Editor's note

When it comes to college football, most people’s attention will turn toward team and player statistics. But a trio of economists examined data of a different sort. What they discovered is that big game days, fueled by alcohol and revelry, appear to be related to a spike in sexual assault on or near the campus of the competing teams.

What’s going on with golf? Fewer young people are playing, scores of courses are closing, and others are threatened by climate change. To West Virginia University’s Joshua Woods, this has created an opening for a decidedly different brand of golf: disc golf. He details what the ascendent sport has going in its favor, and what’s holding it back.

You may be among the thousands who drink a shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning to promote weight loss or keep your triglyceride levels low. But does it really? Gabriel Neal, a medical professor at Texas A&M University, weighs in, explaining that “the health benefits we suspect vinegar has need to be confirmed by larger human studies.

Jamaal Abdul-Alim

Education Editor

Top stories

The revelry that comes with college football comes with a serious social cost. Sergey Nivens/www.shutterstock.com

Big game days in college football linked with sexual assault

Peter Siminski, University of Technology Sydney; Isaac Swensen, Montana State University; Jason Lindo, Texas A&M University

Reports of sexual assault increase by as much as 41 percent when the local college football team plays, according to researchers who say the increase is related to the drinking culture on campus.

To play disc golf, all you need is 20 dollars for a couple of discs, and you’re good to go. Jari Hindstroem

The future of ‘golf’ may not be on the links

Joshua Woods, West Virginia University

A disc-golf boom is coinciding with a ball-golf bust.

Vinegar has become as popular for some as nectar of the gods. It has a long history of high hopes for healing. Koy_Hipster/Shutterstock.com

Is apple cider vinegar good for you? A doctor weighs in

Gabriel Neal, Texas A&M University

Does it seem like everyone you know drinks apple cider vinegar, mainly in hopes of losing weight? Vinegar has a long history of high hopes attached to it. A doctor who loves vinegar explains.

Economy + Business

Sending help where it’s needed most after disasters

Johanna Amaya Leal, Iowa State University

The billions of dollars worth of aid dispatched every year to alleviate the suffering and damage after earthquakes and hurricanes would do more good if it didn't get clumped up.

Here’s how Trump-era politics are affecting worker morale – and what managers can do about it

Wayne Hochwarter, Florida State University

The midterm elections have put America's political divide front and center, increasingly invading the work space and stressing out employees.

Politics + Society

Barriers for transgender voters ahead of the 2018 midterm elections

Timothy R. Bussey, Kenyon College

Transgender voting rights could be undermined in two broad ways during the 2018 midterm elections.

Hurricane kids: What Katrina taught us about saving Puerto Rico’s youngest storm victims

Alice Fothergill, University of Vermont; Jenniffer Santos-Hernández, University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, forever changing the lives of the children who survived. Their stories can help Puerto Rico identify and aid the kids most traumatized by Hurricane Maria.

Environment + Energy

Caught on camera: The fossa, Madagascar’s elusive top predator

Asia Murphy, Pennsylvania State University

The fossa, Madagascar's largest predator, is a cat-like carnivore that eats everything from insects to lemurs. Because they are rare and elusive, scientists know very little about them, including how many there are.

Rivers flood regularly during hurricanes, but get less attention than coastlines

Craig E. Colten, Louisiana State University

Widespread flooding in North Carolina from Hurricane Florence shows the need for better advance planning in inland areas of the south and mid-Atlantic, especially near rivers.

Health + Medicine

Binge drinking and blackouts: Sobering truths about lost learning for college students

Jamie Smolen, University of Florida

A Sept. 14 report on drug use suggested that opioid use has declined. But troubling trends in drinking among teens and young adults stood out. An addiction specialist explains the unique dangers.

What the season of fall – and science – teaches us about life and death

Samer Zaky, University of Pittsburgh

With fall almost upon us, there's a lot we can learn from the changing season.

Science + Technology

Spray-on antennas unlock communication of the future

Yury Gogotsi, Drexel University; Asia Sarycheva, Drexel University; Babak Anasori, Drexel University

A new type of material can make it easy to put antennas almost anywhere – no matter how thin the space, or even on surfaces people need to be able to see through.

Digitizing the vast ‘dark data’ in museum fossil collections

Charles Marshall, University of California, Berkeley

A tiny percentage of museums’ natural history holdings are on display. Very little of these vast archives is digitized and available online. But museums are working to change that.

Education

I acted like a complete jerk to my students just to prove a point

Alan Goodboy, West Virginia University

A communication studies professor purposefully antagonizes students to show how putdowns and other forms of negative criticism can impact student learning.

5 math skills your child needs to get ready for kindergarten

Susan Sonnenschein, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Rebecca Dowling, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Shari Renee Metzger, Prince George's Community College

Through games and household tasks, parents can help their children learn basic math skills like counting, geometry and algebraic thinking.

Arts + Culture

Why women – including feminists – are still attracted to ‘benevolently sexist’ men

Pelin Gül, Iowa State University; Tom R. Kupfer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Social psychologists have been busy documenting the harmful effects that this brand of chivalry has on women. But are they missing something?

Are today’s white kids less racist than their grandparents?

Margaret Hagerman, Mississippi State University

Over the course of two years, a sociologist studied a group of affluent, white kids to see how they made sense of sensitive racial issues like privilege, unequal opportunity and police violence.

Ethics + Religion

How an ancient Islamic holiday became uniquely Caribbean

Ken Chitwood, University of Florida

Hosay, a religious ritual performed by Trinidadian Muslims, combines the somber Islamic observance of Ashura, brought by immigrant Indians, and the joy of Trinidad's famous carnival.

Yom Kippur: A time for feasting as well as fasting

Ted Merwin, Dickinson College

An expert explains why the Jewish practice of abstaining from food on Yom Kippur is so out of step with the rest of Jewish tradition.