Is democracy on the ballot? It’s not that simple

How much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help

Lawson R. Wulsin, University of Cincinnati

No one can escape stress, but sometimes it takes a physical and emotional toll that translates to disease and other health effects. The good news is that there are new approaches to treating it.

Building fairness into AI is crucial – and hard to get right

Ferdinando Fioretto, University of Virginia

Bias in AI has been getting a lot of attention lately, but it’s just one aspect of the larger – and thornier – problem of fairness in AI.

Haiti is in crisis, but foreign intervention comes with an ugly past

Ernesto Sagás, Colorado State University

Can a multinational security mission provide Haiti with a stable future? Not without sustained funding for after the troops leave.

76% of Africa’s energy could come from renewable sources by 2040

Christiane Zarfl, University of Tübingen; Rebecca Peters, University of Tübingen

If Africa built only all the renewable power plants it has already planned, this would be enough to generate 76% of all electricity needed on the continent by 2040.

$50K per year for a degree in a low-wage industry − is culinary school worth it?

Ellen T. Meiser, University of Hawaii at Hilo

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay recently pilloried these institutions for saddling students with debt prior to sending them off into a low-wage industry. But many graduates have no regrets.

What the Buddhist text Therigatha teaches about women’s enlightenment

Jue Liang, Case Western Reserve University

The Therigatha, a collection of poems written in Pāli by Buddhist nuns, reveals that women’s enlightenment may not necessarily require renunciation of domestic life.

Female mosquitoes rely on one another to choose the best breeding sites − and with the arrival of spring, they’re already on the hunt

Kaylee Marrero, Florida International University; Andre Luis da Costa da Silva, Florida International University; Matthew DeGennaro, Florida International University

Female mosquitoes don’t want to lay their eggs alone, but they don’t want sites that are too crowded either. Understanding what guides their choice could inform new control strategies.

How ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk, in Detroit and elsewhere

Jacob Napieralski, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Mapping where water once flowed is important for managing flood risk today in Detroit and elsewhere.

Supreme Court’s questions about First Amendment cases show support for ‘free trade in ideas’

Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University

These cases have asked the justices to consider how to apply some of the most sweeping constitutional protections – those of free speech – to an extremely complex online communication environment.

Donor-advised funds: US regulators are scrambling to catch up with the boom in these charitable giving accounts

Brian Mittendorf, The Ohio State University

Big changes would require an act of Congress but lawmakers have not stepped up. And there’s been pushback against new rules the IRS has proposed for these accounts reserved for giving.

Titanosaurs were the biggest land animals Earth’s ever seen − these plant-powered dinos combined reptile and mammal traits

April’s eclipse will mean interruptions in solar power generation, which could strain electrical grids

Is TikTok’s parent company an agent of the Chinese state? In China Inc., it’s a little more complicated