The Conversation – Articles (GLOBAL)

Optogenetics is illuminating the inner workings of the brain. akinbostanci/iStock via Getty Images Plus The brain is unbelievably complicated, which is both daunting and fascinating for neuroscientists like me.

Small, hairy and cheekily charismatic.

This week marks three years since Hamas’ massacre of October 7 2023, in which some 1,200 people, most of them Israeli civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Scientists who worked out how to control brain cells with light have won this year’s Nobel prize in physiology or medicine.

Ukraine's authorities have verified 20,651 cases of children deported or forcibly displaced to Russia and Belarus since 2022.

On Sunday Oct. 4, 2026, Brazilians didn’t just vote against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The first round of Brazil’s 2026 elections held this Sunday ended with a resounding victory for the far-right Liberal Party (PL).

A growing body of research is generating renewed interest in potential hidden spaces beyond the decorated walls of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber in Egypt.

Alex Walker/Getty A US woman sentenced to death is now receiving life-saving medical treatment, after surviving a botched execution in Nashville that involved two doses of the drug pentobarbital.

People may quash their own beliefs to fit in with what they think the group believes.

This summer, social media was filled with posts declaring that almost anything was “kinda chic”.

Resilience is a word frequently used to describe the way Ukrainian society has responded to the war with Russia.

Israel is heading to the polls on October 27 and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing perhaps the toughest political battle of his career.

Plants use carbon dioxide (CO₂) in photosynthesis to make the carbohydrates they need to grow.

Women are taking a more active role in jihadi organizations.

Nina Simone performs live on stage at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I., on July 4, 1968.

The Premier League has published the core findings of the independent commission investigating Manchester City Football Club.

The apparent attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight carrying 170 mostly Israeli passengers was another reminder to Israelis of the constant threat of terror and war.

A FlyDubai plane lands at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, carrying passengers from flight FZ1073, which was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Sept. 30, 2026.

Universal Pictures It is fitting that DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island carries a title that evokes memory and loss.

Goinyk Production/Shutterstock This story began, like so many in the history of science, with something we were not looking for.

Following the mass abduction of 46 pupils and teachers in Oyo State, south-west Nigeria in 2026, the authorities attributed the attack to the Ansaru terrorist group.

Philippe Turpin/Getty Images Many cities around the world are sinking because too much water is extracted from the groundwater reservoirs beneath them.

In his farewell address to the United Nations General Assembly last week, António Guterres reminisced about his time as secretary general.

In the movie 'War Games' an AI plays a game with the real threat of triggering nuclear Armageddon.

Is there life elsewhere, or is Earth unique in the universe?

Members of the Tigray People's Liberation Front walk along a main road in Mekele, the regional capital of Tigray, on Sept. 23, 2026.

Léa suggests postponing the launch by a week.

Sea surface temperatures on August 25, 2026, compared to 1991-2020.

Recent warnings from American AI leaders have created the impression that the world is only beginning to confront the dangers of advanced artificial intelligence.

People are turning to AI with life’s difficult questions and to glimpse into the future.

A view of Wainwright, Alaska, which sits on low-lying coastal terrain underlain by permafrost.

Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder star in 'Camp Miasma.'

jindrich_pavelka/Shutterstock In 2003, in the deep forests of Bossou in Guinea, a chimpanzee mother did something that reshaped how we view animal minds.

The Pretoria peace deal in Ethiopia was an agreement to cease hostilities.

EU leaders gathered in northern Finland recently for a summit focused on reaffirming the importance of the Arctic region to European security.

The city of Johannesburg – South Africa’s largest – is increasingly unable to perform even its most basic functions, such as providing clean water and electricity and maintaining its roads and the safety of its citizens.

DBenitostock/Getty Around 12% of the world’s total cancer cases in 2024 were likely caused by an infection, according to new research from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Eyad Baba/Getty For six months in 2025, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation operated a radically different model for delivering food to Palestinians in Gaza.

In a recent phone call, Donald Trump urged Volodymyr Zelensky to stop Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Oil-related prices are high, but poised to go even higher.

The French literary world has been rocked by an AI scandal, unfolding in waves.

The title of global strategist Viktor Shvets’ book, The Twilight Before the Storm, aptly describes our current situation.

Alexsl/Getty Images For decades, China’s market of 1.4 billion people and extraordinary economic growth gave Australian exporters seemingly endless opportunities.

One of the biggest cheating scandals in world sports history has erupted in England: Manchester City has reportedly been found guilty of 114 of the 115 alleged breaches of English Premier League financial rules brought against the club in 2023.

'NAZA' filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor conducted interviews with anonymous members of Israeli military and intelligence services from the rooftops of Tel Aviv, Israel.

Musicians perform during a rally against the closing of the John F.

Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Climate Impact Lab combined temperature forecasts with research on how heat affects death rates in more than 24,000 regions worldwide, and found that the super El Niño could cause an estimated 451,000 additional…

The influential veteran photojournalist Ian Berry passed away on 13 September 2026.

In Nate Silver’s aggregate of national polls, Donald Trump’s net approval has dropped to a new record low of -23.