Elite universities have been giving special preference to children of prior graduates for more than a century. Has the time come for that practice to stop? A sociologist weighs in.
As young children learn about politics and political figures, they internalize the idea that politics is a man’s world, which ultimately means political representation is heavily skewed toward men.
As boosters are authorized for all three COVID-19 shots available in the US, the ability to swap out vaccine types looks to be a boon to the immune system.
A tragic accident resulted in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of actor Alec Baldwin’s latest movie. The dangers of more guns on set extend to society, two scholars argue.
Public health experts know that schools are likely sites for the spread of disease, and laws tying school attendance to vaccination go back to the 1800s.
Shannon Bow O'Brien, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts
Donald Trump’s lawsuit to stop the release to Congress of potentially embarrassing or incriminating documents puts the National Archives in the middle of an old legal conflict.
Did ancient technological advancements drive social innovation, or vice versa? Studying cause and effect in the ancient world may seem like a fool’s errand, but researchers built a database to do just that.
Studies show climate change is raising the risk of cascading hazards that alone might not be extreme but add up to human disasters. Communities and government agencies aren’t prepared.
A food historian spent a month at the Library of Congress trying to answer the question of why we have historically been, and remain, so focused on dietary protein. Here is what she found.
The Founding Fathers were unrelenting in their commitment to the idea that circumstances can arise that require public officials to take actions abridging individual freedoms.
More than 600,000 Brazilians have died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. A new report says the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro are responsible for around half.
Researchers say educators told them that immigrant students are sometimes made to believe they will be deported. Why? One reason is educators didn’t want them to drag down their school’s test scores.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that share is growing. Rapid climate change could make many cities unlivable in the coming decades without major investments to adapt.
Smart glasses like Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories could be used to record you surreptitiously. If the company adds facial recognition, you could be even more exposed.
Samhain will be particularly poignant this year for Wiccans who are members or veterans of the US military as they process the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
Ivan Erill, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Viruses have gotten a bad rap for the many illnesses and pandemics they’ve caused. But viruses are also genetic innovators – and possibly the pioneers of using DNA as the genetic blueprint of life.