Fentanyl-laced drugs are everywhere – and driving overdose deaths

6 months after the climate summit, where to find progress on climate change in a more dangerous and divided world

Rachel Kyte, Tufts University

War, famine and an energy crunch are affecting the world's response to climate change, but there are reasons for optimism.

Religious beliefs give strength to the anti-abortion movement – but not all religions agree

Steven K. Green, Willamette University

A scholar of constitutional law and American religious history explains how the abortion issue has been historically rooted in religious beliefs, giving a moral certainty that law cannot provide.

Russia is being made a pariah state – just like it and the Soviet Union were for most of the last 105 years

Alastair Kocho-Williams, Clarkson University

The West’s new approach to Russia – bar it from international organizations, restrict international trade, prevent further military moves – looks just like how it treated Russia in the 20th century.

Electric eels inspired the first battery two centuries ago and now point a way to future battery technologies

Timothy J. Jorgensen, Georgetown University

One species of eel can discharge 860 volts of electricity – that’s 200-fold higher than the top voltage of a single lithium-ion battery.

Countries with lower-than-expected vaccination rates show unusually negative attitudes to vaccines on Twitter

Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina; Ali Zain, University of South Carolina

A team analyzed more than 21 million tweets about COVID-19 vaccines and found that negative sentiments on social media were tied to lower-than-expected vaccination rates in many nations.

Starbucks’ caffeinated anti-union efforts may leave a bitter taste – but are they legal?

John Logan, San Francisco State University

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint over instances of anti-union practices at Starbucks. And that was before the company’s boss threatened to withhold wages.

India heatwave: why the region should prepare for even more extreme heat in the near future

US abortion law decision brings attention to rights of women in Africa

Gentleman pirates, shipwrecks and Stede Bonnet: what Our Flag Means Death gets right about the Golden Age of Piracy