PFAS in pregnant women’s drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds

Derek Lemoine, University of Arizona; Ashley Langer, University of Arizona; Bo Guo, University of Arizona

An innovative study mapped preterm births, low birth weights and infant mortality to municipal water wells downstream from PFAS-contaminated sites. The results show the high cost of PFAS harm.

US oil industry doesn’t see profit in Trump’s ‘pro-petroleum’ moves

Skip York, Rice University

Industry leaders have objected to reversals of long-standing policies, and market forces are moving against the Trump administration’s hopes.

Young, undocumented immigrants are finding it increasingly hard to attend college as South Carolina and other states restrict in-state tuition or ban them altogether

William McCorkle, College of Charleston

Not letting undocumented students pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities can make the cost of a college education prohibitive.

6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong

Tim Slack, Louisiana State University ; Shannon M. Monnat, Syracuse University

Many people understand rural America through stereotypes. Two scholars who study rural communities bust 6 of those myths, complicating the conventional wisdom.

Sabrina Carpenter’s and Chapelle Roan’s sexy pop hits have roots in the bedroom ballads of Teddy Pendergrass and Philly soul

Jared Bahir Browsh, University of Colorado Boulder

The soul singer-turned-R&B sex symbol Teddy Pendergrass helped defined the Sound of Philadelphia in the 1970s.

How crime in Brazil drags down the economy and heaps economic pain on the nation’s poor

Robert Muggah, Instituto Igarapé; Princeton University

The percentage hit on Brazil’s GDP could be in the double digits.

Benin’s failed coup: three factors behind the takeover attempt

John Joseph Chin, Carnegie Mellon University

Growing autocratic rule, a rise in jihadist attacks and a proliferation of coups in the Sahel contributed to the attempt by Benin’s military to seize power.

Pope Leo XIV’s visits to Turkey and Lebanon were about religious diplomacy

Ramazan Kılınç, Kennesaw State University

During his visit to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV met several leaders of Christian communities and worked to promote cooperation between Christians and Muslims.

Outside the West, the Kundalini tradition presents a model of the ‘divine feminine’ beyond binary gender

Anya Foxen, California Polytechnic State University; Sravana Borkataky-Varma, University of Houston

Drawn from tantric traditions, Kundalini points to spiritual practices that go beyond traditionally understood concepts of the masculine and feminine.

Lower-cost space missions like NASA’s ESCAPADE are starting to deliver exciting science – but at a price in risk and trade‑offs

Ari Koeppel, Dartmouth College

What’s better – many small space missions, or a few large, sweeping ones? Space scientists are asking this question as they face budget uncertainties.

You care about fairness at work – so why do you feel like a fake?

Meg Warren, Western Washington University; John M. LaVelle, University of Minnesota; Michael T. Warren, Western Washington University

The impostor phenomenon shows up with allyship too, new research shows. When people wrongly feel like they don’t have the skills to support their colleagues, the result can be a vicious cycle.

Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase

People who talk with their hands seem more clear and persuasive – new research

Buying a gift for a loved one with cancer? Here’s why you should skip the fuzzy socks and give them meals or help with laundry instead