The Conversation U.S.

“If greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate, humanity may look back at 2025 as one the coolest years globally in the rest of our lives.”

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But several factors pushed temperatures higher than expected:

• Rising greenhouse gas emissions
• Record-low polar sea ice
• Growing energy demand
• And cleaner air — reducing sulfate pollution that masks warming by reflecting sunlight back into space.

Some forces actually should have cooled the planet in 2025:
• A shift from El Niño to La Niña
• The solar cycle moving past its peak
• Fewer wildfires globally

Yet 2025 still ranked as the 3rd-hottest year ever recorded.

The past three years have been the hottest on record — yet by most historic indicators, 2025 should have been cooler than it was.

Why did global temperatures stay so high? A quick thread to explain, from an earth scientist: buff.ly/bbSqo5A

#climatesky

Mobile clinics offer a practical way to improve health care access in maternity care deserts Mobile health clinics are a practical but underused solution to the growing number of maternity care deserts in the US.

18 of Florida's 21 rural hospitals no longer provide obstetric care – a situation common throughout rural areas. A mobile clinic is filling the gap, with nurse midwives and physicians offering comprehensive maternal health services directly out of a retrofitted bus.

Abandoned Pennsylvania mines and waste-heat recycling could make the state’s massive new data centers far more sustainable In Pennsylvania, new data centers could require enough electricity to power 11 million homes.

Data centers generate massive amounts of heat that must be removed, generally using electric fans. In Pennsylvania, where summers are hot and humid, cooling costs spike and often get passed to residents through electricity rate increases.

Alaska’s glacial lakes are expanding, increasing the risk of destructive outburst floods Scientists mapped the evolution of 140 glacial lakes in Alaska and found a way to tell how much larger and destructive they can get as their glaciers melt.

Alaska’s Suicide Basin is just one example of a growing problem from glacial lakes that threaten communities with catastrophic flooding around the world as global temperatures rise.
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Higher deductions for state and local taxes, a “Made in America” car purchase deduction and an overtime pay deduction are among the tax code changes that could increase your tax rebate this year, according to an accounting professor.
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US is less prone to oil price shocks than in past decades Oil prices affect the US economy differently than in past decades. Nowadays, the US is less reliant on oil imports and uses less oil to produce more economic output.

The U.S. now exports more oil than it imports, a dramatic shift from the 1970s when oil price shocks devastated the economy.

So even though prices are soaring at the pump, a professor who studies oil price shocks explains why that’s less of a problem these days.

Big beautiful refund? 5 tax code changes that may put more money in your pocket Those who stand to benefit from the changes in tax code include workers who earn tips, those receiving overtime pay, purchasers of US-made autos, and seniors.

Higher deductions for state and local taxes, a “Made in America” car purchase deduction and an overtime pay deduction are among the tax code changes that could increase your tax rebate this year, according to an accounting professor.
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I’ve studied MAGA rhetoric for a decade, and this is what I see in Hegseth’s boasts, action-movie one-liners and gloating over dominance Why does Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brag and gloat in his statements about the Iran war? In the MAGA media world, war is a game, a test of masculine fortitude.

Why does Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brag and gloat in his statements about the Iran war? In the MAGA media world, war is a game and a test of masculine fortitude, according to a communications scholar who has studied MAGA for a decade.

Silicone wristbands can help scientists track people’s exposure to pollutants like ‘forever chemicals’ From wearable samplers to passive environmental monitoring, new research is changing how scientists observe chemical exposure – without invasive sampling.

Environmental chemists are now using silicone wristbands to track invisible exposure to toxins like PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in people's everyday environments.

What does the appendix do? Biologists explain the complicated evolution of this inconvenient organ The appendix has independently evolved at least 32 times across 361 mammalian species. What makes it an evolutionary darling when it’s more of a medical liability today?

Darwin called the appendix a useless leftover from our plant-eating ancestors.

Biologists now say he got it wrong. The appendix evolved at least 32 times independently across mammalian species, suggesting it kept evolving for a good reason.

Why do mountaintops stay snowy, even though they’re closer to the Sun? The answer has to do with the air we breathe and that bright white snowpack, as an atmospheric scientist in Colorado explains.

Snow-covered mountain peaks reflect the Sun's rays back toward space instead of absorbing them, which helps maintain those freezing temperatures even on bright, sunny days, explains a climatologist.

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Social media can draw attention to atrocities – a key factor in reducing risk of recurrence Scholars studied hashtag campaigns in Canada and Syria.

Social media can play a positive role by drawing attention to atrocities – both past and present – which can make them less likely to occur, according to a scholar of transitional justice in the post-Arab Spring world.

