A Supreme Court justice hearing arguments over same-sex marriage cited Plato’s stance on homosexuality. But what did Plato really believe about all sexuality? A scholar takes a look.
Laying wreaths in front of the Freedom Wall in Washington on V-E Day 2015.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Americans love their lawns but are lawns good for America, particularly in drought-stricken areas? A look at our grassy love affair and what might be better alternatives.
Between now and college years, there are many steps that you can take as a parent.
Graduation image via www.shutterstock.com
The story of the Grand Review of the Union Armies in May 1865 and of the veterans of Sherman’s March who believed that it was their campaign that helped bring the Civil War to its end.
Different is OK.
Runners via www.shutterstock.com.
Research on distance runners reveals evidence of a large sex difference in competitiveness.
Canadian Artillery gunners read the Victory issue of the Maple Leaf newspaper in Germany after Germany surrenders.
REUTERS/Lieut. Donald I. Grant /Canada Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-150931
Passage of trade promotion authority is still far from certain, but yesterday’s Senate vote may signal good news for the trade deals it’s meant to help.
Two women walk in front of a billboard, which says “Ebola must go. Stopping Ebola is Everybody’s Business” in Monrovia, Liberia, January 15 2015.
UNMEER/Emmanuel Tobey
Along with better strategies to respond to outbreaks in human populations, we need a stronger focus on surveillance in animals to identify infectious diseases before they pose a risk to human health.
ISIS take Ramadi; on the move in Iraq.
Steve Allen/Shutterstock
ISIS victories in Iraq do not come out of the blue; the group’s military success results from a long history of tensions between Sunnis and Shia and US policies that fostered such tension.
The Kulluk, Shell’s Arctic offshore drilling platform, was grounded in 2013 after efforts by the US Coast Guard and tug vessel crews to move the vessel to a safe harbor during a winter storm.
Zachary Painter/ US Coast Guard/
Shell is going back to the Arctic to explore offshore drilling, but the company and the Department of Interior are not using the best practices for avoiding the risk of a spill.
Sailing illegally toward Europe
Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters
The headlines about thousands of migrants losing their lives at sea are shocking. But as news consumers we hear little about the context pushing these people to leave their homes.
Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy often used industrial plastics in his artwork.
Wikimedia Commons
As students walk to receive their certificates on commencement day, what are the thoughts of their teachers who stood at the same place some decades ago? What has changed?
A man undergoes “xenodiagnosis” for Chagas disease in the Argentine province of Corrientes. In this procedure, uninfected triatomine bugs feed on the blood of patients. Later examination of these insects may reveal parasites acquired from infected blood.
German Pomar/Reuters
This parasitic infection is endemic in Central and South America, and can lead to serious health complications. Though rare in the US, incidence is starting to increase.
Even the biggest proponents of nuclear power can’t ignore 10,000 metric tons of spent fuel globally every year. What if we could recycle every last atom of nuclear waste?
Court says no to government sifting through metadata.
Semmick Photo/Shutterstock
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals went beyond striking down the NSA’s metadata surveillance program; the court also created a road map for Congress to balance privacy and security issues
Over 500 daily newspapers now use paywalls. Are they working?
'laptop' via www.shutterstock.com
Jason E. Lewis, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York) and Sonia Harmand, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)
Stone tools excavated in Kenya date back 3.3 million years – making them about a million years older than the oldest known fossils from our own hominid genus Homo. Who made and used these tools?
Why did Penn State take so long to disclose the breach?
Laptop image via www.shutterstock.com
The recent cyber attacks at Penn State have put personal information of 18,000 students in the hands of hackers. What should universities do to protect students’ privacy?
Reactor pressure vessel during construction of Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, 1956.
U.S. Department of Energy, Naval Reactors Program
Neil Todreas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
The basics of fission physics have stayed the same over the decades. But power-generating reactor designs have evolved, turning to new coolants, recycled fuel and other innovations.