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The Conversation
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AI harm is often behind the scenes and builds over time – a legal scholar explains how the law can adapt to respond

Sylvia Lu, University of Michigan

3 women at a kitchen table looking taken aback

Awkwardness can hit in any social situation – here are a philosopher’s 5 strategies to navigate it with grace

Alexandra Plakias, Hamilton College

No need to overload your cranberry sauce with sugar this holiday season − a food scientist explains how to cook with fewer added sweeteners

Rosemary Trout, Drexel University

A pile of fresh cranberries.
Public health surveillance, from social media to sewage, spots disease outbreaks early to stop them fast

John Duah, Auburn University

abstract city plan with gray and red dots of various sizes
Scientist wearing a hat with desert landscape behind him

‘Deep inside, something told me I had found the earliest human ancestor; I went numb’ – Yohannes Haile-Selassie on his lifetime quest to discover ancient humanity

Mike Herd, The Conversation

Transplanting insulin-making cells to treat Type 1 diabetes is challenging − but stem cells offer a potential improvement

Vinny Negi, University of Pittsburgh

Microscopy image of branches and clumps of white threaded through grainy purple cells
Should I worry about mold growing in my home?

Nicholas Money, Miami University

A wall with splatters of mold growth
Rethinking screen time: A better understanding of what people do on their devices is key to digital well-being

Rinanda Shaleha, Penn State

a young woman lays in bed looking at her phone while a young man lays against her thigh while looking at his phone
Blurry, morphing and surreal – a new AI aesthetic is emerging in film

Holly Willis, University of Southern California

A blurry image of amorphous figures in motion.
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Space

A black and white image of a bright white fireball in the Earth's atmosphere.

As the Taurid meteor shower passes by Earth, pseudoscience rains down – and obscures a potential real threat from space

Mark Boslough, University of New Mexico

Jupiter’s moons hide giant subsurface oceans − Europa Clipper is one of 2 missions on their way to see if these moons could support life

Mike Sori, Purdue University

A grey round moon with rusty red streaks.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a Halloween visitor from the spooky Oort Cloud − the invisible bubble that’s home to countless space objects

James Wray, Georgia Institute of Technology

A white comet appears against a backdrop of orange and blue sky.
NASA wants to send humans to Mars in the 2030s − a crewed mission could unlock some of the red planet’s geologic mysteries

Joel S. Levine, William & Mary

The terrain of Mars, including a shallow crater on a dusty, rocky surface.
Nuclear rockets could travel to Mars in half the time − but designing the reactors that would power them isn’t easy

Dan Kotlyar, Georgia Institute of Technology

An illustration of a spacecraft powered by nuclear thermal propulsion. It is cylindrical with four solar panels coming off it.
More articles about space

Digital life

aerial view of a city neighborhood

Robo price-fixing: Why the Justice Department is suing a software company to stop landlords colluding on rents

Roger Alford, University of Notre Dame

Asking ChatGPT vs Googling: Can AI chatbots boost human creativity?

Jaeyeon Chung, Rice University

stylized image of a robot head on a laptop screen with a cartoon speech bubble
Is AI dominance inevitable? A technology ethicist says no, actually

Nir Eisikovits, UMass Boston

three cartoon robots and a man sit in a row of four chairs
How to overcome your device dependency and manage a successful digital detox

Kelley Cours Anderson, College of Charleston and Karen Anne Wallach, University of Alabama in Huntsville

a woman appears to emerge from a giant smartphone onto a path in a nature preserve
Misinformation is more than just bad facts: How and why people spread rumors is key to understanding how false information travels and takes root

Kate Starbird, University of Washington and Stephen Prochaska, University of Washington

black and white photo of two men talking across a fence in a suburban neighborhood
More articles about artificial intelligence

New research

Get chronic UTIs? Future treatments may add more bacteria to your bladder to beat back harmful microbes

Sarguru Subash, Texas A&M University

Long orange rods stacked on top of and around each other
Hundreds of 19th-century skulls collected in the name of medical science tell a story of who mattered and who didn’t

Pamela L. Geller, University of Miami

black and white painting of a skull looking toward right
Cells have more mini ‘organs’ than researchers thought − unbound by membranes, these rogue organelles challenge biology’s fundamentals

Allan Albig, Boise State University

Illustration of cross-section of cell and its organelles
The 27 Club isn’t true, but it is real − a sociologist explains why myths endure and how they shape reality

Zackary Okun Dunivin, University of California, Davis

Photograph of graffiti mural of the busts of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse
‘Safe route’ or ‘sushi route’ − 2 strategies to turn yuck to yum and convince people to eat unusual foods

Alexandra Plakias, Hamilton College

Japanese chef demonstrates something with food as people look on
Americans own guns to protect themselves from psychological as well as physical threats

Nick Buttrick, University of Wisconsin-Madison

holstered gun on woman's hip
Monkeys know who will win the election – primal instincts humans share with them shape voters’ choices

Michael Platt, University of Pennsylvania

monkey looking at camera
In Hawaii, parasites and viruses team up in the battle against fruit flies – an entomologist explains the implication for global pest control

Kelsey Coffman, University of Tennessee

A bright orange wasp with a long tail on a leaf

Brain and mind

Election anxiety doesn’t need to win − here are 3 science-backed strategies from a clinical psychologist to rein in the stress

Shannon Sauer-Zavala, University of Kentucky

two seated men looking at phones with consternation
Some people love to scare themselves in an already scary world − here’s the psychology of why

Sarah Kollat, Penn State

spooky face pressing up against a surface
Can you change your personality? Psychology research says yes, by tweaking what you think and do

Shannon Sauer-Zavala, University of Kentucky

woman looking at herself in the mirror
Mixed emotions – neuroscience is exploring how your brain lets you experience two opposite feelings at once

Anthony Gianni Vaccaro, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

many emojis denoting cartoonish emotions
More articles about psychology

Curious Kids

Real kids ask real questions and real experts answer them

Smiling girl waking up in the morning.

Why do I feel better when I wake myself up instead of relying on an alarm? A neurologist explains the science of a restful night’s sleep

Beth Ann Malow, Vanderbilt University

Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round?

Kelly R. MacGregor, Macalester College

Satellite view of a spiraling tropical storm
Kids ask the questions. Scholars answer them.

Be sure to include your name, age and where you live. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

Send in your question!
Graphic that says 'connecting experts with curious kids', with words in background saying 'how? why? who?'
How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths

Benjamin Roulston, Clarkson University

An image of Jupiter shows cloud tops and colorful blue and brown belts covering the planet.
Why do we use gasoline for small vehicles and diesel fuel for big vehicles?

Michael Leamy, Georgia Institute of Technology

A fuel pump with diesel and gasoline options
More Curious Kids articles

Most read this week

1.
I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life

Kelly Lambert, University of Richmond

I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life
2.
Why do I feel better when I wake myself up instead of relying on an alarm? A neurologist explains the science of a restful night’s sleep

Beth Ann Malow, Vanderbilt University

Why do I feel better when I wake myself up instead of relying on an alarm? A neurologist explains the science of a restful night’s sleep
3.
Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round?

Kelly R. MacGregor, Macalester College

Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round?
4.
An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internet

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internet
5.
How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths

Benjamin Roulston, Clarkson University

How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths
6.
Rethinking screen time: A better understanding of what people do on their devices is key to digital well-being

Rinanda Shaleha, Penn State

Rethinking screen time: A better understanding of what people do on their devices is key to digital well-being