METRO - Metropolitan Digital

In Disney’s ‘Moana,’ the characters navigate using the stars, just like real Polynesian explorers − an astronomer explains how these methods work

Wayfarers around the world have used the stars to navigate the sea. Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images PlusIf you have visited an island like one of the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti or Easter Island, also ...

Christopher Palma, Teaching Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State

2 populations of dark comets in the solar system could tell researchers where the Earth got its oceans
Dark comets accelerate through space but don't have a dusty tail like most comets. Adina Feinstein and NASA’s Earth ObservatoryThe water that makes up the oceans acted as a key ingredient for the development of life on Earth. However, scientists still do not know …
Language AIs in 2024: Size, guardrails and steps toward AI agents
2024 saw smaller models and new guardrails for language AIs.pagadesign/E+ via Getty ImagesI research the intersection of artificial intelligence, natural language processing and human reasoning as the director of the Advancing Human and Machine Reasoning lab at the Univ…
The ‘choking game’ and other challenges amplified by social media can come with deadly consequences
Video clips of teens playing dangerous games are easily accessible on many social media sites.Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty ImagesThe “choking game” has potentially deadly consequences, as players are challenged to temporarily strangle themselves by …
Detroit’s reparations task force now has until 2025 to make its report, but going slow with this challenging work may not be a bad thing
Members of the task force listen at a public meeting.Screenshot/Channel 10The work of crafting reparations at the municipal level is fierce.Detroiters know. In November 2021, residents voted to create a reparations committee that would make recommendations for housing a…

3D-printed guns, like the one allegedly used to kill a health care CEO, are a growing threat in the US and around the world

A federal firearms official displays several guns that are either entirely or partially 3D-printed.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesPolice investigating the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompso...

Nir Kshetri, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

What does the US attorney general actually do? A law professor explains
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland during a news conference announcing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on March 21, 2024. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty ImagesShortly after former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration to serve as U.S. attorney general, P…
How should we look to history to make sense of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?
Luigi Mangione has been arrested and charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Jeff Swensen/Getty ImagesI’m a Gilded Age historian who has drawn parallels between our current moment and the late 19th century, two periods known for staggering eco…
A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics
Many Americans are choosing not to engage with politics, instead sticking their heads in the sand to protect their mental health. iStock/Getty Images Plus“I am definitely not following the news anymore,” one patient told me when I asked about her political n…
The Wanamaker organ has been part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future
After Macy’s announced in November 2023 its plans to close approximately 150 locations across the United States, some Philadelphians fretted – not so much about the fate of the Center City department store, but about a local treasure housed inside.What would…

How a small Brazilian town became an unlikely battleground over Confederate memory

A Confederate Festival attendee visits the American cemetery in Santa Barbara d'Oeste, Brazil, on April 24, 2016. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThere were no antebellum hoop skirts at the site of Brazil&rsqu...

Jordan Brasher, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography, Macalester College

The moral dimension to America’s flawed health care system
A nurse peers through a small window in a COVID-19 unit of Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., on Dec. 21, 2020. AP Photo/Jae C. HongThe killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has set off soul-searching among many Americans. Part of that reflection is about the public reaction to Thom…
Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season
Expectations of perfection on special occasions can add to the normal stress of parenting. skynesher/E+ via Getty ImagesHolidays are often depicted as picture-perfect moments: families blissfully united around a table filled with seasonal food favorites against an immaculate backdrop. For many paren…
Federal protection for monarch butterflies could help or harm this iconic species, depending on how it’s carried out
Monarch caterpillars and a mature butterfly.NCTC Creative Imagery/USFWS/FlickrMonarch butterflies are among the most beloved insects in North America. They are brightly colored and unique, both as caterpillars and later as mature insects. Monarchs are found in every U.S. state except Alaska, so near…
For enslaved people, the holiday season was a time for revelry – and a brief window to fight back
Adolphe Duperly's painting depicting the destruction of the Roehampton Estate in Jamaica during the Baptist War in January 1832.Wikimedia CommonsDuring the era of slavery in the Americas, enslaved men, women and children also enjoyed the holidays. Slave owners usually gave them bigger portions of fo…
The Moon might be older than scientists previously thought − a new study shines light on its history
Rock samples from the lunar surface are important tools for scientists studying how old the Moon is. AP Photo/NASAA physicist, a chemist and a mathematician walk into a bar. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but in my case, it was the start of an idea that could reshape how scientists think ab…

Whales can live way longer than scientists had thought, with potential lifespans as much as double previous estimates

Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures

Bob Dylan and the creative leap that transformed modern music

After Hurricane Helene, survivors have been in a race against time to protect family heirlooms, phot…

Climate change is making plants less nutritious − that could already be hurting animals that are gra…

In Disney’s ‘Moana,’ the characters navigate using the stars, just like real Polynesian explorers − …

As more Americans go ‘no contact’ with their parents, they live out a dilemma at the heart of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’

Daily report cards can decrease disruptions for children with ADHD

How Facebook went from friend to frenemy

Gene-editing technique CRISPR identifies dangerous breast cancer mutations

While the US is reeling from COVID-19, the Trump administration is trying to take away health care

'Managed retreat' from climate disasters can reinvent cities so they're better for everyone – and avoid more flooding, heat and fires

The 'bystander effect' is real -- but research shows that when more people witness violence, it's more likely someone will step up and intervene

A volcanic eruption 39 million years ago buried a forest in Peru – now the petrified trees are revealing South America's primeval history

Why Americans are tiring of social distancing and hand-washing – two behavioral scientists explain

The Kentucky Derby has a secret Latino history

How to design a public play space where kids practice reading and STEM skills

In Disney’s ‘Moana,’ the characters navigate using the stars, just like real Polynesian explorers − an astronomer explains how these methods work

2 populations of dark comets in the solar system could tell researchers where the Earth got its oceans

Language AIs in 2024: Size, guardrails and steps toward AI agents

The ‘choking game’ and other challenges amplified by social media can come with deadly consequences

Detroit’s reparations task force now has until 2025 to make its report, but going slow with this challenging work may not be a bad thing

3D-printed guns, like the one allegedly used to kill a health care CEO, are a growing threat in the US and around the world

What does the US attorney general actually do? A law professor explains

How should we look to history to make sense of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?

A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics

The Wanamaker organ has been part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future

How a small Brazilian town became an unlikely battleground over Confederate memory

The moral dimension to America’s flawed health care system

Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season

Federal protection for monarch butterflies could help or harm this iconic species, depending on how it’s carried out

For enslaved people, the holiday season was a time for revelry – and a brief window to fight back

The Moon might be older than scientists previously thought − a new study shines light on its history