As many as one-third of U.S. retail pharmacies have closed since 2010. Professors who study the intersection of medicine and business explain how Walgreens' buyout highlights the financial pressures facing the industry:
The Conversation
Public health and private equity: What the Walgreens buyout could mean for the future of pharmacy care
As Walgreens goes private in a $10 billion buyout, experts weigh what private equity ownership could mean for pharmacy care.
A common parasite called Toxoplasma gondii may be contributing to declining male fertility rates. New research shows it can decapitate human sperm cells in a test tube with just 5 minutes of direct contact. A microbiologist explains: https://buff.ly/hHS84l5 image
Soviet music lovers found an ingenious way to circumvent censorship: recording banned Western music onto used X-ray films. This "bone music" became a symbol of freedom and self-expression.
The Conversation
When Elvis and Ella were pressed onto X-rays – the subversive legacy of Soviet ‘bone music’
The bizarre, homemade technology became a way to skirt censors in the Soviet Union – and even played an indirect role in its dissolution.
 image
Sanctuary policies have existed in the U.S. since the 1970s, but Trump is the first president to challenge them. Political scientists examine the history and legal battles over these local immigration policies:
The Conversation
Sanctuary cities can’t protect people from ICE immigration raids − but they don’t actually violate federal law
There’s no one set legal definition for sanctuary cities and other places with these policies. But they often limit local coordination with feder...
Cultural exchanges can counter propaganda and foster international goodwill. Through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. has enhanced its reputation around the world. The Trump Administration has proposed a 93% budget cut. https://buff.ly/OnTAC61
What are chickadees discussing with their calls? Scientists are decoding the intricate "chick-a-dee" call, which contains six elements that can be combined in hundreds of ways, following rules similar to human grammar.
The Conversation
Mountain chickadee chatter: Scientists are decoding the songbird’s complex calls
Mountain chickadees follow systematic grammarlike rules to share important information, stringing together syllables like words in a sentence.
Mind uploading sounds like sci-fi, but some scientists believe it's theoretically possible. The idea: Copy your brain’s memories and thoughts into a computer and live digitally, maybe forever. The catch: We're likely centuries away from making it real.
The Conversation
Can you upload a human mind into a computer? A neuroscientist ponders what’s possible
Science has done many things that seem miraculous. Why not transfer your consciousness to a machine?
#Climatechange is affecting ecosystems in unexpected ways. Giant sequoias once thought impervious to environmental stress are now vulnerable to wildfires, drought and pests. Land managers must prepare for scenarios they've never seen before.
The Conversation
Managing forests and other ecosystems under rising threats requires thinking across wide-ranging scenarios
Park and forest managers can’t rely on the past any longer to understand future risks. Fires, pests and climate change are changing the game.
Pope Leo XIV is expected to draw on his experience as a missionary and provincial of the Order of St. Augustine, bringing a deep understanding of Catholicism as a global faith and a strong commitment to addressing injustice.
The Conversation
Pope Leo XIV is the first member of the Order of St. Augustine to be elected pope – but who are the Augustinians?
The Rule of St. Augustine offered monks a firm structure for their daily lives of work and prayer, even before the mendicant order received papal a...
Medieval #Christianity honored saints who rejected gender norms to live more fully into their faith. As one scholar writes: “Transness is not merely compatible with holiness; transness itself is holy.” ​​
The Conversation
Christianity has long revered saints who would be called ‘transgender’ today
There are at least 34 documented stories of transgender saints’ lives, three of which had widespread popularity in medieval Europe.
 #LGBTQ #transgender @npub1uc0p...cpgf #Histodons