How melting sea ice is upending life on an Arctic island

Leprosy-causing bacteria found in armadillo specimens highlight value of museum collections for tracking pathogens

Daniel Romero-Alvarez, University of Kansas

Museum archives hold biological specimens that have been collected over years or even decades. Modern molecular analysis of these collections can reveal information about pathogens and their spread.

Challenging the FDA’s authority isn’t new – the agency’s history shows what’s at stake when drug regulation is in limbo

Christine Coughlin, Wake Forest University

As the government’s oldest consumer protection agency, the FDA has long butted up against drugmakers, activists and politicians. But undermining its work could be harmful to patient health and safety.

Mifepristone is under scrutiny in the courts, but it has been used safely and effectively around the world for decades

Grace Shih, University of Washington

Mifepristone’s safety in medication abortions has been well established over more than two decades, but legal wrangling leaves the future of the drug hanging in the balance.

Harry Belafonte leveraged stardom for social change, his powerful voice always singing a song for justice

Aram Goudsouzian, University of Memphis

Singer, actor and activist died on April 25, at the age of 96. His legacy spans stage, screen and political activism.

Willie Nelson at 90: Country music’s elder statesman still on the road again

Jason Mellard, Texas State University

Willie Nelson is an icon who rose to the top of an industry by challenging it – showing that you can be a counterculture figure and activist while remaining as American as apple pie.

A tweak to the University of Nebraska’s logo shows how the once benign ‘OK’ sign has entered a ‘purgatory of meaning’

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

Hand gestures are notoriously prone to misinterpretation.

In protecting land for wildlife, size matters – here’s what it takes to conserve very large areas

David Jachowski, Clemson University

Governments and wildlife advocates are working to protect 30% of Earth’s lands and waters for nature by 2030. An ecologist explains why creating large protected areas should be a top priority.

The law often shields police officers from accountability – and reinforces policing that harms Black people, homeless people and the mentally ill

Rashad Shabazz, Arizona State University

Shielding police from accountability can only lead to more brutality, misconduct – and multimillion-dollar settlements.

The invasion of Iraq defined US’ foreign relations – but in popular Iraqi literature, the war is just a piece of the country’s complex history

Renee Ragin Randall, University of Michigan

The short stories of modern Iraqi writers Hassan Blasim and Diaa Jubaili show that the 2003 invasion and subsequent war in Iraq are not at the heart of contemporary Iraqi literature.

80 is different in 2023 than in 1776 – but even back then, a grizzled Franklin led alongside a young Hamilton

Tucker Carlson’s departure and Fox News’ expensive legal woes show the problem with faking ‘authenticity’

White power movements in US history have often relied on veterans – and not on lone wolves