How do you know whether to trust a poll? Look carefully at how it was conducted – and examine your own biases.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Midterms
Analysis and Comment
Landowners told researchers that they lacked the knowledge, time and money to advocate for themselves, their financial interests and their property in negotiations over drilling leases.
The ocean floor holds unique information about Earth's history. Scientific ocean drilling, which started 50 years ago, has yielded insights into climate change, geohazards and the key conditions for life.
Google controls what billions of people find, see, know or even are aware of. As it gets better at delivering what it thinks people want, how will that affect humans' perceptions of their own needs?
Up to 5,000 refugees flee hunger and chaos in Venezuela each day – a migrant crisis rivaling Syria's. Most arrive to poor South American border cities that are dangerously unprepared for the influx.
Incorporating lessons on healthy sexual behavior into sex ed classes and special prevention programs for youth could be key to reducing sexual violence, experts say.
New research shows recruiting high-skilled immigrants leads to a 'meaningful' increase in innovation – and even more than spending money on research and development.
Adopting best practices like making it easier for staffers to blow the whistle when they observe wrongdoing can help.
Two neural systems record traumatic memories, meaning they can be remembered in both conscious and unconscious ways.
Some people are habitual conspiracy thinkers – there’s a plan behind everything, and it’s usually malevolent. One scientist set out to understand who is likely to ascribe to these theories.
As climate change alters temperature and precipitation patterns across the US, it is having especially severe impacts on national parks. These changes could happen faster than many plants and animals can adapt.
Author Salman Rushdie's book goes to the heart of Muslim religious beliefs and challenges some of the most sensitive tenets.
The US and China once again exchanged fire in their escalating trade war. Tariffs have been the main source of ammunition thus far, but China has other weapons it could begin to deploy.
The age of the US is increasing, and with it, new expectations of health and happiness. Is the US prepared for the wave of baby boomers who will live long and want to be as healthy as they do?
The damage to coal ash sites from Hurricane Florence demonstrates how a community's vulnerability to natural disasters is closely linked to how stringent environmental regulations are.
Reports of sexual assault increase by as much as 41 percent when the local college football team plays, according to researchers who say the increase is related to the drinking culture on campus.
With the unemployment rate at about the lowest level in almost 50 years, how much lower could it go? An economist explains.
Data reveal that sexual assault is common among boys and girls under the age of 18. Sexual violence experts share key facts from research on the issue.
The US was once the dominant force in the Middle East. That old order has disappeared. Now the new powers are Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Russia – and the US needs a new policy for the region.
A communication studies professor purposefully antagonizes students to show how putdowns and other forms of negative criticism can impact student learning.
Saturday isn't just the first day of fall. It's also the 10th annual National Falls Prevention Awareness Day. Falls are a major cause of disability in seniors. Experts explain ways to prevent them.
A disc-golf boom is coinciding with a ball-golf bust.
The fossa, Madagascar's largest predator, is a cat-like carnivore that eats everything from insects to lemurs. Because they are rare and elusive, scientists know very little about them, including how many there are.
Young people of color are disproportionately affected by the lifelong consequences of having a criminal record.
Many people may misunderstand the basics about opioids. That prevents researchers from understanding the full scope of the epidemic.
The midterm elections have put America's political divide front and center, increasingly invading the work space and stressing out employees.
The damage to coal ash sites from Hurricane Florence demonstrates how a community's vulnerability to natural disasters is closely linked to how stringent environmental regulations are.
Not all earthquakes are made equal. A study on the Sept. 2017 quake that killed 300 in Mexico City found that both its location and cause were unusual.
Almost every online deception, fraud and scam – even propaganda and misinformation campaigns – begins with a fake social media profile. How do fakers get real people to agree to be friends?
This year's Nobel Prize for literature was nixed because of a sex scandal. Other Nobels have neglected key contributors. Should all prizes be cancelled while criteria for winning is reassessed?
Cybercriminals may steal data from laptops and mobile phones when they are plugged in via USB ports.
With fall almost upon us, there's a lot we can learn from the changing season.
Hosay, a religious ritual performed by Trinidadian Muslims, combines the somber Islamic observance of Ashura, brought by immigrant Indians, and the joy of Trinidad's famous carnival.
In a completely new approach to treating addiction, researchers use genetically engineered skin cells to inactivate cocaine and block cravings and addiction in mice.
