The Conversation Daily — September 28, 2026

In this issue

1. 1

   Why fuel prices may go higher still

   theconversation.com · Joshua Busby, Professor of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin · Greg Pollock, Adjunct Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

   Oil-related prices are high, but poised to go even higher. Afry Harvy/iStock / Getty Images Plus If you think your energy costs are high now, the situation may be about to get a whole lot worse. With…

2. 2

   Are there toxic chemicals in your grocery store receipt?

   theconversation.com · Sean McCann, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago

   Receipts are printed on thermal paper, which often contains bisphenols. alvarez/E+ via Getty Images “Would you like your receipt?” It’s a question you’re likely to hear every time you pop into the…

3. 3

   Generous paternal leave policies improve maternal and newborn health, family finances and workplace equality

   theconversation.com · Megan Kuykendoll, Instructor of Family Science and Social Work, Miami University

   Paid leave gives fathers time to bond with their children and improves their mental health. Piksel/iStock via Getty Images Plus When our second child was born, my spouse had several weeks of paternity…

4. 4

   Menopause is a major health milestone, yet health records barely track it - new research

   theconversation.com · Audrey Hendricks, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado Anschutz · Nanette Santoro, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado Anschutz

   There is enormous variation in how menopause unfolds across different people. Morsa Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images Anyone with ovaries who lives long enough will experience menopause. While…

5. 5

   What was the original first-person shooter? Two largely forgotten computer games from the 1970s ushered in the genre

   theconversation.com · Mark J. P. Wolf, Professor of Communication, Concordia University Wisconsin

   Both 'Maze War 'and 'Spasim' used vector graphics, which are images made by drawing lines directly between points on the screen. Mironov Konstantin/iStock via Getty Images Curious Kids is a series for…

6. 6

   College rankings, like those of US News and World Report, remain influential, despite their many flaws and decades of criticism

   theconversation.com · Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

   College rankings assign schools numbers that may correspond more closely with their wealth than other factors of quality, critics say. Talaj/iStock via Getty Images Plus U.S. colleges and universities…

7. 7

   From lab to life: Why translating AI advances to the real world is a major challenge

   theconversation.com · Bo Wang, Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Science, University of Mississippi

   An AI system in the real world has to sort out a huge number of objects, human behaviors and environmental conditions. Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images Turning artificial intelligence research into…

8. 8

   Hibernating bacteria can invade hospitals and survive outer space – but their high energy bill is a weakness that scientists can strike

   theconversation.com · Canan Karakoç, Postdoctoral Scholar in Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

   _Bacillus subtilis_ produces near-indestructible spores. Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc./Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A spore is a bacterium’s survival capsule: dried almost solid, wrapped in protein…

9. 9

   Your memories of how you heard about 9/11 may well be wrong – we’ve been asking the same people what they remember for 25 years

   theconversation.com · Elizabeth A. Phelps, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University · William Hirst, Professor of Psychology, The New School

   Workers at Los Angeles International Airport on 9/11 watch news coverage of the terrorist attacks. Lee Celano/AFP via Getty Images How did you first learn of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001? Was it your…

10. 10

    Here’s how teachers and parents can collaborate and help Michigan’s 1.4M students succeed

    theconversation.com · Patricia Edwards, Professor of Education, Michigan State University

    Family engagement can help students regularly attend classes, according to researchers. Paul Sancya/AP About 1.4 million Michigan students returned to the state’s K-12 public school classrooms this…