Cash is falling out of fashion – will it disappear forever?
You can now pay your way with apps, cryptocurrencies and other digital alternatives. Physical money might one day look like a relic of the past.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Cash
Why cash remains sacred in American churches
ATMs began appearing in churches providing a way for people to come up with ready cash to give to God and their church. But why was cash necessary?
Analysis and Comment
A pair of decades-old policies may change the way rural America gets local news
Federal rules governing television stations were meant to keep them connected to the communities they serve. The Trump administration wants to weaken those rules, and those civic links.
What do protests about Harry Potter books teach us?
As Harry Potter turns 20, a scholar says protesters who try to censor books do not trust young readers to discern the difference between fantasy and reality. But why?
On Eid 2017, a peek into the lives of Puerto Rican Muslims
There are an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 Muslims in Puerto Rico. Who are they and what is their history?
Textbooks in the digital world
Textbooks were once a major piece of educational infrastructure. But as digital content expands, a new kind of 'textbook' is improving the quality of K-12 instruction.
30 years after Edwards v. Aguillard: Why creationism lingers in public schools
Thirty years after the Supreme Court ruled that creationism cannot be required in schools, 'creation science' is still taught in some schools. What are the implications for climate education?
The Trump team’s poor arguments for slashing SNAP
Cutting the program formerly known as food stamps would hurt low-income Americans and the whole economy. As research indicates that it's working well, this drive to defund is baffling experts.
What happens when the federal government eliminates health coverage? Lessons from the past
Cutting back or cutting out social safety net programs, as the Senate and House health care proposals would do, is rare. Here's a look at how such actions have fared.
Women in horror: Victims no more
According to a recent study, horror is the only film genre where women appear and speak as often as men.
The Supreme Court takes on gerrymandering: 6 essential reads
On Monday, the US Supreme Court announced that it would hear a case on gerrymandering in Wisconsin. We dive into the research on this controversial practice.
How to make sense of the Senate health care bill: 4 essential reads
The Senate released its new health care bill on June 22, 2017, and it differs slightly from a bill passed by the House in May. Read what our experts have written in recent months about key pieces.
Fixing a toxic culture like Uber’s requires more than just a new CEO
Ethical scandals at Uber and Fox have focused attention on the leaders of the organizations, but the problems of a toxic culture often embed deep within an organization.
People keep voting in support of the death penalty. So how can we end it?
Of the 34 state ballot initiatives seeking to limit or abolish the death penalty, 31 have failed. Is this democracy at its worst?
Employment helps white men’s health more than women and blacks
Employment is good for health, but it is even better for white men than for others. And unemployment is worse for white men than others. Could these findings shine light on our political situation?
What happens if Trump’s White House invokes executive privilege?
Laws that limit presidential power won't enforce themselves – Congress must act.
African-American Music Appreciation Month: 5 essential reads
The story of African-American music is a story of eclipsing expectations and subverting norms.
Energy wonks have a meltdown over the US going 100 percent renewable. Why?
How fast can the US transition to clean energy and with what energy sources? Here's why an impassioned debate among energy wonks matters to the rest of us.
Forget the insight of a lone genius – innovation is an evolving process of trial and error
We don't know much about the origins of most human achievements – scientific and otherwise. Like evolution, does progress occur as random insights are selected for or against?
Teaching machines to understand – and summarize – text
Nobody can understand the legal language in privacy policies. Can artificial intelligence digest the text and produce a human-readable explanation?
Gay Pride
From gay Nazis to ‘we’re here, we’re queer’: A century of arguing about gay pride
Gay pride has many exuberant advocates. It also has critics in unexpected places.
Are LGBT Americans actually reaping the benefits of marriage?
Marriage has long been tied to better health. The first study of the relationship between marriage, health and quality of life for LGBT Americans affirms the benefits of marriage – with some caveats.
Media
From the Pentagon Papers to Trump: How the government gained the upper hand against leakers
American citizens have long favored government openness over secrecy. But with heightened anti-leak and anti-press rhetoric, do some now want strengthened government control of information?
When is a leak ethical?
Leaking classified information violates the law. But it doesn't mean that people are abandoning their ethics.
Health care in America
How Obamacare may morph into Medicaid
Senate Republicans have been trying to find a way to get enough votes to repeal Obamacare. Here's how their delay could lead to a result they did not expect – more Medicaid.
Could the individual insurance market collapse in some states? Here’s how that could happen
Not just for the poor: The crucial role of Medicaid in America’s health care system
How pre-existing conditions became front and center in health care vote
Beyond the CBO score: How Trump Budget and the AHCA are dismantling America’s safety net
Environment
Government action isn’t enough for climate change. The private sector can cut billions of tons of carbon
Without the private sector cutting carbon emissions – rather than just lobbying the government for action on climate – the world will never reach the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement.
50th anniversary of ATM
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
American slavery: Separating fact from myth
On Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the ending of slavery in the US, a historian dispels myths about the 'peculiar institution' of slavery.
Can yoga be Christian?
Wednesday, June 21, is International Yoga Day. A scholar explains how yoga is being Christianized in different parts of the world. So, what then is real yoga?
In Tupac’s life, the struggles and triumphs of a generation
Tupac's sensitivity, intelligence and creativity confronted the hostile forces that antagonized black youth across the country in the 1970s and 1980s.
Do poor people eat more junk food than wealthier Americans?
There's an assumption that the poor eat more unhealthy fast food because it's relatively cheap, leading some governments to try limit their access. Two researchers tested that assumption.
What went wrong with the F-35, Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter?
The most expensive defense program in world history has yielded a multi-role fighter plane that is an inelegant jack-of-all-trades, but master of none.
To slow climate change, India joins the renewable energy revolution
India, the world's fourth-largest carbon emitter, long resisted calls to fight climate change. Now it is investing heavily in clean energy and expects to meet its Paris climate accord target early.
Loving v. Virginia: Exploring biracial identity and reality in America 50 years after a landmark civil rights milestone
In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in Virginia for the crime of being married. The couple helped spark an effort to strike down laws against interracial marriage in the United States.
The decline in foreign students hurts America’s future
International student integration can (and should) be fostered on college campuses for the sake of national security and professional readiness.
Working memory: How you keep things ‘in mind’ over the short term
Both psychologists and neuroscientists are interested in how working memory holds on to items over brief intervals – and are investigating from different angles.
Research transparency: 5 questions about open science answered
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.
Is there structural racism on the internet?
The physical world is racially segregated as a result of structural racism. A researcher examines whether similar problems exist online.
What rural, coastal Puerto Ricans can teach us about thriving in times of crisis
At society's margins, people without access to the mainstream job economy are able to carve out lives rich in other resources and community.
The demographics of the #resistance
Who are those people out there marching on Washington, DC? Researchers at the University of Maryland did a survey to find out.
New public database reveals striking differences in how guns are regulated from state to state
How have state firearm laws changed over time? Over the past 27 years, some states have loosened the rules for gun owners and the gun industry, while others are getting stricter.
The rising homegrown terror threat on the right
The United States is seeing an uptick in far-right extremist violence. It's time to pay more attention to this scourge and its causes.
Most Read past week
- Reverse engineering mysterious 500-million-year-old fossils that confound our tree of life
- ATMs dispense more than money: The dirt and dope that’s on your cash
- American slavery: Separating fact from myth
- When – and why – did people first start using money?
- Does hookup culture differ on Catholic campuses?
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