Many people encounter chlorine in their daily lives, whether it’s as an ingredient in household bleach or an additive that sanitizes water in swimming pools. Chlorine is also used as an antiseptic, a bleaching agent in the production of paper and cloth, and to kill microorganisms in drinking water. But this familiar chemical is also extremely toxic. And because it’s ubiquitous in many industries across the U.S., it often is released in chemical accidents and spills.

A recent petition signed by nearly 900 food professionals calling for a cease-fire raises, once again, questions of contested cuisines.

Caitlin Clark led Iowa to new heights and became a sports superhero in the Midwest with one of the game's greatest NCAA tournament runs. What's next?

The commercialization of asteroid mining is still a ways off, but in October 2023, NASA launched a scientific mission to explore the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The main goal of the mission is studying the composition and structure of this asteroid, which could tell scientists more about Earth’s core since the two objects might have a similar makeup.

The fact that the lip-syncing duo was exploited and the result of industry-wide issues in pop music was irrelevant. That myopic public scorn feels familiar today. Kembrew McLeod, professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa and author of several books such as “Cutting Across Media: Appropriation Art, Interventionist Collage and Copyright Law,” provides his insight.

There is a unique power contained in a room where a woman is giving birth. There is power in the women surrounding her. It's a time of transformation, an alchemy unlike any other. No wonder, in so many places in the world, that power would be regarded as suspicious. Midwives and witches — they've always had a lot in common.

The Federal Trade Commission’s long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon is the most aggressive move it has taken yet to tame the market power of a company that’s become synonymous with online shopping and fast deliveries. Overall, there has not been a lot of monopolization cases that have ended in a court ordering a company to divest itself, said Sean Sullivan, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law who teaches antitrust law.

Climate change is robbing some hydro dams of water while oversupplying others—forcing managers to employ new forecasting technology and clever strategies to capitalize on what they have. Historically, dam operators under the Army Corps umbrella had to ignore weather forecasts and respond only to rain and snow that was already on the ground. This rule traces back to the notorious capriciousness of traditional forecasts: If an operator takes a bad gamble on a forecasted weather event, the results can be dangerous. But in practice, this forces operators to react later than their gut tells them to, says Riley Post, a University of Iowa researcher who spent over a decade as a hydraulic engineer for the Corps. They might, for example, be expected to hold water in a nearly full reservoir even as heavy rains approach.

A tropical disease, once only seen in returning travelers, is gaining a "firm foothold" in the southern United States, scientists warn. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a potentially disfiguring skin disease that is being spread by the bites of infected sand flies. There is also growing evidence that a life-threatening form of the disease, called visceral leishmaniasis, could also begin to infect U.S. sand fly populations. Visceral leishmaniasis can affect the internal organs, and results in between 20,000 and 30,000 humans deaths every year and it is also spread by sand flies. The parasite, another species of Leishmania, is thought to be coming into the U.S. in increasing numbers through the importation of dogs from regions where the disease is common, says Christine Petersen, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa.

Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Paul… Caitlin Clark? The Iowa basketball star became the first collegiate athlete and the only woman to sign an endorsement deal with State Farm Insurance. The NIL deal was announced Oct. 10, but specific dollar figures have not been revealed.