Baby tooth proof of the first modern humans in Europe

What The Conversation talks about when it talks about football: 3 essential reads ahead of the Super Bowl

Matt Williams, The Conversation

As the Los Angeles Rams prepare to take on the Cincinnati Bengals, The Conversation takes a critical look at some of the biggest news stories from the past NFL season.

How Joe Rogan became podcasting’s Goliath

Matt Sienkiewicz, Boston College; Nick Marx, Colorado State University

By sidestepping partisan pigeonholing and appealing to the anti-establishment impulses of young men, Rogan has brought together an audience that advertisers have long coveted.

Inmates’ hunger strikes take powerful stands against injustice

Nayan Shah, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The power of the hunger strike lies in its utter simplicity. Anyone can choose to forego eating, even when living under extremely restricted conditions.

A brief history of the NFL, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ the Super Bowl and their tangled saga of patriotism and dissent

Mark Clague, University of Michigan

For the NFL, playing the national anthem started as a patriotic marketing ploy. It’s now played before every game alongside ‘Lift Every Voice,’ the Black national anthem, and ‘America the Beautiful.’

The shameful stories of environmental injustices at Japanese American incarceration camps during WWII

Connie Y. Chiang, Bowdoin College

When US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, he caved to war hysteria and paved the way for the incarceration of Japanese Americans.

No-knock warrants, a relic of the ‘war on drugs,’ face renewed criticism after Minneapolis death

Tom Nolan, Emmanuel College

The death of a 22-year-old man in a ‘no-knock’ raid in Minneapolis has sparked fresh concern over the associated risk to the public and police alike.

How raising interest rates curbs inflation – and what could possibly go wrong

Rodney Ramcharan, University of Southern California

Higher interest rates reduce demand for goods and services, which makes it harder for companies to raise prices. But there are risks as well.

In countries more biased against women, higher COVID-19 death rates for men might not tell an accurate story

Yeva Aleksanyan, Colorado State University; Jason Weinman, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Some countries report higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths among men. This might be due to underreporting among women with limited health access.

Ski jump: Flying or falling with style?

Amy Pope, Clemson University

Ski jumpers do everything they can to counteract the effects of gravity and fly as far as they can down hills.

What makes a fruit flavorful? Artificial intelligence can help optimize cultivars to match consumer preferences

Marcio Resende, University of Florida; Harry J. Klee, University of Florida

Pinpointing the chemical compounds that make a fruit tasty to consumers can help producers breed for even more flavorful crops.

What is earwax?

Whoopi Goldberg awkwardly demonstrates how the idea of race varies by place and changes over time

The high-speed physics of how bobsled, luge and skeleton send humans hurtling faster than a car on the highway