The Conversation - How to detect lung cancer early

Future pandemics will have the same human causes as ancient outbreaks − lessons from anthropology can help prevent them

Ron Barrett, Macalester College

Human factors − such as how people produce food and how they organize themselves and live together − influence disease outbreaks.

Venus is losing water faster than previously thought – here’s what that could mean for the early planet’s habitability

Eryn Cangi, University of Colorado Boulder

Studying Venus’ water loss can help scientists better understand how planets go from potentially habitable to incapable of supporting life.

How to tell if a conspiracy theory is probably false

H. Colleen Sinclair, Louisiana State University

Conspiracy theories abound. What should you believe − and how can you tell?

US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing congressional districts first

Sam D. Hayes, Trinity College

Historically, federal courts prioritized voting rights and legal congressional districts for upcoming elections above all other concerns. But the Supreme Court changed that in 2022.

3 reasons the UAW is having success in organizing Southern workers – with two Mercedes plants in Alabama the next face-off

Stephen J. Silvia, American University School of International Service

The Mercedes auto workers will vote on union membership in mid-May.

Artists created images of Christ that focused not on historical accuracy but on reflecting different communities

Virginia Raguin, College of the Holy Cross

Images of Christ often represented prevailing cultural beliefs, allowing onlookers to connect in a deep and meaningful way, a scholar of religious history explains.

Palestinian writers have long explored the horrors of amputation

Graham Liddell, Hope College

In a number of stories and novels, lost limbs represent both physical and metaphorical loss.

Homeschooled kids face unique college challenges − here are 3 ways they can be overcome

Kenneth V. Anthony, Mississippi State University; Mark E. Wildmon, Mississippi State University

More than 3 million children in the US are homeschooled. Are they getting a good education?

Trump promises to deport all undocumented immigrants, resurrecting a 1950s strategy − but it didn’t work then and is less likely to do so now

The number of religious ‘nones’ has soared, but not the number of atheists – and as social scientists, we wanted to know why

Nearsightedness is at epidemic levels – and the problem begins in childhood