Intense wildfires in southern California are triggering air quality alerts. Health experts know surprisingly little about how inhaling smoke affects human health, especially over the long term.
Making sense of the Department of Energy’s plan.
Shutterstock.com
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission normally works in obscurity, but is in the spotlight as it considers a proposal to support coal and nuclear power plants that are having trouble competing.
This man may soon be the world’s ‘second-most-powerful person.’
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
The chair of the Federal Reserve is often considered the world’s ‘second-most-powerful person.’ So who is Jerome Powell and why does it matter that he may soon head the Fed?
The iPhone X’s big new features come with a high price tag.
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Apple’s latest iPhone sold out within minutes of its launch, but questions still remain about whether that pace of demand will continue and, if so, whether the company’s supply chain will be able to keep up.
With no money to research guns, there’s no evidence to base policy on.
Håkan Dahlström
Horrific mass shootings in the US typically renew the national debate about gun policy. A gun researcher explains the lack of funding for study in this area and what that means for informed policy.
Wildfire creates an orange glow in a view from a hilltop Oct. 13, 2017, in Geyserville, California.
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Wildfires in California have triggered a public health emergency. One threat is smoke inhalation: Some air readings have registered pollution levels comparable to bad air days in Beijing or Mumbai.
Millions of Americans donate to relief efforts after natural disasters.
MISHELLA/Shutterstock.com
The federal government created a program in 1968 to insure homes in the US from flooding, yet few of the houses hammered by Harvey’s record rainfall were covered.
Muslims saying Eid prayers.
IIOC Masjid Omar AlFarouk
Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) beginning this Friday evening. Here’s an introduction to this important feast.
FirstNet could relieve emergency workers of having to carry multiple radios and other communications devices.
AP Photo/Ric Francis
A multibillion-dollar effort is just beginning to build an all-new nationwide wireless broadband network for emergency responders. How will it work, why do we need it and how will it last 25 years?
Cooked chicken meat imported from China could end up in U.S. restaurant meals without information about its origin.
Jacek Chabraszewski/Shutterstock
China has started exporting cooked chicken meat to the United States. Is it safe to eat? An agriculture extension specialist discusses possible concerns about food safety and contamination.
Composite image of moments before, during and after totality.
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
An astronomer explains how. why and when eclipses happen, what scientists can learn from them, and what they would look like if you were standing on the Moon.
When President Bill Cllinton officially ended welfare as we knew it, he was flanked by women who had received Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
Reuters/Stephen Jaffee
The US government reached the limits of its borrowing capacity in March and is fast approaching the point at which it will no longer be able to pay all its bills. What’s the big deal?
Using an ATM isn’t risk-free, but there’s a lot of security already.
milicad/shutterstock.com
Pradeep Atrey, University at Albany, State University of New York
Fifty years after the first ATM went into service, the main problem – identifying authorized users – remains the same. But methods for doing so have improved significantly.
Amazon suddenly became a major player in the supermarket wars.
Reuters/Rick Wilking
There are many myths around Sharia. A scholar explains the moral and ethical principles behind it, as also why there are different interpretations.
Some nonprofits, including the NAACP, can operate different divisions subject to different IRS rules but with the same branding.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Social welfare groups have become more common – and more controversial – in recent years. Fixing gaps in the oversight of this kind of nonprofit will take bipartisan action.
Opening up data and materials helps with research transparency.
REDPIXEL.PL via Shutterstock.com
Partly in response to the so-called ‘reproducibility crisis’ in science, researchers are embracing a set of practices that aim to make the whole endeavor more transparent, more reliable – and better.
A girl picks up a cupcake as she breaks fast at King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles, California., during Ramadan.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, Religion and Civic Culture Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor of Higher Education; Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity; Director of Access and Equity, Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy, New York University