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New York Post
We survived the death of the penny — the nickel could be nixed next, experts say
While ditching the penny was a “no-brainer,” Robert Whaples, an economist at Wake Forest University who had long argued for the coin’s demise, told USA Today that he doesn’t “see any groundswell for getting rid of the nickel” as Americans are more likely to use the 5-cent coin when completing purchases. That said, the Treasury pressed a meager 113 million nickels in 2024, while they minted 3.2 billion pennies.
April 25, 2026
The Conversation
Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die
"Nearly two-thirds of Americans now opt for cremation – a figure that has been steadily increasing over five decades. On the surface, that proportion tells a simple story: The nation has embraced cremation, while its preference for casket burials has fallen off," writes law professor Tanya Marsh. "The future of American death care probably isn’t a march toward more cremation. Instead, it’ll probably be a bumpy road of unmet wants, generational surprises and alternatives that need a little more time to get on people’s radars."
This article was reprinted in news outlets nationwide.
April 24, 2026
Money
The U.S. Mint has canceled the penny. Is the nickel next?
The same fate is likely to befall the nickel, too — just not anytime soon. “The key driver is inflation, which makes the penny or nickel less and less valuable over time,” economics professor Robert Whaples notes. He estimates that at a 3% annual inflation rate, it would take about 25 years for the real value of a nickel to shrink by half. “The major reason for keeping the nickel is that people continue to use it,” he said. “When they stopped bending over to pick up a penny and stopped bringing pennies back to the store, it was time to discontinue the penny."
April 24, 2026
USA Today
No more extra fingers? The good, bad and ugly of ChatGPT Images 2.0
No more extra fingers? Wake Forest's Woody Hood, director of critical and creative media and film and media studies, wasn't impressed after playing around with ChatGPT's new image generator. Hood said the generator's photorealism is well done, but the object proportions are "odd." After asking ChatGPT to help create an image of a chicken chasing a butterfly on a tropical island, Hood described the process of creating the chicken images like "chasing your own tail round and round."
April 23, 2026
Casino Beats
Prediction Markets: Trading, gambling, or both? Why the debate matters for consumer protections
While they may not be the majority, economics professor Koleman Strumpf said some participants, such as market makers, are focused on price differences and liquidity. “You can make a bet in a financial derivatives market on whether Johnson & Johnson stock will finish above a certain price on a certain day,” he said. “If you’re right, you make a lot of money. If you’re wrong, you lose everything. So, in that sense, they’re almost exactly the same thing as a prediction market.”
April 23, 2026
Yahoo
Salamander gene could hold the key to regrowing human limbs
Biologist John Currie described the findings as foundational rather than final. “Scientists are pursuing many solutions for replacing limbs, including bioengineered scaffolds and stem cell therapies,” he said. “The gene-therapy approach in this study is a new avenue that can complement and potentially augment what will surely be a multi-disciplinary solution to one day regenerate human limbs.” He also said the collaboration across species made the project stronger.
This research was also featured in SciTechDaily.
April 22, 2026
Archyde
“For countries like the Philippines, where energy demand is rising faster than grid capacity, Russian nuclear offers aren’t just about technology—they’re about access to capital on terms that don’t come with political strings attached," noted Lina Benabdallah, associate professor of international relations at Wake Forest, whose research on Global South infrastructure financing was cited in a Brookings Institution policy brief earlier this year.
April 22, 2026
Inter-American Dialogue
Will Kast bring a new era for Chile-Argentina ties?
"Chile’s new president chose a meeting with Argentina’s President Javier Milei for his first international trip after taking office on March 11, signaling a clear effort to reset bilateral relations and capitalize on Latin America’s shifting ideological landscape," said politics and nternational affairs expert Peter Siavelis. "Bilateral ties had been strained under former President Gabriel Boric. Kast’s visit reflects the broader consolidation of right-leaning leadership in the region and a desire to counterbalance Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva."
April 22, 2026
Casino Beats
Are state revenue-sharing agreements driving enforcement action against prediction markets?
The revenue-sharing agreement in Arizona creates “bad incentives,” according to economics professor Koleman Strumpf. “The Arizona Benefits fund is a proportion of tribal gaming revenues, some of which come from event wagering/fantasy sports. So the ADG gets a bigger budget if the tribes have more business."
April 21, 2026
Neuro Science News
A foundational step toward human limb regeneration
In a monumental cross-species collaboration, scientists have identified a “universal genetic program” that drives limb regeneration. By studying axolotls, zebrafish and mice, researchers discovered that a specific family of genes, the SP genes, is the common denominator for regrowing lost tissue. The study demonstrates that a novel viral gene therapy can partially restore regenerative powers in mammals, offering a foundational blueprint for one day regrowing human limbs.
April 19, 2026
USA Today
The penny is already dead. Could the nickel be next to go?
America’s growing disdain for the penny was unavoidable, Whaples reasons. Decades ago, a penny could purchase a gumball. Nowadays, the average worker earns about a penny per second. If you spend more than a second with a penny, Whaples said, “you’ve wasted time.” But the U.S. Treasury has no public plan to eliminate the nickel, according to Whaples and other coin experts. “I don’t see any groundswell for getting rid of the nickel,” he said.
April 19, 2026
world-today-journal.com
US blocks Strait of Hormuz: A green light for China?
China is closely monitoring recent U.S. Actions in the Strait of Hormuz, interpreting them as a potential signal for its own maritime strategy in critical global waterways. Lina Benabdallah, assistant professor of political science, in a 2023 interview with Reuters, said, “When great powers normalize coercive measures in the global commons, it erodes the rules-based order that smaller states depend on.”
April 19, 2026