Migrating Haitians find hostility in neighboring Dominican Republic

Solar storm knocks out farmers’ high-tech tractors – an electrical engineer explains how a larger storm could take down the power grid and the internet

David Wallace, Mississippi State University

Every few centuries the Sun blasts the Earth with a huge amount of high-energy particles. If it were to happen today, it would wreak havoc on technology.

‘Noise’ in the machine: Human differences in judgment lead to problems for AI

Mayank Kejriwal, University of Southern California

Just as human biases show up in machine learning systems, so, too, do people’s vagaries and vicissitudes.

Iron fuels immune cells – and it could make asthma worse

Benjamin Hurrell, University of Southern California; Omid Akbari, University of Southern California

Asthma attacks can result from immune cells overreacting to a harmless allergen. Tamping down iron levels in certain immune cells can help control their activity.

Why do religious teens engage in less risky behavior? A psychologist explains

James A. Shepperd, University of Florida

Research suggests that a clear understanding of what is right and wrong contributes to engaging in less risky behavior.

Asian Jewish Americans have a double reason to celebrate their heritage in May

Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder

This month marks Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, as well as Jewish American Heritage Month.

Vatican conference on ‘climate resilience’ is latest in long line of environment initiatives by Pope Francis and Catholic Church – 5 essential reads

Molly Jackson, The Conversation

Pope Francis and other Catholic leaders committed to raising awareness of environmental issues draw on centuries of tradition.

Confusion over how pregnancy dates are measured is widespread – and makes for uninformed debate over abortion limits

Laurel Elder, Hartwick College; Mary-Kate Lizotte, Augusta University; Steven Greene, North Carolina State University

Most Americans surveyed did not know how pregnancies are dated or how long a trimester is – but this is especially true among some groups, like people who say they support six-week abortion bans.

Rap ‘beef’ as public spectacle is a dangerous game that artists rarely win

A.D. Carson, University of Virginia

Since rap’s emergence, artists have boasted about themselves in ways that were funny and sometimes violent, vulgar and sexist. The popularity of the music and its exploitation can be dangerous.

By not lip-syncing Amy Winehouse’s songs, actress Marisa Abela confronts impossible expectations in ‘Back to Black’

Katherine Meizel, Bowling Green State University

Some viewers seem to want Abela’s voice to be a carbon copy of Winehouse’s. But the art of vocal impersonation isn’t about perfect replication.

Wars cause widespread pollution and environmental damage − here’s how to address it in peace accords

Richard Marcantonio, University of Notre Dame; Josefina Echavarria Alvarez, University of Notre Dame

War is wreaking havoc on land, water and critical infrastructure in Ukraine and Gaza. Two experts on peace and conflict explain how to include such impacts in peace agreements.

Binge drinking is a growing public health crisis − a neurobiologist explains how research on alcohol use disorder has shifted

I’ve spent decades overseeing relief operations around the world, and here’s what’s going wrong in Gaza

Why do people hate people?