A rat nest preserved for over 200 years under the floorboards of a historic Philadelphia house contains thousands of plants that help archaeologists understand daily life in colonial America. One archeologist pored through 11 pounds of material from the nest.
The Conversation
I study rat nests − here’s why rodents make great archivists
An archaeologist reveals what she learned from sifting through a 200-year-old rat nest recovered from a historic Philadelphia home.
Boredom affects all ages, genders and cultures, and teens are especially prone to boredom. Natural selection favors traits that offer a leg up, so it is unlikely that boredom would be so prevalent if it did not deliver some advantages. https://buff.ly/EKMBBAC
Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind on voter engagement, new survey of Michigan officials shows
The Conversation
Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind, new survey of Michigan officials shows
Officials from 70% of Michigan’s 1,856 cities, villages, counties and townships completed the survey.
Nick Fuentes is a white nationalist who believes America’s identity depends on preserving a white majority. A scholar of the American right examines how antisemitism and antizionism are connecting him with some Black conservative influencers. https://buff.ly/vz3cX89
Seventy years ago, Jonas Salk and his team worked in a lab between a morgue and a darkroom to develop the world’s first successful polio vaccine. A filmmaker who made a documentary on Salk’s work explains why forgetting life before vaccines has real consequences:
The Conversation
The world risks forgetting one of humanity’s greatest triumphs as polio nears global eradication − 70 years after Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in a Pittsburgh lab
Polio may finally be defeated in the next 5 years. Will the world recognize what an extraordinary achievement that is?
 #vaccineswork
Nick Fuentes is a white nationalist who believes America’s identity depends on preserving a white majority. A scholar of the American right examines how antisemitism and antizionism are connecting him with some Black conservative influencers.
The Conversation
Why are some Black conservatives drawn to Nick Fuentes?
Black Americans and white nationalists have joined forces in the past. And a number of cultural and political shifts have broadened Fuentes’ appe...
As #AI increasingly brings people the news, it does more than simply pass along information. Large language models subtly highlight certain viewpoints while minimizing others, often without users realizing it.
The Conversation
People are getting their news from AI – and it’s altering their views
Even when information is factually accurate, how it’s presented can introduce subtle biases. As large language models increasingly bring people t...
Autocracies in transition: In 2025, Cameroon and Tanzania rulers clung to power — but look more vulnerable than ever
The Conversation
Autocracies in transition: In 2025, Cameroon and Tanzania rulers clung to power — but look more vulnerable than ever
The countries, whose respective leaders recently won widely disputed elections, offer contrasting examples in how autocracies operate, evolve and c...
The Vietnam and Iraq wars were preceded by White House deception and lies -- and now Trump's case against Venezuela is eerily similar.
The Conversation
Deception and lies from the White House to justify a war in Venezuela? We’ve seen this movie before in run-ups to wars in Vietnam and Iraq
Two US wars based on lies, in which tens of thousands of American troops and millions of civilians died, offer a cautionary tale about the rush to ...
Sudan's civil war has killed more than 150,000 people and displaced millions in just over two years, making it among the world's deadliest conflicts today. A historian provides a visual guide to help us understand what is going on and the toll it has taken on the Sudanese population.
The Conversation
Sudan’s civil war: A visual guide to the brutal conflict
Since fighting broke out in April 2023, some 150,000 people have been killed in Sudan and an estimated 13.5 million displaced.