By Julie Brigham-Grette and Steve Petsch | – Every year, sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean shrinks to a low point in mid-September. This year it measures just 1.44 million square miles (3.74 million square kilometers) – the second-lowest value in the 42 years since satellites began taking measurements. The ice today covers only […]
Why Trump’s Age and weakened Immunity puts him at special Risk from his COVID-19 Infection
By Brian Geiss | – President Donald Trump’s announcement that he’s tested positive for COVID-19 is especially concerning because of his age. At 74 years old, Trump is solidly within an age group that’s been hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic. People of all ages can get sick from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. […]
Will a Woman’s right to Choose end with Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court?
By Prudence Flowers | – Last week, US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg’s “most fervent wish”, revealed by her granddaughter, was that she “not be replaced until a new president is installed”. Just eight days later, President Donald Trump has announced Amy Coney Barrett to fill Ginsburg’s newly […]
When politicians use hate speech, political violence increases
By James Piazza | – Politicians deepen existing divides when they use inflammatory language, such as hate speech, and this makes their societies more likely to experience political violence and terrorism. That’s the conclusion from a study I recently did on the connection between political rhetoric and actual violence. President Donald Trump is not the […]
What is Amy Coney Barrett’s charismatic Catholicism?
By Mathew Schmalz | – Amy Coney Barrett reportedly will be Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. Questions have been raised about her alleged association with the “People of Praise,” a nondenominational Christian charismatic community, seen by some as being a potential influence on her legal thinking, particularly […]
We Predict: Electric Cars will be Cheaper than Gasoline Cars by 2025
By Venkat Viswanathan, Alexander Bills and Shashank Sripad | – Electric vehicle sales have grown exponentially in recent years, accompanied by dropping prices. However, adoption of EVs remains limited by their higher sticker price relative to comparable gas vehicles, even though overall cost of ownership for EVs is lower. EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles […]
Live fast, die small: how global heating is simplifying the world’s ecosystems
By Miguel Lurgi | – Global warming is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity worldwide. As temperatures increase, many species are forced to move to new habitats, like fish fleeing warming waters. While the fish have to adapt to new conditions elsewhere, it’s the effect that their departure has on other species that unpicks […]
The case of Biden versus Trump – Could a judge could decide the presidential election?
By John E. Finn | – Imagine the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Given the unprecedented number of mail-in votes this election, Americans may wake up and still not know who won the presidential contest between Republican President Donald J. Trump and Democratic challenger Joseph Biden. The contest could be so close that a […]
How a GOP 6-3 Court will Set Individual and Privacy Rights back 50 Years
By Morgan Marietta | – If the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is replaced this year, the Supreme Court will become something the country has not seen since the justices became a dominant force in American cultural life after World War II: a decidedly conservative court. A court with a 6-3 conservative majority would be […]