Research and News
Some of the most popular online videos are of people whispering, turning book pages or gently tapping computer keys. What is going on? A researcher explains the quest for 'brain tingles.'
When kids get injured their skin heals fast, but usually with nasty-looking scars. Now scientists studying the genes of old mice have figured out how they regenerate skin and block scars.
Twenty-two years ago, President Clinton established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument for paleontological conservation. As the Trump administration shrinks its borders, that mission is jeopardized.
The inventor of the brain-teasing Möbius strip died 150 years ago, but his creation continues to spawn new ideas in mathematics.
A new type of material can make it easy to put antennas almost anywhere – no matter how thin the space, or even on surfaces people need to be able to see through.
Paper-based devices with foldable, biodegradable batteries provide a new way to reduce electronic waste. But how would these new gadgets work?
BPA, used widely in plastics and as a liner in food cans, was replaced by a related chemical called BPS. But it seems that this substitute may also harm eggs and sperm and disrupt hormones.
Mutations in BRCA genes are linked to the early onset of breast and ovarian cancers. But the effect of most mutations is unclear. Now new research can distinguish harmless from dangerous mutations.
Wetlands are some of the world's most undervalued weapons against climate change. They store huge quantities of carbon – but without better protection, many could soon be drained or paved over.
Everybody has a personal internal clock in their brain that dictates when we feel like eating, waking and sleeping. But what happens when our life doesn't match our body clock? And how do we read it?
#MeToo and beyond
Moonves, accused by 12 women of sexual harassment and assault, managed to walk away with a face-saving exit package that may even include some of his $182 million severance.
Catholic Church
An expert explains how a complex set of canon laws and trials are the major obstacle to holding priests accountable. The power to take action is often vested in the Vatican.
Hurricane season
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, forever changing the lives of the children who survived. Their stories can help Puerto Rico identify and aid the kids most traumatized by Hurricane Maria.
Back to school
Through games and household tasks, parents can help their children learn basic math skills like counting, geometry and algebraic thinking.
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Research and Expert Database
Hurricane Florence
Editors’ Picks
Through his art and his travels, 19th-century French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix sought to understand the chaos of an era he called 'the century of unbelievable things.'
From human suffering to political chicanery to environmental degradation, the tide of bad news, blared in headlines every day, seems overwhelming. One poet and classics scholar asks: What can be done?
Over the course of two years, a sociologist studied a group of affluent, white kids to see how they made sense of sensitive racial issues like privilege, unequal opportunity and police violence.
Today, 8 out of every 10 Americans live in a city or suburb.
Small-batch brewers are starting to tinker with biologic drugs to meet their own medical needs. A side effect of their success would be a disruption to how big pharma makes and distributes drugs.
Bug sprays with DEET feel oily and smell gross. That's why scientists are developing new mosquito repellents based on natural plant oils. But translating these into commercial products isn't easy.
The future climate that scientists predict for the middle of the United States is one that will foster more hail events with bigger hailstones.
The US$2 billion that the Amazon founder and his wife are donating to help the homeless and educate young kids may appear selfless. But this money may also soften calls to raise taxes on the rich.
Cuba is avowedly secular. But as the country debates a new Constitution that would protect LGBT rights, churches have come out strongly against gay marriage — a sign of change on the Communist island.
Does it seem like everyone you know drinks apple cider vinegar, mainly in hopes of losing weight? Vinegar has a long history of high hopes attached to it. A doctor who loves vinegar explains.
Dangerous open wounds known as cutaneous ulcers are common in people with diabetes and bedsores. Now scientists have figured out how to reprogram the cells inside these wounds to heal themselves.
The Department of Education says there were 240 school shootings during a recent school year. Another database only counts 29. How could the numbers be so different -- and who is right?
Russia is trying to create social tension in the US to boost its own strength on the world stage. That includes targeting society itself.
Before colonialism, India embraced homosexuality and gender fluidity. The Supreme Court's repeal of a 157-year-old gay sex ban partially reclaims that history, but LGBTQ Indians still face hurdles.
Around 1 in 8 Americans was poor in 2017. That doesn't compare well to other developed nations.
Most Read past week
- Is apple cider vinegar good for you? A doctor weighs in
- Welcome to the new Meghalayan age – here’s how it fits with the rest of Earth’s geologic history
- Caught on camera: The fossa, Madagascar’s elusive top predator
- Serena Williams’ catsuit controversy evokes the battle over women wearing shorts
- The next cold war? US-China trade war risks something worse
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