Looming La Niña forebodes extreme hurricane forecasts

Why US offshore wind energy is struggling – the good, the bad and the opportunity

Christopher Niezrecki, UMass Lowell

Two new wind farms began producing power in 2024, but several canceled contracts have left a dark cloud over the industry. A wind power expert explains why US offshore wind has been slow to scale up.

Why some people receiving federal benefits don’t consider themselves poor − even though poverty rates have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic

Sherri Lawson Clark, Wake Forest University

Eliminating poverty has not been a major campaign issue during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Polarization may phase out of American politics as younger generations shift into power

Sally Friedman, University at Albany, State University of New York; David Schultz, Hamline University

Younger generations today agree more on key national issues than older generations do. A time of intense polarization may be ending.

Commencement isn’t just about awarding degrees – and cancellations leave students disconnected and disillusioned

Dimitris Xygalatas, University of Connecticut

Rites of passage are important. They do not merely celebrate the transition to a new state – they actively create this new state in the eyes of society, an anthropologist writes.

I interviewed moms with 5 or more kids − here’s what I learned about the women who are quietly going against the grain

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Catholic University of America

Low birth rates aren’t just a potential economic crisis. They can tell a deeply personal story about women failing to reach their goals for motherhood.

Brain study identifies a cost of caregiving for new fathers

Darby Saxbe, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

One of the first longitudinal studies of male brain changes across the transition to first-time parenthood finds that becoming a dad affects the brain – without the direct experience of pregnancy.

Section 702 foreign surveillance law lives on, but privacy fight continues

Peter Swire, Georgia Institute of Technology

Privacy advocates lost out when Congress reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without major reforms. But the renewal fight returns in 2 years.

Little seed, big problem – keep an eye out for foxtail seed pods that can harm your pet this summer

Erik Olstad, University of California, Davis

Foxtails can hook onto your pet’s skin and may cause redness, swelling and infection.

5 books to help you better understand today’s campus protests

Steve Friess, University of Michigan

These books shine light on a rich history of campus protests in the US that goes back to the 1960s.

South Africa’s Lemba people: how they view their Jewishness challenges Zionist ideas that identity is linked to one homeland

Noah Tamarkin, Cornell University

The Lemba view is that one can be indigenous to more than one place, and that more than one people can be indigenous to a single place.

Billions are needed for climate adaptation – now some frontline communities are deciding how the money gets spent

Mend Mariwany, The Conversation

Katherine Browne and Margaret Angula talk to The Conversation Weekly podcast about a UN pilot in Namibia that’s pioneering community-led climate adaptation.

War games risk stirring up troubled waters as Philippines − emboldened by US − squares up to Beijing at sea

How to tell if a conspiracy theory is probably false

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