentanyl crisis
By Rodney Coates
Americans consume more illicit drugs per capita than anyone else in the world; about 6% of the U.S. population uses them regularly. One such drug, fentanyl a synthetic opioid thats 50 to 100 times more potent than...
How does raw water compare to tap water? A microbiologist explains why the risks outweigh the benefits
By Bill Sullivan
Water that comes straight from natural sources, dubbed raw water, is gaining popularity. Raw water advocates reject public water supplies, including tap water, because they dont enjoy the taste or believe its unsafe and...
Why does it hurt when you get a scrape? A neuroscientist explains the science of pain
By Yenisel Cruz-Almeida
How come you feel pain when you fall and get a scrape? Tillman, age 9, Asheville, North Carolina Nobody likes to feel pain, but its something every person will experience at some point in their life. But why is that? I...
Understanding paranormal beliefs and conspiracy theories isn’t just about misinformation – this course unpacks the history
By Jeb Card
Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Title of course: Investigating the Paranormal What prompted the idea for the course? My training and...
Norovirus, aka the winter vomiting bug, is on the rise – an infectious disease expert explains the best ways to stay safe
By William Schaffner
The highly contagious norovirus popularly known as stomach flu or the winter vomiting bug is now surging through the U.S.. The number of outbreaks is up significantly over previous years, possibly due in part to a new...
‘Sorry, I didn’t get that’: AI misunderstands some people’s words more than others
By Roberto Rey Agudo
The idea of a humanlike artificial intelligence assistant that you can speak with has been alive in many peoples imaginations since the release of Her, Spike Jonzes 2013 film about a man who falls in love with a Siri-like...
Why neglecting you brain health can make it harder to achieve physical goals
By Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian Et Al
Our cognition and mental wellbeing are crucial factors for our quality of life and put us in a good position to contribute to society. Ultimately, it can be near impossible to achieve physical goals and demanding life...
Exercise does increase calorie burn – but probably not as much as you might hope
By Dylan Thompson Et Al
Its generally accepted that exercise is a key element of losing weight. But this long-held view has been called into question in recent years with no shortage of articles and podcasts claiming its a myth that exercise...
Breaking up the band: why solo artists have come to dominate the music charts
By Sam Whiting
Shutterstock Predictions for this years Hottest 100 countdown revealed an interesting trend that has come to dominate popular music over the past decade: the prevalence of solo artists over bands. In the past 15 years,...
Online privacy policies can be 90,000 words long. Here are 3 ways to simplify them
By Adam Andreotta
Rokas Tenys/Shutterstock Think about the last app you downloaded. Did you read every word of the associated privacy policy? If so, did you fully understand it? If you said no to either of these questions, you are not...
The ‘singles tax’ means you often pay more for going it alone. Here’s how it works
By Alicia Bubb Et Al
lightman_pic/Shutterstock Heard of the singles tax? Going it alone can also come with a hidden financial burden you may not be aware of. Obviously, this isnt an official levy paid to anyone in particular. It simply refers...
Elon Musk now has an office in the White House. What’s his political game plan?
By Henry Maher
Shutterstock/The Conversation Elon Musk has emerged as one of the most influential and controversial powerbrokers in the new Trump administration. He spent at least US$277 million (about A$360 million) of his own money to...
South African telescope discovers a giant galaxy that’s 32 times bigger than Earth’s
By Jacinta Delhaize
Inkathazos glowing plasma jets are shown in red and yellow. The starlight from other surrounding galaxies can be seen in the background. K.K.L Charlton (UCT), MeerKAT, HSC, CARTA, IDIA, CC BY You may not know it, but right...
What France loses by closing its military bases in Africa
By Thierry Vircoulon
Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced on 31 December 2024 that all foreign military bases in his country would close by 2025. On the same day, the Ivorian president said France would hand over control of the...
How ‘dupes’, fast fashion and China’s economic slowdown spell disaster for the luxury sector
By Teresa Sádaba
Alarm bells are ringing across the high-end sector. 2024 did not end as luxury brands had hoped, and the figures published by the sectors main conglomerates painted a picture of slowdown and some signs of exhaustion during...
