Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University The latest Powerball jackpot swelled to a record US$1.9 billion after another drawing passed with no winning ticket. The next drawing will be held on Nov. 7, 2022. The prize is now the largest lottery the world has ever seen, overtaking a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot in 2016 and $1.54 […]
The Conversation
Posted inArts & Culture
With the strokes of a guitar solo, Joni Mitchell showed us how our female music elders are super punks
Janelle K Johnstone, La Trobe University The iconic Joni Mitchell’s recent surprise performance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival prompted a world-wide outpouring of love and respect. This was her first musical performance since suffering from a brain aneurysm in 2015 that left her unable to walk and talk. Last year, she spoke of having […]
Posted inNews
The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz
Quizmaster, The Conversation If you have feedback on our new quiz, or want to suggest a fact from a fascinating story for a future question, please send us an email at us.quiz@theconversation.com. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Posted inNews
New satellite mapping with AI can quickly pinpoint hurricane damage across an entire state to spot where people may be trapped
Zhe Zhu, University of Connecticut and Su Ye, University of Connecticut Hurricane Ian left an extraordinarily broad path of destruction across much of South Florida. That was evident in reports from the ground, but it also shows up in satellite data. Using a new method, our team of spatial and environmental analysts was able to […]
Posted inCity & Government
The Supreme Court is back in session, with new controversial cases that stand to change many Americans’ lives – here’s what to expect
Morgan Marietta, UMass Lowell Following a dramatic year of controversial rulings, the Supreme Court began hearing new cases on Oct. 3, 2022, with a full agenda. The court overturned abortion rights and expanded gun rights in June 2022 as the new conservative supermajority began to exert its influence. Some of the court’s most important upcoming […]
Posted inCity & Government
ALS drug wins FDA approval despite questionable data
WASHINGTON (AP) — A much-debated drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease won U.S. approval Thursday, a long-sought victory for patients that is likely to renew questions about the scientific rigor behind government reviews of experimental medicines. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals based on results from one small, mid-stage study in […]
Posted inNews
Orioles shut down by Rich Hill in 3-1 loss to Red Sox
BOSTON (AP) — Anthony Santander and the Baltimore Orioles were shut down by Rich Hill and three relievers in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, hurting their chances of rallying in the AL wild-card race. Robinson Chirinos accounted for Baltimore’s only run with his fourth homer in the eighth inning. […]
Posted inNews, Weather
Looking back at America’s summer of heat, floods, and climate change: Welcome to the new abnormal
Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton The summer of 2022 started with a historic flood in Montana, brought on by heavy rain and melting snow, that tore up roads and caused large areas of Yellowstone National Park to be evacuated. It ended with a record-breaking heat wave in California and much of the West that pushed […]
Posted inCity & Government
Russia’s reliance on mercenaries in Ukraine points to the weakness of its military – and Putin’s strategy of deflecting blame
Christopher Michael Faulkner, US Naval War College Ukrainian forces are gaining ground in the war against Russia. Since early September 2022, they have launched a massive counteroffensive in Ukraine’s northeast region of Kharkiv, reclaiming large swaths of territory. The sudden offensive – likely the result of several factors, including effective war gaming and Russian military […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Low vaccine booster rates are now a key factor in COVID-19 deaths – and racial disparities in booster rates persist
Andrew Stokes, Boston University; Dielle Lundberg, Boston University; Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, University of Minnesota, and Rafeya Raquib, Boston University More than 450 people are dying of COVID-19 in the U.S. each day as of late August 2022. When COVID-19 vaccines first became available, public officials, community organizations and policymakers mobilized to get shots into arms. These […]
Posted inSports
McDaniels welcomes mentor Belichick and Patriots to Vegas
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — First-year Raiders coach Josh McDaniels rolled out the silver and black carpet for mentor Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. The Patriots practiced at Las Vegas’ facility Monday ahead of a pair of joint practices Tuesday and Wednesday. “This is magnificent,” Belichick said. “I’ve been to a lot of good […]
Posted inCity & Government
If all the vehicles in the world were to convert to electric, would it be quieter?
