It's state vs. federal government in Texas buoy case

Hunter Biden’s plea agreement renegotiation is rare – a law professor explains what usually happens

Lorna Grisby, The Conversation

Plea deals are common in American criminal courts. But in the federal government’s tax case against Hunter Biden, the judge refused to sign off on a deal.

Alabama is not the first state to defy a Supreme Court ruling: 3 essential reads on why that matters

Howard Manly, The Conversation

As a powerful branch of government, the Supreme Court has enormous power over public policy only if defendants comply with its rulings.

Just about anybody in America can officiate a wedding, thanks to the internet – and one determined preacher

Dusty Hoesly, University of California, Santa Barbara

A professor who has researched the Universal Life Church unpacks why many couples now prefer to hand-pick loved ones to perform their ceremonies.

Deaf rappers who lay down rhymes in sign languages are changing what it means for music to be heard

Katelyn Best, West Virginia University

Dip hop artists move across the stage, hands flying through the air, as audiences pulse to the rhythm of a blasting bass beat.

Progressives’ embrace of Disney in battle with DeSantis over LGBTQ rights comes with risks

Steven Gerencser, Indiana University

Progressives have cheered Disney in its battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over LGBTQ rights. But joining forces with corporations poses risks when principles no longer align with profits.

Hypocrisy penalty: Investors especially hate companies that say they’re good then behave badly – unless the money is good

Brian L. Connelly, Auburn University; Lori Trudell, Clemson University

A new study finds that investors punish companies for behaving badly over three times as much if they have a record of saying they’re virtuous.

I’ve taught in prisons for 15 years – here’s what schools need to know as government funding expands

Nicholas De Dominic, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Only 218 programs offer credit-bearing college programs in prison. That’s about to change.

Your genetic code has lots of ‘words’ for the same thing – information theory may help explain the redundancies

Subhash Kak, Oklahoma State University

Many of the amino acids that make up proteins are encoded by genetic material in more than one way. An information theorist explains how principles of nature may account for this variance.

4 factors driving 2023’s extreme heat and climate disasters

Michael Wysession, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

The bad news: This extreme heat is probably going to stick around for a couple more years.

Israel: unpopular judicial reform involves repeal of law set up under British colonial rule in Palestine – here’s what that tells us

Anne Irfan, UCL

The state of Israel was partly built on principles established by the British empire. It has just struck down the law that underpinned democracy in the country.

Is it really hotter now than any time in 100,000 years?

Blame capitalism? Why hundreds of decades-old yet vital drugs are nearly impossible to find

How the Soviets stole nuclear secrets and targeted Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the atomic bomb’