What James Madison can teach Americans about religious freedom today For Madison, religious freedom was not a tool for political domination. Rather, he saw it as a constitutional safeguard for liberty and democracy.

The Trump Administration has taken actions to protect religious freedom, when Christianity is threatened but not other religions. Founder James Madison's warnings about religious factions gaining political power offer a cautionary lesson.

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2025 was hotter than it should have been – 5 influences and a dirty surprise offer clues to what’s ahead Solar cycles, sea ice and rising electricity use all play a role. So does an unhealthy surprise that has been quietly hiding a large amount of global warming – until now.

The past three years have been the hottest on record — yet by most historic indicators, 2025 should have been cooler than it was.

Why did global temperatures stay so high? A quick thread to explain, from an earth scientist:

buff.ly/Yi9EYUc #climatesky

GLP-1 drugs may fight addiction across every major substance, according to a study of 600,000 people GLP-1 drugs are the first medication to show promise for treating addiction to a wide range of substances.

He studies how medical conditions can be treated and prevented at Washington University in St. Louis, and he explained how the same mechanism that quiets food noise may also be reducing what he calls “drug noise.”

Read the story: buff.ly/r0FOO0X

Many patients also told Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly something else changed too: The cravings that drive smoking, drinking and drug use started to quiet down as well. ⬇️

GLP-1 drugs quiet ‘drug noise’ as well as 'food noise'

People taking Ozempic, Wegovy and other GLP-1s often describe “food noise” disappearing — the constant mental chatter about food suddenly goes quiet. ⬇️

This is a soundbite from our webinar on what Americans can learn from nonviolent civil resistance movements around the world.

#polisky

What does authoritarian rule typically look like?

[Authoritarian leaders] “rule by fear and coercion, and when necessary, force.”

John Shattuck is an international human rights scholar who led a university in Hungary when the country elected Viktor Orbán in 2010 — and who remains in power today.

GLP-1 drugs may fight addiction across every major substance, according to a study of 600,000 people GLP-1 drugs are the first medication to show promise for treating addiction to a wide range of substances.

People taking the medication type had:
- 50% fewer substance-related deaths.
- 39% fewer drug overdoses.
- Lower risk of developing alcohol, opioid, cocaine, cannabis or nicotine addiction.

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#health #news

GLP-1 medications may also fight addiction, says Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly whose team researched trends from GLP-1 use in 600,000 people (he's a medical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis and the St. Louis VA) 🩺 🧪

We designed an AI tutor that helps college students reason rather than give them answers A 2025 study shows that an AI-based tutor improves learning when it prompts reasoning and is paired with peer discussion.

AI can help students learn … if it pushes them to think instead of handing over answers. In a classroom experiment, students using an AI tutor that asked guiding questions scored higher on exams.

Researchers are combining drones and AI to make removing land mines faster and safer Using drones makes detecting land mines safer. Using AI to fuse data from multiple types of sensors on the drones makes it more efficient.

"At its core, this research is not about algorithms or drones, it is about people."

AI, drones and open science could transform how land mines are cleared — turning a slow, dangerous process into something safer and scalable.
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Billions of dollars, decades of progress spent eliminating devastating diseases may be lost with undoing of USAID Public health campaigns had made significant strides toward eradicating diseases like elephantitis and river blindness. But this progress has since unraveled with the second Trump administration.

Billions spent fighting neglected tropical diseases could unravel after the U.S. eliminated the U.S. Agency for International Development, researchers warn.

Programs targeting river blindness and elephantiasis are stalled around the world, risking new infections for millions.

Stressed out by politics? You’re not imagining it, and research shows that social media is largely to blame Political content on social media finds you even if you’re not looking for it, and it tends to do so through a sensationalized and emotionally charged lens.

Feel like politics is impossible to escape online? There’s a reason.

Social media algorithms amplify outrage and conflict, helping turn politics into a steady source of stress.
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When Washington and the states are in conflict, the ultimate winner is not always certain Conflict between Washington and the states is perennial and by design. Lack of clarity about who’s in charge on what issue keeps power from becoming concentrated.

When Washington and the states are in conflict, the ultimate winner is not always certain. A legal scholar who studies issues related to constitutional law explains:
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Trump offered a restrictive deal to universities that almost all rejected – but the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education may not be entirely dead The Trump administration is reportedly working on a revised version of the higher education proposal.

The Trump administration is revising its controversial higher education compact after only three small schools agreed to its requirements: capping international students at 15%, ending diversity considerations in admissions, and limiting academic freedom on campuses.