Click chemistry, spooky action and aDNA – it's Nobel week

A Pennsylvania prison gets a Scandinavian-style makeover – and shows how the US penal system could become more humane

Jordan Hyatt, Drexel University; Synøve Nygaard Andersen, University of Oslo

A pilot project at a Pennsylvania prison is trying out lessons from Scandinavia that could offer some ideas for reforming US prisons.

Census data hides racial diversity of US ‘Hispanics’ – to the country’s detriment

Ramona L. Pérez, San Diego State University

Countries across the Americas are tweaking their census to better understand their population, allowing them to create more responsive policies. The US still has a ways to go.

What is a bodhisattva? A scholar of Buddhism explains

Pierce Salguero, Penn State

Buddhists believe that bodhisattvas reside in heavenly realms but can also appear on Earth disguised as humans, animals or other types of beings.

Hijab rules have nothing to do with Islamic tenets and everything to do with repressing women

Deina Abdelkader, UMass Lowell

Imposing restrictions on women has been a way for many countries to demonstrate to the world what policies they want to pursue.

A month of Jewish holidays celebrating renewal and moral responsibility is not over yet

Samuel L. Boyd, University of Colorado Boulder

A scholar of the Bible explains their history and why they might offer consolation in times of uncertainty.

New satellite mapping with AI can quickly pinpoint hurricane damage across an entire state to spot where people may be trapped

Zhe Zhu, University of Connecticut; Su Ye, University of Connecticut

Artificial intelligence can spot differences in images from before and after a storm over wide areas in almost real time. It showed Hurricane Ian’s vast damage in Florida.

Investing in indoor air quality improvements in schools will reduce COVID transmission and help students learn

Patricia Fabian, Boston University; Jonathan Levy, Boston University

A lot of federal money is now available for making school buildings healthier. Two environmental health experts explain how school districts can best use it.

Nobel-winning quantum weirdness undergirds an emerging high-tech industry, promising better ways of encrypting communications and imaging your body

Nobel prizes most often go to researchers who defy specialization – winners are creative thinkers who synthesize innovations from varied fields and even hobbies

What is quantum entanglement? A physicist explains the science of Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’

Nobel Prize: How click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry are transforming the pharmaceutical and material industries

What’s next for ancient DNA studies after Nobel Prize honors groundbreaking field of paleogenomics

What’s a laureate? A classicist explains the word’s roots in Ancient Greek victors winning crowns of laurel leaves

The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz

Here's the first question of this week's edition:
The recent death of a young woman in custody has led to widespread protests in what country?

1. A. India
2. B. Canada
3. C. Iran
4. D. Denmark

Test your knowledge

‘Sea monsters’ were real millions of years ago. New fossils tell about their rise and fall

Climate tipping points could lock in unstoppable changes to the planet – how close are they?

‘Astonishing’: global demand for exotic pets is driving a massive trade in unprotected wildlife