Stories by The Conversation US

Bowhead whales were known to live up to 200 years, and a new study finds that southern right whales may live up to age 150 if they aren’t being hunted

Pearl Young joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1922, working across departments before becoming a technical editor

Future-oriented thinking, rather than careening from moment to moment, can help parents have more meaningful moments with their children

European Union countries and Australia have rolled out front-of-package nutrient profiling. Color-coding or star rankings let shoppers make quick choices about healthy foods

A planned octopus farm is facing opposition. Here’s why

A mixture of colder temperatures, lower humidity and more time spent indoors could explain the uptick in cold viruses during the winter holidays

Opt for lighter, cheaper wine to dodge headaches this holiday season

The holidays can be a difficult time for people who are grieving. Here’s how to get through it or support a loved one

Evolution is often depicted as a steady forward march from simple to complex forms. But new research shows that certain ferns can evolve “backward”

The 2024 word-of-the-year winners offer a window into the spirit of the times

Amid concerns about lead found in certain cinnamon products, here’s what to know about how spices can pick up heavy metals and how worried to be

A man scouring Google Earth found a mysterious scar in the Australian outback. And now scientists know what caused it

Fast fashion may seem cheap, but it’s taking a costly toll on the planet—and on millions of young people

The new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement. But it may be more difficult to roll back clean energy policies

“Going viral” appears to be more than just a catchphrase when it comes to the rampant spread of misinformation

The Whip-Poor-Will’s shrill, death-proclaiming song populates the works of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. But the bird itself has fallen on hard times. Could it become a ghost of Halloweens past?

People living near industrial facilities often have few details about the chemicals inside, which poses major risks when floods occur

Scientists have traced a baffling monotonous planetary hum that lasted for nine days back to a glacier in Greenland

Because wildfires create their own wind patterns, they can also spawn their own weather. Here’s how it works

From glacial ice cores extracted from the Tibetan Plateau, scientists recovered the equivalent of 1,705 viral species. Reading their genomes tells the story of 41,000 years of climate change

Antarctica’s riskiest glacier is a disaster in slow motion. But in a rare bit of good news, the worst-case scenario for its collapse may be off the table

The U.S.’s first plastic pollution plan features better measuring standards, more responsibility for producers and an end to single-use products

Carpenter ants carry out lifesaving amputations on their colony siblings to save them

New techniques are helping forecasters spot storms that could develop into dangerous hurricanes earlier than ever