By Erica D. Walker, Brown University Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. If all of the vehicles in the world were to convert to electric, would it be quieter? – Joseph, age 10, Chatham, New Jersey […]
Posted inNews
Worried about back-to-school inflation? Latest price data on backpacks, laptops and kids’ clothes offers some relief for parents
By Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University As summer draws to a close, it is time for many to think about back-to-school shopping, such as notebooks, backpacks and new clothes. As an economist who has studied consumer prices for years, I wondered how soaring inflation was affecting the costs of typical back-to-school gear. Consumer prices rose […]
Posted inNews
There’s reason for people on opposing sides of abortion to talk, even if they disagree – it helps build respect, understanding and can lead to policy change
By Kate W. Isaacs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has split the country into joyous supporters and furious dissenters. Emotions are running high, and some protests have turned violent. Yet research shows that people on either side of the abortion rights issue can bridge their divide […]
Posted inNews, Weather
Flood maps show US vastly underestimates contamination risk at old industrial sites
Thomas Marlow, New York University; James R. Elliott, Rice University, and Scott Frickel, Brown University Climate science is clear: Floodwaters are a growing risk for many American cities, threatening to displace not only people and housing but also the land-based pollution left behind by earlier industrial activities. In 2019, researchers at the U.S. Government Accountability […]
Posted inHistory
Let’s spare a few words for ‘Silent Cal’ Coolidge on July 4, his 150th birthday
Chris Lamb, IUPUI A woman sitting next to President Calvin Coolidge at a dinner party once told him she had made a bet that she could get him to say more than two words. “You lose,” replied Coolidge, who served as president from 1923 until 1929. During a White House recital, a nervous opera singer […]
Posted inHistory
The Declaration of Independence wasn’t really complaining about King George, and 5 other surprising facts for July Fourth
Woody Holton, University of South Carolina Editor’s note: Americans may think they know a lot about the Declaration of Independence, but many of those ideas are elitist and wrong, as historian Woody Holton explains. His 2021 book “Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution” shows how independence and the Revolutionary War were […]
Posted inCity & Government
‘A revolutionary ruling – and not just for abortion’: A Supreme Court scholar explains the impact of Dobbs
Morgan Marietta, UMass Lowell The Supreme Court’s decision to reverse 50 years of constitutional protection for the right to get an abortion is more than 200 pages long. Morgan Marietta, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and editor of the annual SCOTUS series at Palgrave Macmillan, studies the ideas and ideology of […]
Posted inNews
Roe overturned: What you need to know about the Supreme Court abortion decision
Linda C. McClain, Boston University and Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University After half a century, Americans’ constitutional right to get an abortion has been overturned by the Supreme Court. The ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – handed down on June 24, 2022 – has far-reaching consequences. The Conversation asked Nicole Huberfeld and Linda […]
Posted inHistory
The forgotten history of Memorial Day
Richard Gardiner, Columbus State University In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country. The holiday was Memorial Day, an annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States […]
Posted inNews
19 children, 2 adults killed in Texas elementary school shooting – 3 essential reads on America’s relentless gun violence
Matt Williams, The Conversation At least 19 children and two adults were killed when a teenage gunman shot them at a Texas elementary school on May 24, 2022 – the latest mass shooting in a country in which such incidents have become common. A lot remains unknown about the attack at Robb Elementary School in […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
What is monkeypox? A microbiologist explains what’s known about this smallpox cousin
Rodney E. Rohde, Texas State University On May 18, 2022, Massachusetts health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a single case of monkeypox in a patient who had recently traveled to Canada. Cases have also been reported in the United Kingdom and Europe. Monkeypox isn’t a new disease. The first confirmed […]
Posted inNews
New Englanders support more offshore wind power – just don’t send it to New York
David Bidwell, University of Rhode Island; Jeremy Firestone, University of Delaware, and Michael Ferguson, University of New Hampshire In Rhode Island, home to the first offshore wind farm in the U.S., most people support expanding offshore wind power – with one important caveat. Our research shows they’re less likely to support a wind power project […]
Posted inNews
How to responsibly donate to Ukrainian causes
Beth Gazley, Indiana University When Russia invaded Ukraine, I responded like many Americans: by making charitable donations. I was able to make my gift with confidence because I’m a scholar of nonprofits who has studied giving during disasters and other crises. Mostly I’ve studied how charities help local communities after events like hurricanes and earthquakes, […]
Posted inNews
Russia invades Ukraine – 5 essential reads from experts
Naomi Schalit, The Conversation This is a frightening moment. Russia has invaded Ukraine, and certainly those most frightened right now are the people of Ukraine. But violent aggression – a war mounted by a country with vast military resources against a smaller, weaker country – strikes fear in all of us. As a Washington Post […]