METRO - Metropolitan Digital

How dogs were implicated during the Salem witch trials

An illustration of a court scene during the late-17th century witch trials in Salem, Mass.Christine_Kohler/iStock via Getty Images PlusI teach a course on New England witchcraft trials, and students a...

Bridget Marshall, Professor of English, UMass Lowell

Rain may have helped form the first cells, kick-starting life as we know it
How did early cells keep themselves distinct while allowing for some amount of exchange?UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering/Peter Allen, Second Bay Studios, CC BY-NDBillions of years of evolution have made modern cells incredibly complex. Inside cells are …
Why FEMA’s disaster relief gets political − especially when hurricane season and election season collide
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the effects of Hurricane Milton on Oct. 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesRumors and lies about government responses to natural disasters are not new. Politics, misinformation and blame-shifting have long …
What is a communist, and what do communists believe?
Seeking social change often requires collective action.champc/iStock / Getty Images PlusCurious 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 is a communist? &nda…
A devastating hurricane doesn’t dramatically change how people vote – but in a close election, it can matter
Residents walk on a damaged street in Sarasota, Fla., on Oct. 10, 2024. Eva Marie Uzcategui for The Washington Post via Getty Images North Carolina and Florida are changing administrative rules and, in some cases, issuing emergency funding that is intended to make it ea…

What does Springfield, Illinois, in 1908 tell us about Springfield, Ohio, in 2024?

Supporters gather at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Oct. 5, 2024.Jeff Swensen/Getty ImagesLying about Black people is nothing new in political campaigning. Despite the thorough d...

Joseph Patrick Kelly, Professor of Literature and Director of Irish and Irish American Studies, College of Charleston

Godzilla at 70: The monster’s warning to humanity is still urgent
The monster in the 2023 movie "Godzilla Minus One." Toho Co. Ltd., CC BY-NDThe 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations. Many of these witnesses have spent their lives warning of the dang…
From Swift to Springsteen to Al Jolson, candidates keep trying to use celebrities to change voters’ songs
It’s 2016 all over again. And 2020, for that matter. Democrats are staring at what looks to be another coin flip election between their party’s nominee and Donald Trump. In an election that could come down to a few hundred thousand votes in a handful of stat…
As OpenAI attracts billions in new investment, its goal of balancing profit with purpose is getting more challenging to pull off
What's in store for OpenAI is the subject of many anonymously sourced reports.AP Photo/Michael DwyerOpenAI, the artificial intelligence company that developed the popular ChatGPT chatbot and the text-to-art program Dall-E, is at a crossroads. On Oct. 2, 2024, it announc…
Scientists around the world report millions of new discoveries every year − but this explosive research growth wasn’t what experts predicted
The number of research studies published globally has risen exponentially in the past decades. AP Photo/Frank Augstein, fileMillions of scientific papers are published globally every year. These papers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine presen…

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a Halloween visitor from the spooky Oort Cloud − the invisible bubble that’s home to countless space objects

View of the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet on Sept. 30, 2024, from Monfrague National Park in Spain.Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe human mind may find it difficult to conceptualize: a cosmic...

James Wray, Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

Vatican synod is opening the door a bit wider for Catholic women − but they’ve been knocking for more than 100 years
Sister Nathalie Becquart, the first female undersecretary at the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, walks to the Vatican on May 29, 2023. AP Photo/Alessandra TarantinoIn 2021, Sister Nathalie Becquart became the first woman to vote at any Vatican meeting when Pope Francis appointed her undersecretary to th…
Happiness class is helping clinically depressed school teachers become emotionally healthy − with a cheery assist from Aristotle
This course is more than just suggesting that you 'cheer up' and 'look on the bright side.'akinbostanci/E+ via Getty ImagesUncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.Title of CourseEvidence-Based Happiness for TeachersWhat p…
Swing-state GOP leaders amplified election denial in 2020 − and may do so again
Will local Republican Parties again serve as megaphones for election disinformation, as they did in 2020?AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, FileWith the 2024 election just weeks away, former President Donald Trump continues to spread false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. He also insists without evidence th…
Millions of people across the US use well water, but very few test it often enough to make sure it’s safe
Serious water contaminants such as nitrate may not have any detectable taste or odor.Willie B. Thomas/Digital Vision via Getty ImagesAbout 23 million U.S. households depend on private wells as their primary drinking water source. These homeowners are entirely responsible for ensuring that the water …
San Francisco is suing the EPA over how specific water pollution permits should be
Baker Beach and other San Francisco city beaches are sometimes closed for swimming due to sewage discharges.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesThe U.S. Supreme Court will test how flexible the EPA and states can be in regulating water pollution under the Clean Water Act when it hears oral argumen…

‘Childless cat ladies’ is a political catchphrase that doesn’t match reality − Democrats and Republicans have similar demographics and experiences when it comes to parenthood

On crime and justice, Trump and Harris records differ widely

People displaced by hurricanes face anxiety and a long road to recovery, US census surveys show − sm…

This course explores the history of contested presidential elections

How dogs were implicated during the Salem witch trials

Candidate experience matters in elections, but not the way you think

The difference between 'left' and 'liberal' – and why voters need to know

5 years after Islamic State massacre, an Iraqi minority is transformed by trauma

Behind the crisis in Sri Lanka – how political and economic mismanagement combined to plunge nation into turmoil

US aid to Ukraine: $13.6 billion approved following Russian bombardment marks sharp increase

What to expect as colleges and universities move classes online amid coronavirus fears: 4 questions answered

Short-term changes in Antarctica's ice shelves are key to predicting their long-term fate

The Supreme Court's Virginia uranium ruling hints at the limits of federal power

Betsy DeVos said Common Core was 'dead' – it's not

How the Native American population in the US increased 87% says more about whiteness than about demographics

Biden’s ‘hard look’ at liquefied natural gas exports raises a critical question: How does natural gas fit with US climate goals?

‘Jaws’ portrayed sharks as monsters 50 years ago, but it also inspired a generation of shark scientists

How dogs were implicated during the Salem witch trials

Rain may have helped form the first cells, kick-starting life as we know it

Why FEMA’s disaster relief gets political − especially when hurricane season and election season collide

What is a communist, and what do communists believe?

A devastating hurricane doesn’t dramatically change how people vote – but in a close election, it can matter

What does Springfield, Illinois, in 1908 tell us about Springfield, Ohio, in 2024?

Godzilla at 70: The monster’s warning to humanity is still urgent

From Swift to Springsteen to Al Jolson, candidates keep trying to use celebrities to change voters’ songs

As OpenAI attracts billions in new investment, its goal of balancing profit with purpose is getting more challenging to pull off

Scientists around the world report millions of new discoveries every year − but this explosive research growth wasn’t what experts predicted

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a Halloween visitor from the spooky Oort Cloud − the invisible bubble that’s home to countless space objects

Vatican synod is opening the door a bit wider for Catholic women − but they’ve been knocking for more than 100 years

Happiness class is helping clinically depressed school teachers become emotionally healthy − with a cheery assist from Aristotle

Swing-state GOP leaders amplified election denial in 2020 − and may do so again

Millions of people across the US use well water, but very few test it often enough to make sure it’s safe

San Francisco is suing the EPA over how specific water pollution permits should be