Jordan drone attack risks igniting wider war

Backlash to transgender health care isn’t new − but the faulty science used to justify it has changed to meet the times

G. Samantha Rosenthal, Roanoke College

For as long as trans medicine has been around, so has its opposition. The tactics of prior waves of anti-trans policies are still in play today.

Telehealth makes timely abortions possible for many, research shows

Leah Koenig, University of California, San Francisco; Ushma Upadhyay, University of California, San Francisco

People of color, young people and those with low incomes tend to benefit most from telehealth abortion.

Dog care below freezing − how to keep your pet warm and safe from cold weather, road salt and more this winter

Erik Christian Olstad, University of California, Davis

Dogs might have furry coats, but they can still get cold when the temperature drops.

Why AI can’t replace air traffic controllers

Amy Pritchett, Penn State

An air traffic safety expert explains why humans will remain central to managing the nation’s airports and airspace even as AI promises to improve air traffic control.

The opening of India’s new Rama temple made waves – but here’s what the central ritual actually meant

Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida

A scholar of Hinduism explains the importance of the consecration ritual, which is believed to bring the presence of the divine into the temple.

Why Trump’s control of the Republican Party is bad for democracy

Erica Frantz, Michigan State University; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Yale University; Joseph Wright, Penn State

A second Trump presidency may be a danger to democracy, but that’s more to do with the Republican Party than Trump himself, researchers of authoritarianism explain.

For 150 years, Black journalists have known what confederate monuments really stood for

Donovan Schaefer, University of Pennsylvania

At the turn of the 20th century, Southern sympathizers started building monuments to Confederate leaders. Black newspaper editors saw these emblems clearly for what they stood for – a lost cause.

Longtime NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is leaving the gun group in trouble but still powerful

Cari Babitzke, Boston University

Under his watch, congressional action toward gun control ground to a near halt that lasted for many years.

What is an atmospheric river? A hydrologist explains the good and bad of these flood-prone storms and how they’re changing

Qian Cao, University of California, San Diego

These giant rivers in the sky are bringing more intense rainfall as the planet warms.

Boulder strengthens rules against plastic bags – but do bans and fines actually reduce waste?

Eleanor Putnam-Farr, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

Retail stores in Boulder, Colo., banned plastic bags and will charge 10 cents for paper bags in an effort to reduce plastic waste. But do bans and taxes like this really work?

Why are so many robots white?

A newly identified ‘Hell chicken’ species suggests dinosaurs weren’t sliding toward extinction before the fateful asteroid hit

Colorado voters seeking to disqualify Trump from the ballot tell Supreme Court Jan. 6 ‘will forever stain’ US history