The Nobel Peace Prize has recognized some legendary leaders and peace activists, but it has a mixed track record of recognizing people who actually deserve the prize.
U.S. Marines gather near an American flag in Somalia on Dec. 1, 1992.
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As the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, a Catholic theologian explains the preparations that went into the consultative process and what it says about Pope Francis’ vision for the future church.
In China, single women as young as 27 are considered ‘leftover.’
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Their desire to pursue marriage abroad not only reveals their longing for a better life but also reveals the pervasive gender, age and class inequalities that continue to plague modern-day China.
Work in attosecond physics has led to a better understanding of how electrons move around.
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Three scientists won the 2023 Nobel Prize in physics for their work developing methods to shoot laser pulses that only last an attosecond, or a mind-bogglingly tiny fraction of a second.
The quest for space dominance has long sparked discussions about the quality of American education.
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Policymakers and others often invoke the 1957 Russian launch of sputnik when trying to spark a discussion about education reform. A rhetoric scholar examines how often they succeed.
Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.
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The collapse of the self-proclaimed republic ushers in a new reality in the South Caucasus. For Armenia, the first concern is how to accommodate the needs of 100,000-plus refugees.
The author captures threads of a dialect by recording words for “Michipicoten” in an open-air meeting with community elders.
John-Paul Chalykoff
A scholar works to document a dialect of the Ojibwe language that was spoken by his grandmother in the Great Lakes region.
Mitt Romney, left, represents an old-fashioned GOP conservatism. Donald Trump, right, doesn’t − and Romney is leaving politics.
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Republicans Mike Pence and Mitt Romney both spoke recently about the conservative ideals that animate their politics − and which Donald Trump has violated. Do voters care?
The first encounters between European settlers and Native Americans are captured on a wood engraving in this 1888 image.
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Popular culture often describes scalping − the forceful removing of a person’s scalp − as an indigenous practice. But white settlers accelerated this form of violence against Native Americans.
This message probably popped up on your phone on Oct. 4, 2023.
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If an alert from the federal government popped up on your phone, did you notice it? Did you know who it was from? Did you trust it?
Photograph of the first Solvay Conference in 1911 at the Hotel Metropole. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes is standing third from the right.
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Superconductivity may sound like science fiction, but the first experiments to achieve it were conducted over a century ago. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, credited with the discovery, won a Nobel Prize in 1913.
The U.S. government is the single largest buyer of services and goods, like vehicles. That has an impact on the economy.
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The Biden administration directed agencies to consider the cost of greenhouse gas emissions in their future purchasing and budget decisions. An example shows just how much is at stake.
Each year, services on St. Francis’ feast day draw humans and animals alike to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.
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The winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine made a discovery that helped create the COVID-19 vaccines. They couldn’t have anticipated the tremendous impact of their findings.
A display of books that have been banned in various places is on view at a community gathering space in Washington, D.C.
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Current precedent relies on a 1982 case in which five justices generally agreed there were limits on a school’s power to ban books, but they didn’t agree on why.
What’s a good way to get people to participate in blood drives?
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Because not everyone who is eligible to give blood donates at least once a year, there are periodic shortages, like the one the American Red Cross declared on Sept. 11, 2023.
The course of nanotechnology, like the carbon nanotubes in this laboratory, has been guided by many stakeholders.
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Two decades ago, the nanotechnology revolution avoided stumbling by bringing a wide range of people to the table to chart its development. The window is closing fast on AI following suit.
Regular testing for HIV protects you and those around you.
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Many people at heightened risk for HIV have never been tested. Those who have self-tested for HIV often don’t go on to receive care or change their sexual behavior.
New cardinals at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 30, 2023.
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The College of Cardinals is an important part of the church’s governance structure. Its members elect the next pope and help develop future policies for the church.
Astronomers can estimate ages for stars outside the Solar System, but not planets.
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Measuring the ages of planets and stars is tricky. An observational astrophysicist describes the subtle clues that provide good estimates for how old different space objects are.
Smuggled rare Mexican box turtles intercepted by U.S. officials at the Port of Memphis.
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Change in the brain usually comes with plenty of effort over time. Neuroscientists are working to understand how psychedelic drugs provide a shortcut that seems to rely on existing brain systems.
Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife arrive at the U.S. District Court in New York City on Sept. 27, 2023.
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California’s governor has already announced his pick for the the seat, Laphonza Butler. Here’s more on the state-by-state process for replacing a senator who has died, is facing criminal charges or has serious illness.
The text on a single bag of coffee can feel like information overload.
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