Living in violent neighborhoods leads some Denver teens to use tobacco and alcohol earlier, according to economics and community development researchers.

The Conversation

Exposure to neighborhood violence leads some Denver teens to use tobacco and alcohol earlier, new study shows

Girls are at an even greater risk of early substance use than boys.

A court ruled in October that abortion medication mifepristone is so safe the FDA must reconsider whether it needs any restrictions at all. Meanwhile, Republican senators and attorneys general are pushing the FDA to tighten restrictions to effectively block mail-order prescriptions.

The Conversation

2026’s abortion battles will be fought more in courthouses and FDA offices than at the voting booth

Judges and federal regulators will make significant decisions over Americans’ reproductive rights.

In 350 out of 362 cases challenging the Trump administration’s July decision to classify virtually all undocumented immigrants as subject to mandatory detention without a hearing, over 160 judges have found the legal interpretation unconstitutional.

The Conversation

Trump administration’s immigrant detention policy broadly rejected by federal judges

District courts have dismissed the administration’s efforts to detain virtually all undocumented immigrants without a bond hearing while they awa...

Every major technology revolution—from cars to smartphones to AI—follows the same pattern: mass adoption creates demand for specialized materials and rare minerals, which gives enormous leverage to the countries that control them.

The Conversation

From early cars to generative AI, new technologies create demand for specialized materials

The mass adoption of new technologies drives demand for rare and complex materials used in their manufacture.

FIFA, the LA Clippers and Boston Red Sox all failed to deliver on their promises of carbon offsets to reduce their climate impact. Sports management researchers explore commitments teams have been making to see whether they translate into measurable environmental outcomes.

The Conversation

From FIFA to the LA Clippers, carbon offset scandals are exposing the gap between sports teams’ green promises and reality

There are better ways for teams to cut their climate impact.

Our free webinar on how #AI is reshaping drug development starts in 1 hour, and it’s not too late to join ⏰ Tech editor Eric Smalley talks with researchers Jeffrey Skolnick & Benjamin P. Brown break down how AI speeds discovery, improves testing & where its limits are. Save your free spot and see you in 1 hour:

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Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing

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NASA just launched a low-cost mission to Mars called ESCAPADE. It could reveal how the planet’s atmosphere was stripped away, but cheaper missions like this come with bigger risks (and haven’t always worked in the past) Will this one pay off?

The Conversation

Lower-cost space missions like NASA’s ESCAPADE are starting to deliver exciting science – but at a price in risk and trade‑offs

What’s better – many small space missions, or a few large, sweeping ones? Space scientists are asking this question as they face budget uncerta...

Rural America isn’t vanishing, isn’t mostly white and isn’t made up of farmers alone. We break down 6 major myths about the places where 1 in 5 Americans live, in charts.

The Conversation

6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong

Many people understand rural America through stereotypes. Two scholars who study rural communities bust 6 of those myths, complicating the conventi...

Trump is pushing hard for more oil drilling, but energy companies aren’t biting. Given the high costs and difficult terrain in places like Alaska, oil companies don’t see a clear path to profit – and that matters to them more than climate change.

The Conversation

US oil industry doesn’t see profit in Trump’s ‘pro-petroleum’ moves

Industry leaders have objected to reversals of long-standing policies, and market forces are moving against the Trump administration’s hopes.

Undocumented teens already live with deportation fears, but now getting into college is a whole new challenge. States like South Carolina are blocking them from public universities or taking away in-state tuition, making college unaffordable for many who have spent nearly their whole lives in the U.S.

The Conversation

Young, undocumented immigrants are finding it increasingly hard to attend college as South Carolina and other states restrict in-state tuition or ban them altogether

Not letting undocumented students pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities can make the cost of a college education prohibitive.