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A Blue Jay populates the Green Cay Nature Center and Wetlands on February 26, 2024 in Boynton Beach, Florida. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Birds are facing new challenges. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is here to help

Ahead of the biggest day in birding, we take an inside look at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, home to millions of audio clips of birds from around the world.

The world waits on a potential peace deal as the U.S.-Iran war drags on

The U.S. is waiting for a response from Iran on the latest peace proposal to end the war.

China gives suspended death sentences to 2 ex-defense ministers

Both were the latest to be sentenced in President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-corruption campaign, which started more than a decade ago.

June Ward (right) — pictured with her sisters Susie Gilliam (center) and Karen Douthitt (left) — carries a rare gene mutation that virtually guarantees she will get Alzheimer's in the next few years. She is part of a network of more than 200 families with these kinds of gene mutations who have volunteered as research subjects over the past two decades.

Studying these young Alzheimer's patients led to breakthroughs. Trump cut the funding

Families with rare gene mutations that cause Alzheimer's in middle age are giving scientists a unique window on the disease, and a quick way to test potential treatments.

The media we consume — and how we consume it — can intensify division

Major news networks used to regularly present Americans with the same set of facts. Today, it's easy to stay in echo chambers with competing realities. On this episode, we take a look at how the media we consume and the ways we consume it have intensified community divisions.

Democratic Senate candidates face off on immigration, electability

On this Politics Day, political scientists Donna Hoffman of the University of Northern Iowa and Jonathan Hassid of Iowa State University dissect the debate between Democrat Senate hopefuls Josh Turek and Zach Wahls. They also reflect on the end of the 2026 Legislative session, Vice President J.D. Vance's stop in Iowa to campaign for Rep. Zach Nunn and the Iowa Secretary of State's choice to turn over voter data to the Trump administration.

Thursday, May 7th, 2026

Electricians are asking the governor to veto proposed building codes. There is a need for nurses in Iowa. And there are a couple affordable housing projects in Des Moines.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at Rome's Ciampino airport for a two-day visit to Italy and the Vatican on May 7, 2026. America's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, will visit the first U.S. pope, Leo XIV, seeking to ease tensions between Washington and the Vatican while also promoting President Trump's interests.

Iran reviews U.S. proposal. And, Rubio to meet Pope Leo after Trump's criticism

Iran is reviewing the Trump administration's latest proposal to end the war. And, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting Pope Leo XIV amid President Trump's harsh criticism of him.

An oil drilling rig in the Permian Basin on March 13, 2022, in Midland, Texas.

Gas prices keep rising, but do big oil companies plan to drill more? Not so far

The war in Iran has pushed global oil prices higher, which boosts oil company revenues. But major U.S. oil companies aren't signaling plans to increase production to bring down prices at the pump.

A Devils Hole pupfish is pictured at the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility in Nevada. Scientists recently took captive-bred pupfish from this facility and introduced them into the species' natural habitat in Death Valley National Park.

As federal scientists faced turmoil, the Devils Hole pupfish reached a crisis point

The Devils hole pupfish lives in just one spot in Death Valley. Wildlife officials have managed this iconic fish for decades, and last spring, just as the Trump administration was laying off all kinds of scientists, the wild population of this fish plummeted to only 20 individuals. Officials then took an irrevocable step.

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