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Editor's note
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Have you ever visited ruins left behind by an ancient culture and had trouble imagining what it was like to live in that place so long ago? Sometimes the area’s silence now can make it hard to picture how vibrant daily life was back then. A growing field called acoustic archaeology is starting to put sound back into the picture. University at Albany’s Kristy Primeau and University at Buffalo’s David Witt describe the way they modeled the soundscape of Chaco Canyon
– and what we can learn about the Ancestral Puebloans who lived there by figuring out how voices and music would have traveled through the space.
What does a sea sponge have in common with the Eiffel Tower? As doctoral student Michael Monn explains, both are constructed of assemblies of numerous beam-like elements. And the design of certain fibers in sea sponges could yield insights into creating stronger, more resilient structures for bridges and cars.
What would Henry David Thoreau – who would have turned 200 years old this summer – think of today’s media landscape? According to Indiana University’s Mark Canada, Thoreau’s dim view of 19th-century newspapers gives us a pretty good idea of what he’d say about Twitter and cable news.
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Maggie Villiger
Senior Editor, Science + Technology
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Top story
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What sounds did the people of Chaco Canyon hear during daily life?
David E. Witt
Kristy E. Primeau, University at Albany, State University of New York; David E. Witt, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
We tend to think of archaeological sites as dead silent – empty ruins left by past cultures. But this isn't how the people who lived in and used these sites would have experienced them.
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Environment + Energy
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Michael A. Monn, Brown University
Bio-inspiration takes cues from natural structures that do certain things very effectively. One example: the strong but flexible fibers that sea sponges use to anchor themselves to the ocean floor.
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Eric Williams, Rochester Institute of Technology; Eric Hittinger, Rochester Institute of Technology
If history is a guide, policies that promote wind power expansion will lead to lower prices – potentially beating fossil fuels in the US by 2030.
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Michael A. Livermore, University of Virginia
Trump administration officials argue that states can regulate more effectively than the federal government. But without leadership from the top, federalism may allow red states to avoid acting.
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Arts + Culture
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Mark Canada, Indiana University
Thoreau spent his life pursuing the 'hard bottom' of truth. But he confronted a sensationalist newspaper industry that, in many ways, mimicked today's media environment.
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Brian Dolber, California State University San Marcos
The newspaper's new owners harken back to a tradition of labor-led media in the early part of the 20th century, which represented a bulwark against corporate power.
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Ethics + Religion
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Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross
On the day of Rakshabandhan, sisters tie a protective thread around the right wrist of their brothers to affirm their bond. This bond is not limited by faith or blood relationship.
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Tom Sapsford, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
An ancient Roman fable imagines a cinaedus, well-known for his brazen effeminacy, fighting heroically. This story raises concerns over gender identity in the military like those seen in current times.
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S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate, Hamilton College
Films motivate people to travel to locations previously unknown. In the process, tourists become a lot like spiritual seekers.
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Health + Medicine
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Brad Spellberg, University of Southern California
We've been told for a long time that we must take all of our antibiotics. But maybe we didn’t need so many to begin with. Here's why.
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Russell M. Bauer, University of Florida; Michael S. Jaffee, University of Florida
A recent study that showed that 110 of 111 brains of deceased NFL players had a serious brain disease raised concerns once again about concussions. But there's a lot we still need to know.
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Norman Daniels, Harvard Medical School
The Republican position on health care has been based upon a belief in individual choice. Here's how their own versions of health care bills eroded choice, however, and how they also did harm.
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Economy + Business
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Edwin Meléndez, Hunter College
A year after Congress passed its plan to fix Puerto Rico's US$123 billion debt and pension crisis, little has changed for the lives of Puerto Ricans.
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Alexander Munk, University of Michigan; Erhan Bayraktar, University of Michigan
New research suggests mini-crashes, in which the price of a single stock or commodity temporarily goes haywire, may be unstoppable.
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Kristin Seefeldt, University of Michigan
Only very low-income Americans who are working or looking for work are eligible for federal, time-limited welfare dollars. This restriction doesn't always help them get back on their feet.
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Politics + Society
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Danielle Douez, The Conversation
Refresh your knowledge on the origins of North Korea's nuclear threat and the options world leaders have to deal with it.
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Nadia Rubaii, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Max Pensky, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Some worry the US is losing its global moral authority under the Trump administration. But a close look at history reveals US leadership is not as strong as it seems.
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Science + Technology
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Ethan Coffel, Columbia University; Radley Horton, Columbia University
Major airports around the world will see more frequent flight restrictions in the coming decades because of increasingly common hot temperatures.
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Gail Heyman, University of California, San Diego
In a new study, psychologists observed young children in real time figuring out how not to tell the truth.
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