Editor's note

Have you ridden in a Lyft or Uber this week? If so, you’re not alone: Ride-hailing apps are disrupting transportation patterns in many U.S. cities. Some analysts see ride-hailing as a disaster for public transit, since it can draw riders (and fares) away from buses and subways. But three scholars at the University of California, Davis explain how ride-hailing can actually improve public transportation – if cities adopt smart rules and pricing systems.

Forty-five years ago – the year of the landmark decision on abortion Roe v. Wade – the average American woman married at age 21 and only 8 percent of adult women had completed four years of college. Those statistics and others have changed drastically in the intervening decades, writes University of Florida sociologist Constance Shehan. But with Justice Anthony Kennedy stepping down from the Supreme Court and abortion laws still hotly debated, could the situation change again?

And if you stayed out a bit too late last night watching fireworks, you might be fighting off the yawns today. Mississippi State’s Christine Calder explains what scientists do and don’t know about why people and animals yawn – and how they’re just so dang contagious.

Jennifer Weeks

Environment + Energy Editor

Top stories

Friend or foe? AP Photo/Richard Vogel

How ride-hailing could improve public transportation instead of undercutting it

Daniel Sperling, University of California, Davis; Austin Brown, University of California, Davis; Mollie D'Agostino, University of California, Davis

In many US cities, ride-hailing apps are luring riders away from public transit and increasing traffic congestion. But with the right rules, they could enhance public transit instead.

Pro-life and pro-choice protesters rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court in June. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan

How Roe v. Wade changed the lives of American women

Constance Shehan, University of Florida

Over the past 45 years, women have married later, attained higher education and joined the workforce in record numbers. Could it all be turned back?

You can’t resist the yawn. Chayanin Wongpracha/Shutterstock.com

What is it about yawning?

Christine Calder, Mississippi State University

Everybody does it, but why? Scientists aren't really sure if exhaustion, stress or some other social factor is at the root of yawning – and how it can be so contagious.

Economy + Business

  • Why it doesn't matter if a Harley is 'made in America'

    Christina Fattore, West Virginia University

    The motorcycle maker angered Trump after it said it plans to move some production overseas to avoid EU tariffs – just a few months after the president praised the company for being a 'true American icon.'

Arts + Culture

Politics + Society

Health + Medicine

Environment + Energy

Trending on site

  • Amazonian psychedelic may ease severe depression, new study shows

    Luís Fernando Tófoli, Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Dráulio Barros de Araújo, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil); Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil)

    Ayahuasca has long been used for indigenous healing and spiritual rituals. Now, a Brazilian clinical trial has confirmed that this psychoactive drink can help those with even severe depression.

  • Why your brain never runs out of problems to find

    David Levari, Harvard University

    It's a psychological quirk that when something becomes rarer, people may spot it in more places than ever. What is the 'concept creep' that lets context change how we categorize the world around us?

  • Why are Russians so stingy with their smiles?

    Samuel Putnam, Bowdoin College; Masha A. Gartstein, Washington State University

    In the US, smiling is a reflexive gesture of goodwill, but Russians view it as a sign of stupidity. Social psychology research could help explain this cultural contrast.

Today’s quote

"My research on public opinion about immigration, and that of other social scientists, shows that the American public is supportive of more welcoming immigration policies."

 

Americans are not as divided or conservative on immigration as you might think

 

Deborah Schildkraut

Tufts University

Deborah Schildkraut