AI can help forecast air quality, but freak events like 2023’s summer of wildfire smoke require traditional methods too

Joshua S. Fu, University of Tennessee

Air quality forecasting is getting better, thanks in part to AI. That’s good, given the health impact of air pollution. An environmental engineer explains how systems warn of incoming smog or smoke.

A brief illustrated guide to ‘scissors congruence’ − an ancient geometric idea that’s still fueling cutting-edge mathematical research

Maxine Calle, University of Pennsylvania; Mona Merling, University of Pennsylvania

This is a story about geometry, algebra and many different dimensions, best read with construction paper, scissors and tape on hand.

Researchers dig deep underground in hopes of finally observing dark matter

Hugh Lippincott, University of California, Santa Barbara

To detect dark matter, you need to build an ultra-sensitive detector and put it somewhere ultra-quiet. For one physics collaboration, that place is almost a mile under Lead, S.D.

Babies almost all try crawling to get from Point A to Point B, but CDC says it’s not a useful developmental milestone

Mark Geil, Kennesaw State University

Revisions to the CDC’s developmental milestone checklists removed crawling as a skill that babies pick up at a typical age. A biomedical engineer describes how more research may clarify its role.

Kamala Harris has tied the record for the most tie-breaking votes in Senate history – a brief overview of what vice presidents do

Joshua Holzer, Westminster College

Kamala Harris is on track to be one of the most influential vice presidents in history. This says more about the Senate than the amount of power the vice president actually wields.

Donald Trump’s right − he is getting special treatment, far better than most other criminal defendants

Christopher Robertson, Boston University; Russell M. Gold, University of Alabama

While Trump has received early warnings ahead of indictments and detailed explanations behind the charges, criminal defendants typically get a bare-bones explanation.

Air travel is in a rut – is there any hope of recapturing the romance of flying?

Christopher Schaberg, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Over the past 60 years, the duration of flights has remained roughly the same, while passengers have been subjected to more indignities, longer waits and more cancellations.

Through space and rhyme: How hip-hop uses Afrofuturism to take listeners on journeys of empowerment

Roy Whitaker, San Diego State University

Afrofuturism, a mix of science fiction, magic realism and liberation politics, has shaped some hip-hop artists’ work for decades.

Despite giving students chances to cheat, unsupervised online exams gauge student learning comparably to in-person exams

Jason C.K. Chan, Iowa State University; Dahwi Ahn, Iowa State University

Students score about the same on online exams as they do on in-person exams, new research shows.

Women get far more migraines than men – a neurologist explains why, and what brings relief

Danielle Wilhour, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

For women ages 18 to 49, migraines are the leading cause of disability throughout the world.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is a potent reminder that the internet is not real life

Less sleep, less exercise and less relaxation – here’s the data on just how much busier moms are during the school year

Rate hikes may have slowed inflation in the US – but they have also heightened the risk of financial crises for lower-income nations