Humans and animals can both think logically − but testing what kind of logic they’re using is tricky

How researchers measure the logical reasoning of monkeys, pigeons, rats, fish and wasps shapes how they understand mental processes in animals − and in people.

Iran emerged weakened and vulnerable after war with Israel − and that could mean trouble for country’s ethnic minorities

Shukriya Bradost, Virginia Tech

The Islamic Republic has a history of targeting minority ethnic groups, especially the Kurds, when it feels threatened.

How Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral primary could ripple across the country

Lincoln Mitchell, Columbia University

Zohran Mamdani is one of the first Democratic candidates to successfully leverage Donald Trump’s focus on cost of living, explains a political strategist.

What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions

Cassandra Burke Robertson, Case Western Reserve University

The Supreme Court just made it harder for judges to block presidential policies nationwide, but lawmakers hold the key to changing that.

Scandinavia has its own dark history of assimilating Indigenous people, and churches played a role – but are apologizing

Thomas A. DuBois, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Amid national truth and reconciliation processes, Scandinavian churches are taking stock of their past policies toward the Sámi people.

Editors' picks

Hurricane forecasters are losing 3 key satellites ahead of peak storm season − a meteorologist explains why it matters

Chris Vagasky, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program has been particularly important for understanding when a hurricane is about to rapidly intensify, a dangerous situation for coastal communities.

Keeping brain-dead pregnant women on life support raises ethical issues that go beyond abortion politics

Lindsey Breitwieser, Hollins University

Adriana Smith’s body was kept on life support for 16 weeks so her fetus could gestate. Abortion politics don’t capture the ethical complexities of such situations.

The rule of law is key to capitalism − eroding it is bad news for American business

Robert Bird, University of Connecticut

Uncertainty is the new norm.

Why the traditional college major may be holding students back in a rapidly changing job market

John Weigand, Miami University

A scholar and former college dean explains why higher education’s reliance on majors to measure academic quality may be an outdated approach.

Along with the ideals it expresses, the Declaration of Independence mourns for something people lost in 1776 − and now, too

Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino

For all the festivities around July 4, the nation’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, actually depicts a wounded, fearful society, teetering on the brink of disaster. Sound familiar?

News Quiz 🧠

  • The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz

    Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation

    Test your knowledge with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week on charcoal, car crashes, and the Great Lakes.