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How the Gaza humanitarian aid pier traces its origins to discarded cigar boxes before World War II

Palestinians in Gaza have begun receiving humanitarian aid delivered through a newly completed floating pier off the coast of the besieged territory. Built by the U.S. military and operated in coordination with the United Nations, … more

Frank A. Blazich Jr., Smithsonian Institution, The Conversation | 5/20/24

Mary McLeod Bethune, known as the ‘First Lady of Negro America,’ also sought to unify the African diaspora

When I first landed an internship as an archives technician at the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House-National Historic Site – the D.C. home of the woman who founded Bethune-Cookman University – … more

Ashley Robertson Preston, Howard University, The Conversation | 5/13/24

Sports gambling creates a windfall, but raises questions of integrity – here are three lessons from historic sports-betting scandals

Sports betting is having a big moment across the United States. While gambling on sports has been legal for decades in countries such as the U.K., it wasn’t until 2018 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could legalize sports betting. … more

Jared Bahir Browsh, University of Colorado Boulder, The Conversation | 5/10/24

A jacket, a coin, a letter − relics of Omaha Beach battle tell the story of D-Day 80 years later

Between the villages of Vierville-sur-Mer and Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes in Normandy, France, is a 5-mile stretch of beach that was once called Côte d’Or, or “golden coast.” … more

Frank A. Blazich Jr., Smithsonian Institution, The Conversation | 5/10/24

5 books to help you better understand today’s campus protests

Every so often, a cause ignites a sustained fury on college campuses across the nation. In 2020, it was Black Lives Matter. In 2011, it was Occupy Wall Street. In the 1980s, it was apartheid in South Africa. Right now, it’s the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. … more

Steve Friess, University of Michigan, The Conversation | 5/9/24

La Niña is coming, raising the chances of a dangerous Atlantic hurricane season – an atmospheric scientist explains this climate phenomenon

One of the big contributors to the record-breaking global temperatures over the past year – El Niño – is nearly gone, and its opposite, La Niña, is on the way. Whether that’s a relief or not depends in part on where you live. … more

Pedro DiNezio, University of Colorado Boulder, The Conversation | 5/9/24

What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation

Board games are booming: In 2023 alone, the industry topped US$16.8 billion and is projected to reach $40.1 billion by 2032. Classics like “Scrabble” are being refreshed and transformed, while newer inventions such as “Pandemic” and “Wingspan” have garnered millions of devotees. … more

Matthew Wynn Sivils, Iowa State University, The Conversation | 5/8/24

Exoplanet WASP-69b has a cometlike tail – this unique feature is helping scientists like me learn more about how planets evolve

Located 163 light-years from Earth, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet named WASP-69b offers astrophysicists a window into the dynamic processes that shape planets across the galaxy. … more

Dakotah Tyler, University of California, Los Angeles, The Conversation | 5/8/24

Grizzly bear conservation is as much about human relationships as it is the animals

Montanans know spring has officially arrived when grizzly bears emerge from their dens. But unlike the bears, the contentious debate over their future never hibernates. … more

Alexander L. Metcalf, University of Montana, The Conversation | 4/17/24

From watering via ice cubes to spritzing with hydrogen peroxide – 4 misguided plant health trends on social media

The internet is full of advice on just about everything, including plant care. As the director of a plant diagnostic laboratory and expert on plant medicine, I help people manage their plants’ health more

Nick Goltz, University of Connecticut, The Conversation | 4/15/24

Why civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer was ‘sick and tired of being sick and tired’

It wasn’t called voter suppression back then, but civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer knew exactly how white authorities in Mississippi felt about Black people voting in the 1960s. … more

Marlee Bunch, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Conversation | 3/27/24

How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecology

“Dune,” widely considered one of the best sci-fi novels of all time, continues to influence how writers, artists and inventors envision the future. Of course, there are Denis Villeneuve’s visually stunning films, “Dune: Part One” (2021) and “Dune: Part Two” (2024). … more

Devin Griffiths, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, The Conversation | 3/15/24

Cherry blossoms – celebrated in Japan for centuries and gifted to Americans – are an appreciation of impermanence and spring

Cherry blossoms mark the beginning of spring. Various festivals are regularly organized in California, Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., to celebrate the bloom of cherry trees. … more

Małgorzata (Gosia) K. Citko-DuPlantis, University of Tennessee, The Conversation | 3/7/24

Titanosaurs were the biggest land animals Earth’s ever seen − these plant-powered dinos combined reptile and mammal traits

You’re probably familiar with classic sauropod dinosaurs – the four-legged herbivores famous for their long necks and tails. Animals such as Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus and Diplodocus have been standard fixtures in science museums since the 1800s. … more

Kristi Curry Rogers, Macalester College, The Conversation | 3/7/24

W.E.B. Du Bois’ study ‘The Philadelphia Negro’ at 125 still explains roots of the urban Black experience – sociologist Elijah Anderson tells why it should be on more reading lists

W.E.B. Du Bois is widely known for his civil rights activism, but many sociologists argue that he has yet to receive due recognition as the founding father of American sociology. His groundbreaking study, “The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study,” … more

Elijah Anderson, Yale University, The Conversation | 2/29/24

Betty Smith enchanted a generation of readers with ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ − even as she groused that she hoped Williamsburg would be flattened

Eighty years ago, in the winter and spring of 1944, Brooklyn-born author Betty Smith was entering a new chapter of life. A year earlier, she was an unknown writer, negotiating with her publisher about manuscript edits and the date of publication for her first book, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” … more

Rachel Gordan, University of Florida, The Conversation | 2/28/24

Why do flowers smell?

Imagine walking through a tropical forest as a sweet scent wafts through the air. A little farther down the path, the putrid stench of rotting flesh makes you catch your breath. Upon investigation, you find that both odors originate from flowers – but why do flowers smell like anything at all? ... more

Richard L. Harkess, Mississippi State University, The Conversation | 2/28/24

3 ways AI can help farmers tackle the challenges of modern agriculture

For all the attention on flashy new artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, the challenges of regulating AI, and doomsday scenarios of superintelligent machines, AI is a useful tool in many fields. In fact, it has enormous potential to benefit humanity. … more

Joe Hollis, Iowa State University, The Conversation | 1/1/24

Day in the Life of a Small Farm

Gold Shaw Farm in Peacham, Vt. is more of a farm-in-progress than an honest-to-goodness farm. We dream that someday we can transform our 150+ acre parcel of land into a regenerative and … more

11/27/23

Outside storytelling

Outside’s longstanding literary storytelling tradition comes to life in audio with features that will both entertain and inform listeners. We launched in March 2016 with our first series, … more

3/10/23