What happens when machines can ‘read’ your brain?

Computer science can help farmers explore alternative crops and sustainable farming methods

Barath Raghavan, University of Southern California; Michael Kantar, University of Hawaii

Conventional agriculture offers farmers few choices about which crops to grow or how to raise them. A new approach uses computing to construct better strategies with lower environmental impacts.

Zebrafish are a scientist’s favorite for early-stage research – especially to study human blood disorders

Gabrielle Dubansky, Iowa State University; Raquel Espín-Palazón, Iowa State University

Of the many qualities that make the zebrafish a model organism, the fact that it shares 70% of the genes humans have makes it an ideal candidate for developmental biology research.

What are Hollywood actors and writers afraid of? A cinema scholar explains how AI is upending the movie and TV business

Holly Willis, University of Southern California

What would you do if the industry you work in could clone your skills, style and even the way you look and sound?

Contacting your legislator? Cite your sources – if you want them to listen to you

Daniel E Bergan, Michigan State University

You can affect how legislators vote, but you can’t just fire off a nasty email and expect them to listen to you.

Re-imagining democracy for the 21st century, possibly without the trappings of the 18th century

Bruce Schneier, Harvard Kennedy School

The modern representative democracy was the best form of government mid-18th-century technology could invent. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially.

How parents can help kids deal with back-to-school anxiety

Elizabeth Englander, Bridgewater State University

Here’s what signs parents can look out for, and what to do if their child is feeling overwhelmed.

Less sleep, less exercise and less relaxation – here’s the data on just how much busier moms are during the school year

Todd Jones, Mississippi State University; Benjamin Cowan, Washington State University; Jeff Swigert, Southern Utah University

Parents spend more time actively engaged with their kids – such as helping with homework or reading together – during the school year than during summer. But the difference is almost three times greater for moms than for dads.

What’s behind our enduring fascination with wives and mothers who kill?

Dianne Berg, Clark University

The framing of these stories of murder and mayhem have remained remarkably consistent since the invention of the printing press – and may reveal our own hidden fears and desires.

US autoworkers may wage a historic strike against Detroit’s 3 biggest automakers – with wages at EV battery plants a key roadblock to agreement

Marick Masters, Wayne State University

A strike would shake up the auto industry even though both the union’s ranks and the share of the US automotive market controlled by GM, Ford and Stellantis have been shrinking for decades.

What’s the difference between a startup and any other business?

Joel Mier, University of Richmond

Traditional businesses operate with an established solution to a known problem. Startups focus on a product or service no one else provides.

Immune cells that fight cancer become exhausted within hours of first encountering tumors – new research

Cats first finagled their way into human hearts and homes thousands of years ago – here’s how

Before he developed the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s early work revolutionized the field of quantum chemistry – and his theory is still used today