The West is in a snow drought, even after record storms ❄️ Here’s the paradox: Warm atmospheric rivers brought heavy rain, melted existing snow, and left less water stored in the mountain snowpacks that much of the region depends on for year-round water.
The Conversation
The western US is in a snow drought, and storms have been making it worse
A major atmospheric river brought record precipitation to the Pacific Northwest, yet the snow and water supply still suffered. It’s a growing pro...
Illness doesn’t start and end in the body. Medical sociology studies how inequality, racism, poverty and policy decisions literally get under the skin, shaping who gets sick, who gets better care and who is left waiting.
The Conversation
Illness is more than just biological – medical sociology shows how social factors get under the skin and cause disease
Medical sociology examines how social, cultural, political and economic factors shape health in ways that medicine alone cannot treat.
 #health
Many law enforcement agencies have use-of-force policies that state that officers should protect themselves from moving vehicles by getting out of the way, if possible, not by shooting. ICE has no such policy. A police ethicist looks at the best practices on dealing with the situation:
The Conversation
ICE killing of driver in Minneapolis involved tactics many police departments warn against − but not ICE itself
Police departments have changed their policies regarding use of force over the years to protect life, but ICE and other federal agencies have lagge...
Social media has turned traditional Japanese matcha into a booming wellness culture, though its roots lie in Zen Buddhism. A scholar of premodern Japanese literature unpacks that history.
The Conversation
How tourism, a booming wellness culture and social media are transforming the age-old Japanese tea ceremony
Social media has turned traditional Japanese matcha into a commercial trend, though its roots lie in Zen Buddhism. A scholar of premodern Japanese ...
Weighted vests can promote bone health and weight loss, but they’re not a cure-all, explains a dietitian who works with aging people.
The Conversation
Wearing a weighted vest can promote bone health and weight loss, but it’s not a cure-all
Are weighted vests more than a fitness fad? A health and exercise expert explains their potential benefits and limitations.
New tax laws eliminate several federal grants and loan repayment programs for nurses. This will worsen America’s nursing shortage and leave patients waiting longer for care, according to scholars who oversee nursing programs at large universities.
The Conversation
New federal loan limits will worsen America’s nursing shortage and leave patients waiting longer for care
The 2025 tax and spending law lowers the federal loan borrowing limits for nursing students, raising the up-front costs of nursing school.
Influenza A and Mpox are among the viruses an infectious disease expert is worried about for 2026.
The Conversation
Viral outbreaks are always on the horizon – here are the viruses an infectious disease expert is watching in 2026
Viral infections are on the rise and spreading across the globe.
Trash piles on highways. Smog-filled air. Landfills that were just big piles of trash (like the one in this photo from 1972). Complaints about environmental laws often ignore the progress made in cleaning up America since bipartisan 1970s lawmaking. Our story in @latimes.com
Los Angeles Times
Contributor: Photos of the dirty 1970s will make you appreciate the EPA
The public and politicians in both parties saw the urgency 50 years ago and enacted the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. ...
Without the support of Venezuela's Maduro, conditions on the ground in Cuba are so grim that the Trump administration thinks the communist government in Havana could fall without any direct US intervention.
The Conversation
Cuba’s leaders just lost an ally in Maduro − if starved of Venezuelan oil, they may also lose what remains of their public support
Conditions on the ground in Cuba are so grim that the Trump administration thinks Havana could fall without any US intervention.
Wildlife managers spent weeks unsuccessfully searching for a grizzly bear in British Columbia that had injured 11 schoolchildren. One solution to situations like this: using facial recognition techniques on bears.
The Conversation
How facial recognition for bears can help ecologists manage wildlife
Recent advances in computer vision and other types of artificial intelligence offer an opportunity for facial recognition to apply to bears and oth...