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Republican members of Congress stand while Democrats keep their seats during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026.  Alex Brandon/AP

Congress is freeing Trump of the limited legal requirements left on him by the Supreme Court

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On the evening of Oct. 11, just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop airing taxpayer-funded television advertisements praising President Donald Trump.

Yet two of the ads continued running past the court’s deadline, including during broadcasts of “60 Minutes” and “ABC...Read more

Data center protests, like this one in Pennsylvania, have spread nationwide. AP Photo/Marc Levy

Data centers are inspiring bipartisanship – for now

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It may not be as shocking as rogue AI agents hacking another system, but the current political resistance to data centers has taken a surprising turn: It’s bringing together strange bedfellows, from democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to right-wing strategist Steve Bannon.

Organized opposition to new data centers, made up of a ...Read more

Chatbots can summarize complex health information in understandable ways, but it can be tricky to tell whether these summaries are accurate.   FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

AI chatbots can be a valuable health resource for older adults – if they embrace ‘informed skepticism’

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It’s easy to stereotype older adults as tech-averse or novice tech users. Yet a growing number of adults age 60 and older are embracing artificial intelligence, using it for entertainment, planning trips and even accessing health information.

I study how people interact with computers and technology – and specifically, how older ...Read more

Solar panels have become far cheaper than physicist Amory Lovins anticipated, letting him and others generate electricity affordably on their own rooftops. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

50 years later, Amory Lovins’ soft energy path meets electrification

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Hurricane Belle was barreling toward New England in August 1976 when an editor from Foreign Affairs called. Physicist Amory Lovins took the call on a payphone in a shack in the Maine woods, where he spent summers as a camp guide.

“If it happened to hit that area, the wires would be down with trees on them for weeks, so we’d miss ...Read more

'One in Four, One in Eight' is a multidisciplinary performance that joins the human side of infertility and pregnancy loss with the scientific side. Kathleen Pukinskis

I composed music about infertility and pregnancy loss, then performed it in a Pittsburgh hospital

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It turns out you can rent a Steinway piano and have it delivered pretty much anywhere – including the lecture hall of a major working hospital.

In October 2025, I had one delivered to UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh for the premiere of “One in Four, One in Eight,” a 60-minute piece I composed about infertility and ...Read more

In Pakistan, where wild polio still has not been eliminated, health workers go door to door vaccinating young children. ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images

Why do people still get polio in some countries and not in others?

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Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Why are people still getting polio in some countries and in not others? – Mia, age 9, Centennial, Colorado

On a busy street in Karachi, Pakistan, a healthcare worker kneels...Read more

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the season after a blood clot in his leg traveled to both lungs. Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

If Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts can get dangerous blood clots, so can you – here’s how some states are trying to reduce the risk

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Jalen Hurts is 28, a Super Bowl MVP and an elite athlete in peak physical condition. He was also recently diagnosed with blood clots in his leg and both lungs.

After a cleat to the left calf during a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 4, 2026, and after a team flight to London, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was given an ...Read more

Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Climate change nearly tripled size of Boundary Waters wildfires, study suggests

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MINNEAPOLIS — Global warming likely intensified the wildfires that raged for months this summer in the Boundary Waters and Canada, according to new research from the University of California, Merced. The intensity, in turn, made the smoke more hazardous to breathe.

The findings shed new light on a devastating summer in Minnesota.

State ...Read more

Jack Guez/Getty Images North America/TNS

Iran divides Netanyahu and challenger Eisenkot before vote

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For months, Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has pitched himself as a modest alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, campaigning more on reliability than a markedly different approach to the country’s myriad security challenges.

But in the final days of the election campaign, the question of Iran – and of Israel’s future ...Read more

Macron has few bargaining chips as he keeps lid on violence

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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron bet that a massive police presence could avoid a repeat of the violence that stunned the country on Oct. 17. He won that wager, but isn’t any closer to resolving underlying anger that’s fueled mass protests in France and shows few signs of abating.

Hundreds of thousands took part in the ...Read more

Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group/TNS

A decade after Brock Turner's conviction, Stanford professor sees familiar failures in Cornell case

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A former Cornell University student’s allegation that seven members of a campus fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2024 has sparked national outrage, recalling a high-profile incident at Stanford University more than a decade ago.

Stanford Law professor emerita Michele Dauber said little has changed since former college swimmer ...Read more

Handout/KFF Health News/TNS

As politicians argue about china, US patients find cutting-edge treatment there

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Until recently, a Manhattanite might venture no more than a few dozen blocks to find the world’s most sophisticated cancer treatment. Cutting-edge American medicines have helped reduce the U.S. cancer death rate by about a third since 1990, and New York City hospitals deliver some of the best care in the country.

But in January 2025, the city...Read more

Greg Kelton/Dreamstime/TNS

Cheaper manufactured homes could be having a moment, if only states can catch up

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For decades, manufactured home builders have been working to shed the old image of boxy trailer homes reserved for the outskirts of cities and suburbia. Now, a small change in federal regulations could open the door for architecture welcomed in more neighborhoods.

This summer’s sweeping housing bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, ...Read more

Chris Jackson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Letter implicating Meghan Markle dad in alleged child porn was penned by ex-wife

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The Philippine interior minister confirmed Sunday that Thomas Markle Sr., father of the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, is under investigation for alleged child pornography, as it emerged that a damning letter shared with his daughter was penned by his ex-wife.

Robin Loveless, who was married to Thomas Markle Sr. until divorcing him in 1975, ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

9th Circuit panel questions basis for feds' request to block 20,000 California ballots

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In a rare Sunday hearing, a federal appeals court judge appointed by President Trump questioned how the Trump administration's request to intervene in California's ongoing midterm election in order to force state officials to set aside 20,000 ballots from voters whose citizenship it questions squares with the U.S. Constitution.

Judge Mark J. ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Mayor Wu's planning chief under fire for saying 'it should be' hard to build in Boston

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Mayor Michelle Wu’s planning chief said the city knows it’s hard for developers to build in Boston and plans to keep it that way.

Chief of Planning Kairos Shen said the city won’t lower the costly affordability requirements that critics say have stalled housing production, when battling with developers at a forum hosted by the MIT Center ...Read more

Robin Trimarchi/Columbus Ledger-Enquirer/TNS

Florida political candidates react to the shooting of 11 people in Tallahassee

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Sunday morning brought a reaction to Saturday night’s mass shooting in Tallahassee from Florida major political office candidates.

Around 8 p.m., Tallahassee Police Department said, a fight escalated to gunfire and 11 people were shot near the intersection of Perry Street and Manatee Street. Perry Street borders the west side of Bragg ...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

South Florida is already flooding, and the peak of this king tide is days away

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Some South Florida streets and parks likely will be submerged at some point in the next few days, as another — stronger — round of king tides strike the region.

These higher-than-usual high tides are supercharged by winds blowing onshore, pushing more seawater on land. Couple that with the 1 to 2 inches of rain expected along the coast over...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says decision time nearing on Iran: deal or 'finish it off'

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President Donald Trump said it’s “getting to be decision time” on whether he will make a deal with Tehran or resume attacks as Iranian and Houthi threats against Americans in the Middle East continue to grow.

“I have a decision to make: Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? That’s all,” Trump said ...Read more

Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Prop. 45 seeks to rewrite state environmental law. Here's why San Diegans should care

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Proponents and opponents of the ballot proposition that would rewrite the state’s environmental law to expedite the review of so-called essential housing and infrastructure projects agree on one thing: The future of California is on the line.

The existential nature of Proposition 45, the camps say, is either a rare opportunity to make blanket...Read more