Jo Freeman writes: For months now I've been listening to the pundits and the polls that say people don’t trust Hillary Clinton. It's a very popular topic and has been for years. These feelings aren't about trust. They are about power. They are a mask for people’s basic discomfort with a woman having a lot of power — even one everyone admits is exceptionally well qualified to hold the highest office in the land.

Like fireworks bursting through a smoky haze, protostars ignite within colossal filaments of gas in a new supercomputer simulation of stars forming inside molecular clouds. The simulation covers 700,000 years, and is based on computer code created by UC Berkeley astrophysicist Richard Klein to capture the effects of radiation, magnetic fields, gravity and other physical phenomena and paint a realistic portrait of star formation.

"We can send people to the moon. We can explore the vast depths of our oceans. We can build great cities and towering structures. We can even talk to our computers. We have achieved greatness in many areas. But on the issue of gender imbalance, while there has been progress in the UK and around the world, far more needs to be done."

" ... Stevens received few accolades for her efforts in piecing together chromosomal sex determination. This was due in part to her early death, in 1912, from breast cancer — a mere seven years after her work was published. Conflicting views made the scientific community slow to accept her conclusions, which today are recognized as pioneering."

States' detailed data systems have revealed that more education doesn't always mean higher earnings. More technical programs generally have a greater payoff in the labor market. If a journalism major instead chose an associate's degree program and learned to repair industrial equipment, she could be earning $58,000 three years out of school. State data systems that track post-graduate employment rates have their limits. Only a handful of states include student debt information, for instance.

Rose Madeline Mula writes: In the fantasy world of my mind, I can still climb endless flights of stairs without losing my breath; I can walk — even jog — for miles; I can get down on the floor and, even more important, get up again. I can get in and out of a car without having passers-by rushing over to help. When I go to an airport, attendants don't run to greet me at the door proffering wheel chairs. Old geezers with walkers don't offer me their seats on crowded busses.

To keep even more people from becoming addicted to medicines such as Percocet, OxyContin and Vicodin, lawmakers in five states set limits on the number of pills a physician can prescribe to a patient for the first time. Twenty-nine states beefed up monitoring of filled prescriptions to prevent addicts from "doctor shopping" for more pills. Roughly 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioids, and more than 28,000 people died of overdoses of painkillers or heroin in 2014, the highest toll ever.  

Suburban seniors with less money will need more affordable housing within walking distance of grocery stores and doctors. Local governments may have to help boomers maintain or repair their homes, or else contend with declining property values and tax revenue. 

"This conference report is an effective, responsible approach to addressing the Zika crisis. It will get money out the door immediately to help stop the spread of the virus and respond to the ever-growing number of cases within our borders and around the globe." Offsets include $107 million from leftover funding from the 2014 Ebola outbreak, $100 million in unused funding within HHS, and $543 million in unspent ObamaCare funding intended for territories to set up health care exchanges.

Joan L. Cannon writes: When the first brilliant leaps of credibility struck the known universe, from ancient civilizations that modern Man has unearthed and learned to interpret, to the 21st Century comprehension of such things as the 'God particle' and the elasticity of gravity, nuclear physics, genetics, brain imaging — the minute human place in what's out there becomes ever smaller.

Sonya Zalubowski writes: Seafood, seafood, seafood. As if you'd need another reason to want to visit Martha's Vineyard, the small, picturesque island off Massachusetts' Cape Cod. It is nearly inundated by tourists come summer with a population that swells by more than six times to over 100,000. I had the good fortune to visit in mid-May, right before the crowds, to tour the awakening island with chef Christopher Gianfreda who had returned for his seventh season of cooking here.

"We are calling on the leadership of the House to bring common-sense gun control legislation to the House Floor. Give us a vote. Let us vote. We came here to do our jobs. We came here to work. The American people are demanding action."

A British exit from the European Union would slow economic growth, reduce Europe’s impact in world politics, and strengthen regimes such as Russia's that prefer a weaker, less united Europe, Stanford expert Christophe Crombez says.

What these artists saw from 1861 to 2008 at Coney Island and how they chose to portray it varied widely in style and mood over time, mirroring the aspirations and disappointments of the era and of the country. Taken together, these tableaux of wonder and menace, hope and despair, dreams and nightmares, become metaphors for the collective soul of a nation.   

Julia Sneden wrote: It's summer, that season of family vacations and rich contact between grandparents and grandchildren. Herewith, a list of suggestions for those who find themselves racking their brains to remember the kinds of things children like to do. Having taught kindergarten for twenty-five years, I tend toward direct, interactive activities. These days, children get plenty of television, movies, and computer games at home! (But perhaps you should have a bit of technology on hand, just in case you need a break).

The US suffers a median rate of violent crime (all types, including homicides) similar to the rate in other western democracies, such as Britain, France and Germany, but the homicide rate is much greater in America than in these other countries, particularly with firearms. For instance, in 2010, the US, with a population around five times greater than Britain's population, experienced 244 times more murders by firearms than Britain, with only 41 murders by firearms.

Bill introduced to direct the secretary of VA to establish a pilot program to award grants to health care entities to lease, purchase, or build health care facilities for female patients to qualified female veterans; A bill to authorize spouses of servicemembers to elect to use the same residences as the servicemembers; A bill to require the secretary of Defense to provide expedited evaluation and treatment for prenatal surgery under the TRICARE program; A bill to prevent the abuse of opiates, to improve response and treatment for the abuse of opiates and related overdoses.

"So yes, our retirement savings vehicles ought to be better. Until they are, however, home equity may end up being the biggest asset that many people have to draw on in retirement. That is where reverse mortgages come in for people who use their homes as a primary residence. If you are 62 or older, you can apply to extract some of that equity in a variety of ways, including through a lump sum or a line of credit. Your age, prevailing interest rates and the amount of equity in your home will help lenders determine what you can borrow." NYTimes article

In the ceaseless war of man versus rattlesnake, the rattlesnake has long been the loser. Now, some states are trying to give the sometimes deadly pit viper better odds of survival. The shift follows a dramatic decline in some US rattlesnake populations, as habitats have been lost to development and the reptiles have been killed, accidentally and intentionally. And it is threatening old traditions and forcing people to come to grips with animals many would rather avoid.  

Joan L. Cannon writes: For readers who like adventure and macho behavior, subdued heroism with a dollop of basic cynicism, this will be a memorable experience. Descriptions are nothing short of brilliant, so vivid and evocative are they. For others who prefer some entertainment with a slice of terrible life, The North Water will be a trial in spite of its artistry.

Americans spent $14.7 billion out-of-pocket on visits to complementary practitioners such as chiropractors, acupuncturists or massage therapists. That is almost 30 percent of what they spent out-of-pocket on services by conventional physicians. They spent more on visits to complementary practitioners than on natural product supplements or self-care purchases, and the mean annual out-of-pocket expenditure for practitioner visits was $433. 

"This year's Human Rights Watch Film Festival presents an array of women's rights issues through inspirational and personal stories of remarkable women," said John Biaggi, the festival’s creative director. "From a tenacious women's rights activist in China to a teenage Afghan rapper fighting child marriage to a courageous director of a women’s health clinic in Mississippi — the festival is spotlighting women and amplifying their voices in society through film.

Wildlife doesn't recognize country boundaries, and citizen science can help make it easier to track key species. The North American Breeding Bird Survey is an international effort between the US Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and Environment Canada's Canadian Wildlife Service to monitor North American bird populations. Each year, thousands of dedicated birdwatchers collect data on more than 400 bird species throughout the continent.