Castro steps down – what's next for US and Cuba?

The ups and downs of European soccer are part of its culture – moving to a US-style ‘closed’ Super League would destroy that

Stefan Szymanski, University of Michigan

More competitive games between top soccer clubs is desirable but creating a 'closed' system would harm a soccer culture built on dreams, says the man who predicted the Super League two decades ago.

Hydrogen is one future fuel oil execs and environmentalists could both support as rival countries search for climate solutions

John Ballantine, Brandeis University

The genius of the Paris climate agreement was getting major oil producing countries to agree to a target, but they still have widely different views of energy's future.

The US electric power sector is halfway to zero carbon emissions

Bentham Paulos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Dev Millstein, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Joseph Rand, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Fifteen years ago electric power generation was the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions. Now the power sector is leading the shift to a clean energy economy.

No visits and barely any calls – pandemic makes separation even scarier for people with a family member in prison

Alexander Testa, The University of Texas at San Antonio; Chantal Fahmy, The University of Texas at San Antonio

For the 6.5 million Americans who have an incarcerated family member, COVID-19 has made an already stressful situation much worse by drastically limiting communication and raising fears of death.

Domestic violence calls for help increased during the pandemic – but the answers haven’t gotten any easier

Tara N. Richards, University of Nebraska Omaha; Justin Nix, University of Nebraska Omaha

Calls to police and hotlines by domestic violence victims increased during the pandemic. This translates into an expanded number of families that will need help even after the pandemic.

There are plenty of moral reasons to be vaccinated – but that doesn’t mean it’s your ethical duty

Travis N. Rieder, Johns Hopkins University

A moral philosopher explains why the ethics of getting or refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are more complex than it might seem.

From haute cuisine to hot dogs: How dining out has evolved over 200 years – and is innovating further in the pandemic

Hannah Cutting-Jones, University of Oregon

The pandemic changed people's dining-out experience, with takeout becoming more common. But since dining out became fashionable in the 18th century, how and where people go to eat has been evolving.

Why it’s good for kids to have friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds

Leah M. Lessard, University of Connecticut; Jaana Juvonen, University of California, Los Angeles

Researchers consider how friendships that bridge across social class – "cross-class friendships" – contribute to middle school academic achievement differences based on level of parents' education.

Student loan debt is costing recent grads much more than just money

Kate Padgett Walsh, Iowa State University; Dalié Jiménez, University of California, Irvine; Raphaël Charron-Chénier, Arizona State University

Student loan debt can affect not only the financial health of recent grads but also their mental and emotional health. Three scholars weigh in on the greater costs student loans can have on borrowers.

An advantage of the government’s new payments for families: Not humiliating poor people

Wendy Bach, University of Tennessee

For middle-class and wealthy families, securing government aid tends to be free of hassles. For low-income families, the process is often stigmatizing and the benefits meager.

Significant archives are under threat in Cape Town’s fire. Why they matter so much

Shannon Morreira, University of Cape Town

Losing archives has significant implications in a country like South Africa with a fraught and contested history because voices from the past, which may carry alternative histories, are lost.

Female robots are seen as being the most human. Why?

Sylvie Borau, TBS Business School

Virtual assistants and robots are frequently given female attributes. To curb the massive use of such gendering in AI, we need to better understand the deep roots of this phenomenon.

Mars: how Ingenuity helicopter made the first flight on another planet

Monica Grady, The Open University

The maiden flight of Mars helicopter was a significant advance in propulsion technology.

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