The Conversation Daily — September 8, 2026
10 stories · September 8, 2026
In this issue
- 1
You can’t shield kids from scary news – here’s what ‘Sesame Street’ and other children’s shows did after 9/11
theconversation.com · Julie Dobrow, Teaching Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University
Mourners on Staten Island watch a funeral procession for a firefighter killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Peter Turnley/Getty Images On back-to-school night in 2005, I eagerly entered my…
- 2
Could you survive The Oregon Trail? An emergency medicine doctor offers tips on how to not die in the great outdoors
theconversation.com · Elaine Reno, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine-Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz
You might not die of dysentery on the trail these days, but there is still plenty of danger outdoors. Different_Brian/iStock via Getty Images Plus If you grew up in the United States in the 1980s or…
- 3
AI is helping ease competition for scarce space on the airwaves
theconversation.com · Aylin Yener, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Integrated Systems Engineering, The Ohio State University
The radio airwaves are getting crowded. Carl Court/Getty Images Every time you make a phone call, stream a video or connect to Wi-Fi, your device is sending and receiving invisible signals through the…
- 4
‘Star Trek’ and NASA have intertwined legacies – the show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists
theconversation.com · Deana L. Weibel, Professor of Anthropology, Grand Valley State University
Gene Roddenberry, second from right, and Star Trek cast members visit the Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1976 with NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left. NASA “Star Trek” began as a television…
- 5
Tiny backpacks reveal the secret, sometimes circuitous migrations of small songbirds
theconversation.com · Stephanie Szarmach, James Smithson Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution
A tracker must be light enough to not weigh down a bird that weighs only as much as a spoonful of sugar. Thor Veen Squinting through my binoculars, I scanned the dense branches of a black spruce,…
- 6
Legal wrangling over $12.5B Lakers sale shows how family trusts don’t guarantee a business stays in the family
theconversation.com · Reid Kress Weisbord, Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers University - Newark · Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of Virginia
Jeanie Buss is fighting with her siblings over whether to sell their shared stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images The Buss family’s 47-year ownership of the…
- 7
Fish DNA in Ozark streams reveals region’s complex geologic history
theconversation.com · David Duvernell, Professor of Biological Sciences, Missouri University of Science and Technology
A student collects a water sample for DNA analysis. David Duvernell, CC BY My students and I encountered a mystery. We were partnering with the Missouri Department of Conservation to monitor for fish…
- 8
Just as the world appears to be losing its appetite for books, William T. Vollmann pens a 3,000-page novel
theconversation.com · Christopher Coffman, Master Lecturer in Humanities, Boston University
William T. Vollmann has spent his career refusing to distill the world into dichotomies. Maria Moratti/Getty Images With forecasters of doom debating the end of reading, of publishing and of literacy…
- 9
Using thunderquakes to X-ray Earth – a new study shows urban seismology in action
theconversation.com · Nolan Roth, Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Geology and Geohazards, The Ohio State University · Tieyuan Zhu, Associate Professor of Geophysics, Penn State
As lightning lights up apartment buildings, the thunder creates useful vibrations. Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images When lightning strikes, it superheats the air around it and creates a shock wave…
- 10
More protein in your breakfast or snacks won’t give you more muscle without more work – a biologist separates the science from the marketing
theconversation.com · Linda M. Boland, Professor of Biology, University of Richmond
Do you really need all those protein supplements in your diet? Djavan Rodriguez/Moment via Getty Images Growing up, my brothers were fascinated by the first “Rocky” movie. They were trying to get…