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Happy Sunday – and welcome to the best of The Conversation.
First, here are some of our recently published stories:
You probably read a few headlines last week about how President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are negotiating to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. Here’s just one headline from The New York Times on Friday: Debt Limit Talks Hit Snag as G.O.P. Declares a ‘Pause.’
But leaders of America’s banks aren’t just sitting idly by waiting to see if the politicians can put together a deal, writes John W. Diamond, director of the Center for Public Finance at Rice University. In one of our most-read stories last week, Diamond lays out a few of the ways the biggest banks and financial regulators are preparing for a potential default on U.S. debt, including convening war rooms and planning speedy bailouts.
Later this week, we’ll bring you stories about how employers are using big data in hiring and promoting employees, research on how cities should govern themselves at night and why Buddha has five different birthdays around the world. Until then, enjoy your Sunday.
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Emily Costello
Managing Editor
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‘Default doomscrolling’ again, Mr. Powell?
Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP
John W. Diamond, Rice University
Major players in the financial system are pondering the unthinkable as the US inches closer to an unprecedented default.
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Clarice D. Aiello, University of California, Los Angeles
Studying the brief and tiny quantum effects that drive living systems could one day lead to new approaches to treatments and technologies.
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Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
‘Star Trek: Picard’ is set 400 years in the future, but, like most science fiction, it deals with issues in the here and now. The show’s third and final season provides a lens on cybersecurity.
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Debbie Kaminer, Baruch College, CUNY
The Supreme Court appears poised to change the definition of ‘undue hardship’ so that employers have to accommodate more of workers’ religious requests.
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Min Joo Lee, Indiana University
The South Korean government’s embrace of gendered citizenship has fueled the virulent gender war between men and women, with digital sex crimes used as ammunition.
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Editors' picks
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A casual stroll on the beach can leave enough intact DNA behind to extract identifiable information.
Comezora/Moment via Getty Images
Jenny Whilde, University of Florida; Jessica Alice Farrell, University of Florida
Environmental DNA provides a wealth of information for conservationists, archaeologists and forensic scientists. But the unintentional pickup of human genetic information raises ethical questions.
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Boaz Dvir, Penn State
There have been numerous efforts to limit students’ access to books and curricula about certain historical and societal topics. But history itself shows democracy suffers when people are uninformed.
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Stephen Buchmann, University of Arizona
Scientists are learning amazing things about bees’ sensory perception and mental capabilities.
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Mark Allan Jackson, Middle Tennessee State University
Folk singer and activist Woody Guthrie actually had thoughts about the national debt – and politicians in general. They’re remarkably apt today.
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Calum Cunningham, University of Washington; Laura Prugh, University of Washington
Reintroducing wolves can restore important ecological processes, but it can have unintended effects when smaller predators like coyotes are driven closer to people, a team of ecologists found.
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