Cancer screenings bundled in a single blood test

Who sees what you flush? Wastewater surveillance for public health is on the rise, but a new survey reveals many US adults are still unaware

Rochelle H. Holm, University of Louisville

Public health officials monitor sewage in local communities to track COVID, polio, flu and more. But no one asks the people being monitored for their permission – raising some questions and concerns.

When the Supreme Court loses Americans’ loyalty, chaos – even violence – can follow

Joseph Daniel Ura, Texas A&M University; Matthew Hall, University of Notre Dame

What’s at stake when Americans lose faith in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court?

Republicans and Democrats see news bias only in stories that clearly favor the other party

Marjorie Hershey, Indiana University

Many people define ‘bias’ as ‘anything that doesn’t agree with me.’ But are the news media really biased?

How debt-for-climate swaps can help solve low-income countries’ fiscal and environmental challenges at the same time

Soyoung Oh, Tufts University

Many small island nations are struggling to protect their land from rising seas while also facing paralyzing debt.

Emperor penguins get Endangered Species Act protection – with 98% of colonies at risk of extinction by 2100, can it save them?

Stephanie Jenouvrier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Emperor penguins survive in a ‘Goldilocks zone’ between too much sea ice and too little. Climate change is having an impact.

How was Halloween invented? Once a Celtic pagan tradition, the holiday has evolved to let kids and adults try on new identities

Linus Owens, Middlebury

From its origins as a Celtic pagan ceremony to its celebration of all things gruesome and ghoulish today, Halloween has been reinvented over the centuries.

From atheist churches to finding healing in the ‘sacred flower of cannabis,’ spiritual but not religious Americans are finding new ways of pursuing meaning

Morgan Shipley, Michigan State University

America’s religious landscape is getting more diverse as people find new ways of expressing spirituality.

Future Air Force officers get a 30,000-foot view of death in this course

L. William Uhl, United States Air Force Academy; Arri Eisen, Emory University

Views on death and the afterlife vary from person to person and culture to culture. This course gives US Air Force cadets a broad perspective on mortality and its effects on people and society.

Newly discovered species of bacteria in the microbiome may be a culprit behind rheumatoid arthritis

Americans who aren’t sure about God are a fast-growing force in politics – and they’re typically even more politically active than white evangelicals

Sacheen Littlefeather and ethnic fraud – why the truth is crucial, even it it means losing an American Indian hero