How the energy crisis is pressuring countries’ climate plans – while some race to renewables, others see wealth in natural gas, but drilling benefits may be short-lived

Robert Brecha, University of Dayton

Natural gas projects in Africa might help reduce supply shortages temporarily, but they could soon become stranded assets.

Hey, new parents – go ahead and ‘spoil’ that baby!

Amy Root, West Virginia University

A professor of child development explains why it’s OK – recommended, in fact – to respond to an infant’s every cry, sob and whimper.

Ants – with their wise farming practices and efficient navigation techniques – could inspire solutions for some human problems

Scott Solomon, Rice University

Over hundreds of million years of evolution, ants have come up with some pretty smart solutions to problems of agriculture, navigation and architecture. People could learn a thing or two.

Powerful linear accelerator begins smashing atoms – 2 scientists on the team explain how it could reveal rare forms of matter

Sean Liddick, Michigan State University; Artemis Spyrou, Michigan State University

A new particle accelerator has just begun operation. It is the most powerful accelerator of its kind on Earth and will allow physicists to study some of the rarest matter in the universe.

American exceptionalism at the World Cup: Why many soccer fans in the US will be cheering on another team (probably Mexico)

John M Sloop, Vanderbilt University

As the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, a scholar probes questions of identity in the American game. Is Mexico really the US’s ‘other team’?

Voter intimidation in 2022 follows a long history of illegal, and racist, bullying

Atiba Ellis, Marquette University

Any behavior reasonably calculated to dissuade a person from participating in an election is intimidation.

Influx of students from India drives US college enrollment up, but the number of students from China is down

David L. Di Maria, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

An expert on international education explains the forces behind the drop in students from China and the jump in students from India studying in the US.

80 years ago, Nazi Germany occupied Tunisia – but North Africans’ experiences of World War II often go unheard

Sarah Abrevaya Stein, University of California, Los Angeles; Aomar Boum, University of California, Los Angeles

People across much of North Africa were subject to racist laws and suffering at the hands of European powers during the Second World War.

What Greek myth tells us about modern witchcraft

Joel Christensen, Brandeis University

From ancient Greece to modern-day TikTok witchcraft, the world of witches has been a changing one.

Global carbon emissions at record levels with no signs of shrinking, new data shows. Humanity has a monumental task ahead

As the 8 billionth person is born, here’s how Africa will shape the future of the planet’s population

Unregulated ‘innovation’: India’s medicine problem