RARE PHOTOS: 32 | Vintage Vibes

Why the consequences of the ‘empty nest’ can be real – and serious

September is traditionally the time of year when many young people go to university or college, often leaving parents and carers facing an “empty nest”. But an empty nest doesn’t just mean a quiet home. Sometimes for the older generation there are also difficult questions about the next phase of…

The Conversation · Sep 14

Physicists zoom into the birth of cosmic rainstorms with new CERN study

Every second, particles zip through your body at nearly the speed of light. They rain down from a storm high in the sky, where cosmic rays, a powerful type of interstellar matter, are constantly striking atoms in Earth’s atmosphere. The impacts break them apart into a shower of particles that…

The Conversation · Sep 14

Houthi rebels’ control of Red Sea oil chokepoint exposes deep divisions in Brics

Houthi rebel forces have seized the Yemeni port of Mokha as well as Mayyun Island overlooking the Bab el-Mandab strait. This gives Iran’s most powerful remaining proxy force in the Middle East nearly complete control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast.

The Conversation · Sep 14

What is Zionism? The different meanings of a contested term

Haverford, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, has become the latest U.S. school to settle a lawsuit over how it handled allegations of antisemitism. In a statement on Aug. 7, 2026, its president, Wendy Raymond, wrote that “all students including those who identify as Jewish, and/or Israeli, and those…

The Conversation · Sep 14

Why do I talk in my sleep? A sleep psychologist explains

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected].

The Conversation · Sep 14

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will use gravity as a magnifying glass to find distant planets

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on Aug. 30, 2026, beginning a journey that will take it about a million miles from the Earth. Once there, Roman will study some of the biggest mysteries in astronomy, from dark energy to the formation of galaxies. It will also search for…

The Conversation · Sep 14

Shingles can cause severe chronic pain – new research on how exosomes alter neurons offers pathways to treatment

Shingles can cause pain that is notoriously difficult to manage and can last for months to years for some people. The pain can be so severe that it causes a significant decline in quality of life and can be accompanied by suicidal thoughts and emotional distress.

The Conversation · Sep 14

Portugal decriminalized drugs 25 years ago, but the real lesson is what it built around this policy

Nearly 70,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2025. While that is a decline from the nearly 108,000 deaths recorded in 2022, these grim figures distinguish the U.S. from other high-income countries. At the peak of the opioid crisis, the U.S. overdose death rate was 68% higher than Canada’s…

The Conversation · Sep 14

Why so few older Americans get counseling – and how it could help

People are living longer, reshaping what it means to grow old.

The Conversation · Sep 14

AI is supercharging money scams – here’s what you can do to protect yourself

The phone rings, and it’s your grandson’s shaken voice. There’s been an accident, he says, and he needs money before anyone finds out. Except it isn’t him. It’s software that learned his voice from a clip posted online, run by a stranger working through a list of phone numbers.

The Conversation · Sep 14