Earthquakes and other geological processes may have enabled oxygen-producing reactions that shaped the evolution of some of Earth’s earliest organisms. Today, oxygen makes up around a fifth of Earth’s atmosphere, with most of it produced by plants and microbes. It didn’t start that way. There was very little oxygen in the atmosphere until levels spiked during the Great Oxidation Event between 2.4 billion and 2.3 billion years ago thanks to the rapid spread of microbes that release oxygen through photosynthesis. However, the widespread presence of antioxidant enzymes across the tree of life suggests a common ancestor that existed prior to the Great Oxidation Event…

More than 216,000 people with pending cases before U.S. immigration courts have been placed in a federal government tracking program, according federal data released April 14. Since President Joe Biden took office, the number of immigrants in the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program has more than doubled, reflecting the Administration’s embrace of new surveillance technology as a tool to limit reliance on government-funded detention centers. While immigrant advocates have long called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) to reduce or end the use of immigrant detention centers, they say the ATD program raises a fresh set of concerns about immigrants’ privacy…

Political opposition to American imperialism has grown in fits and starts—one step forward, two steps back—since the election of Barack Obama. The Trump administration’s America First foreign policy was undermined by hyper-hawkish appointees and insubordinate generals. President Biden’s cautious instincts abroad have been overridden by a desire to prosecute political enemies at home, a desperation to cover up family corruption, and a uniparty zeal for endless war: If we can’t have it in Afghanistan, then we’ll have to have it in Ukraine. Americans seeking to restrain our imperial overreach need all the help they can get, from tactical advice on how…

The Researchers Identified Five Topics of Note The researchers identified the five most–frequently researched topics on labor trafficking and then determined the least understood questions for each topic. 1. Identification, investigation, and training The processes of identifying and screening trafficking victims, properly intervening, investigating and enforcing cases, and training are some of the most studied. Still, many knowledge gaps remain, such as the best practices for each of these processes. For example, despite the identification of a set of indicators, a large proportion of the victims remain undetected, partly because of vague, overlapping, or outmoded definitions and indications. 2. Trafficking practices Important…

Which are American parents more likely to pass along to their kids – their religion or their politics? Turns out, most parents pass along both kinds of affiliation, and they do so at similarly high rates, according to a new analysis of several Pew Research Center surveys. This may be surprising, considering that parents are more likely to prioritize the transmission of their religious views than their political views. In a fall survey by the Center, 35% of U.S. parents said it was extremely or very important that their kids grow up to share their religious views, while fewer than half…