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Editor's note
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Last night, President Donald Trump announced Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his choice to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh, a conservative, now faces a heated Senate confirmation, during which Democrats will likely argue that he will push the court too far right on abortion, civil rights and other issues. But judicial appointments don’t have to be polarizing, writes David Orentlicher, a professor of law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In many European countries, the nomination process is designed to be nonpartisan.
A dramatic attempt to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped in a cave in Northern Thailand has gripped the world for days. Anthropologist Andrew Johnson, who has visited the very same cave and spent years interviewing people in the region, explains the sacred myths of power and danger linked to this underground realm.
And, a music-loving biologist heard AC/DC’s 1980s proclamation that “rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution” and decided to test it out. Mississippi State’s Brandon Barton hooked up some speakers in the lab for an audience of soybean plants, aphids and lady beetles and watched what happened. The silly-seeming premise has deeper ecosystem implications.
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Catesby Holmes
Global Affairs Editor
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Top stories
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Public faith in the U.S. Supreme Court, a once venerated institution, has been declining for years.
Reuters/Leah Millis
David Orentlicher, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Controversial judicial appointments and divisive court rulings are not the norm everywhere. Here's what the US could learn from Europe about ensuring ideological balance on the Supreme Court.
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Family members pray in front of a Buddhist statue near the cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped in northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Andrew Alan Johnson, Princeton University
A scholar, who has conducted research on the Thai caves in which 12 children were recently trapped, explains their power and appeal, including the rituals and myth surrounding these sacred sites.
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Not interested in your new favorite band.
TJ Gehling
Brandon Barton, Mississippi State University
An AC/DC-loving biologist tests the band's 1980 assertion that "rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution." Turns out it can be – and the negative effects of noise can ripple through an ecosystem.
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Environment + Energy
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Derek Hoff, University of Utah
Fifty years ago biologist Paul Ehrlich published 'The Population Bomb,' an apocalyptic warning that overcrowding would lead to wars and famine. Here's what the book got right and wrong.
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James A. Holtkamp, University of Utah
Just like with Cold War-era red-baiting, there's an apparent effort to discredit and undermine critics of the US government.
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Politics + Society
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Tanya Golash-Boza, University of California, Merced
An immigration expert breaks through the alphabet soup of federal agencies responsible for enforcing immigration laws.
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Garret Martin, American University School of International Service; Balazs Martonffy, American University
After Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine, NATO members felt a renewed sense of purpose: deter Putin. Trump's anti-NATO, pro-Russia talk is thus an existential threat to this old transatlantic alliance.
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Health + Medicine
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David Hutton, University of Michigan
A new analysis shows that the US health care system will save money in the long run by screening people born in Asia and Africa for the hepatitis B virus, which causes liver cancer and cirrhosis.
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Lekeisha Sumner, University of California, Los Angeles
Survivors of those who have died by suicide have special needs that many people do not quite understand. An expert in grief offers ways to be a helpful, healing presence and avoid saying things that will hurt.
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From our international editions
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Mohammed Girma, University of Pretoria
Africa is a deeply divided continent along ideological, ethnic and territorial lines. Religion and football can produce consensus.
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H. Peter Soyer, The University of Queensland; Katie Lee, The University of Queensland
Most of the skin lumps we develop will be benign. Here are some of the most common, and how to tell them apart.
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Alastair Culham, University of Reading
A gardening expert reveals the simple things you can do to protect your garden during a heatwave.
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Today’s chart
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Deborah Schildkraut
Tufts University
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