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The AI therapist will see you now: Can chatbots really improve mental health?

Recently, I found myself pouring my heart out, not to a human, but to a chatbot named Wysa on my phone. It nodded – virtually – asked me how I was...

yesterday 20

The Conversation

Pooja Shree Chettiar

How weather changes cause migraines – a neurologist explains the triggers and what you can do to ease the pain

“Is it just me, or is there a storm coming?” If you are one of the 39 million Americans in the U.S. living with migraines, there’s a good chance an...

yesterday 7

The Conversation

Danielle Wilhour

Why recycling solar panels is harder than you might think − an electrical engineer explains

It’s hard work soaking up sunlight to generate clean electricity. After about 25 to 30 years, solar panels wear out. Over the years, heating and...

yesterday 1

The Conversation

Anurag Srivastava

Jimmy Swaggart’s rise and fall shaped the landscape of American televangelism

Jimmy Swaggart, one of the most popular and enduring of the 1980s televangelists, died on July 1, 2025, but his legacy lives. Along with Jerry...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Diane Winston

Justice Department efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans likely violate constitutional rights

The Trump administration wants to take away citizenship from naturalized Americans on a massive scale. While a recent Justice Department memo...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Cassandra Burke Robertson

Trump’s ‘big’ bill gives millions of taxpayers a new charitable tax break, but whether it will help nonprofits is unclear

The multitrillion-dollar bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will change how the U.S. tax code treats charitable...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Daniel Hungerman

Dune patterns in California desert hold clues that help researchers map Mars’ shifting sands

Our two-person team loaded the car with a GPS, a drone, notebooks, sample bags, a trowel and a flat spatula lovingly called a scoopula. Then we...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Lauren Berger

Wildfire smoke can make your outdoor workout hazardous to your health – an exercise scientist explains how to gauge the risk

As the summer’s sunny days take hold, many people turn to outdoor exercise. But in parts of North America, pleasant weather often aligns with...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

John C. Quindry

This tropical plant builds isolated ‘apartments’ to prevent battles among the aggressive ant tenants it relies on for survival

In the middle of the South Pacific, a group of Fijian plants have solved a problem that has long puzzled scientists: How can an organism cooperate...

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Guillaume Chomicki

School smartphone bans reflect growing concern over youth mental health and academic performance

Across the US, parents are leading the charge to limit cellphone use in schools.

yesterday 0

The Conversation

Margaret Murray

A weakened Iran and Hezbollah gives Lebanon an opening to chart path away from the region’s conflicts − will it be enough?

After a 12-day war launched by Israel and joined briefly by the United States, Iran has emerged weakened and vulnerable. And that has massive...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Mireille Rebeiz

That $20 dress direct from China now costs $30 after Trump closed a tariff loophole – and the US will soon end the ‘de minimis’ exemption for the rest of the world, too

Fast fashion got a lot pricier for Americans this spring – and it’ll likely get even more expensive in 2027. That’s because the Trump...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Vivek Astvansh

How the Catholic Church helped change the conversation about capital punishment in the United States

Thirty years ago, the film “Dead Man Walking” had its debut in movie theaters around the United States. It was a box office hit, and critics...

previous day 7

The Conversation

Austin Sarat

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will have Americans paying higher prices for dirtier energy

When congressional Republicans decided to cut some Biden-era energy subsidies to help fund their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they could have pruned...

previous day 8

The Conversation

Daniel Cohan

Trump administration’s lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities

The Trump administration has recently directed that a new wave of polygraphs be administered across the executive branch, aimed at uncovering leaks...

previous day 8

The Conversation

Brian O&39Neill

Exploring questions of meaning, ethics and belief through Japanese anime

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Anime and Religious...

previous day 8

The Conversation

Ronald S. Green

My city was one of hundreds expecting federal funds to help manage rising heat wave risk – then EPA terminated the grants

In June 2021, a deadly heat wave pushed temperatures to 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in Spokane, Washington, a northern city near the Idaho...

previous day 4

The Conversation

Brian G. Henning

AI and art collide in this engineering course that puts human creativity first

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Art and Generative AI I see...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Francesco Fedele

How Philadelphia’s sanitation strike differed from past labor disputes in the city

The Philadelphia municipal workers strike ended after eight days in the early hours of July 9, 2025. The American Federation of State, County and...

previous day 1

The Conversation

Francis Ryan

What is the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate’ and how is it linked to political extremism in the US?

Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband, Mark Hortman, on June 14, 2025,...

tuesday 60

The Conversation

Art Jipson

Your data privacy is slipping away – here’s why, and what you can do about it

Cybersecurity and data privacy are constantly in the news. Governments are passing new cybersecurity laws. Companies are investing in cybersecurity...

tuesday 30

The Conversation

Mike Chapple

How Philadelphia’s current sanitation strike differs from past labor disputes in the city

The Philadelphia municipal workers strike ended after eight days in the early hours of July 9, 2025. The American Federation of State, County and...

tuesday 6

The Conversation

Francis Ryan

Higher ed’s relationship with marriage? It’s complicated – and depends on age

The longer someone stays in school, the more likely they are to delay getting married – but education does not reduce the overall likelihood of...

tuesday 10

The Conversation

John V. Winters

Scientific norms shape the behavior of researchers working for the greater good

Over the past 400 years or so, a set of mostly unwritten guidelines has evolved for how science should be properly done. The assumption in the...

tuesday 10

The Conversation

Jeffrey A. Lee

How slashing university research grants impacts Colorado’s economy and national innovation – a CU Boulder administrator explains

The Trump administration has been freezing or reducing federal grants to universities across the country. Over the past several months,...

tuesday 8

The Conversation

Massimo Ruzzene

3 basic ingredients, a million possibilities: How small pizzerias succeed with uniqueness in an age of chain restaurants

At its heart, pizza is deceptively simple. Made from just a few humble ingredients – baked dough, tangy sauce, melted cheese and maybe a few...

tuesday 6

The Conversation

Paula De La Cruz-Fernández

President Trump’s tug-of -war with the courts, explained

The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a big win on June 27, 2025, by limiting the ability of judges to block Trump administration...

tuesday 5

The Conversation

Paul M. Collins Jr

The aftermath of floods, hurricanes and other disasters can be hardest on older rural Americans – here’s how families and neighbors can help

Hurricanes, tornadoes and other extreme weather do not distinguish between urban and rural boundaries. But when a disaster strikes, there are big...

tuesday 4

The Conversation

Lori Hunter

How Philadelphia’s current sanitation strike differs from historical labor disputes in the city

As the Philadelphia municipal workers strike enters its second week, so-called “Parker piles” – large collections of garbage that some residents...

tuesday 4

The Conversation

Francis Ryan

Thailand’s judiciary is flexing its muscles, but away from PM’s plight, dozens of activists are at the mercy of capricious courts

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is currently feeling the sharp end of the country’s powerful judiciary. On July 2, 2025, Thailand’s...

07.07.2025 20

The Conversation

Tyrell Haberkorn

From Seattle to Atlanta, new social housing programs seek to make homes permanently affordable for a range of incomes

Seattle astounded housing advocates around the country in February 2025, when roughly two-thirds of voters approved a ballot initiative proposing a...

07.07.2025 20

The Conversation

Susanne Schindler

Turbulent research landscape imperils US brain gain − and ultimately American prosperity

Despite representing only 4% of the world’s population, the United States accounts for over half of science Nobel Prizes awarded since 2000, hosts...

07.07.2025 8

The Conversation

Marc Zimmer

Social media can support or undermine democracy – it comes down to how it’s designed

Every design choice that social media platforms make nudges users toward certain actions, values and emotional states. It is a design choice to...

07.07.2025 3

The Conversation

Lisa Schirch

Misinformation lends itself to social contagion – here’s how to recognize and combat it

In 2019, a rare and shocking event in the Malaysian peninsula town of Ketereh grabbed international headlines. Nearly 40 girls age 12 to 18 from a...

07.07.2025 2

The Conversation

Shaon Lahiri

Are people at the South Pole upside down?

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...

07.07.2025 5

The Conversation

Abigail Bishop

Nations are increasingly ‘playing the field’ when it comes to US and China – a new book explains explains why ‘active nonalignment’ is on the march

In 2020, as Latin American countries were contending with the triple challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global economic shock and U.S. policy...

07.07.2025 2

The Conversation

Jorge Heine