US Edition - Today's top story: When a mountain falls: How ice and rock triggered Nepal’s catastrophic flood – and why climate change is raising the risks August 31, 2026 US Edition   Top headlines Texas politicians targeting Muslims’ daily religious rituals as threat Why some people trust a pro athlete more than a healthcare expert Racing worms through tubes can help make robots more efficient Lead story The magnitude of the flood disaster that swept through villages in Nepal and Tibet on Aug. 26 is hard to comprehend. You can see that in the eyes of people rescued from the muddy water. Disasters like this have hit the Himalayas repeatedly in recent years. To understand why, we turned to University of Dayton geologist Umesh Haritashya. He’s part of an ad hoc group of experts in high mountain geology and natural disasters who quickly analyze satellite images and other data to help communities respond. Haritashya traces the latest disaster back to a mountaintop glacier near the Tibet-Nepal border. He explains what happened there to trigger the catastrophic flood, and why the water rose again a couple days later. He also describes the ways rising temperatures, melting permafrost and growing glacial lakes are increasing the hazard risk in mountain regions around the world. [ Our work is made possible by generous readers like you. Thank you. ]   Stacy Morford Senior Environment + Energy Editor   A massive rockfall in the Himalayas led to a surge of flood water than swept through villages, killing hundreds of people, on Aug. 26, 2026. Prabin Ranabhat/AFP via Getty Images When a mountain falls: How ice and rock triggered Nepal’s catastrophic flood – and why climate change is raising the risks Umesh Haritashya, University of Dayton A geologist explains how thawing permafrost and melting ice are increasing the risk of destructive floods in the Himalayas and other high mountain regions around the world. Ethics + Religion In Texas, ordinary Muslim religious practices are increasingly being treated as political threats Asma Uddin, Michigan State University After 9/11, suspicion of Islam hardened into an assumption in Texas that Muslim identity itself signals danger, writes a scholar of constitutional law. Yiddish’s ‘revival’ points to its resilience as a portable homeland – and a global reach, from Russia to Mexico to the US Ilan Stavans, Amherst College Many Americans associate Yiddish strictly with Eastern Europe. But its horizons are much broader than that, especially amid today’s revival. Science + Technology How does Salmonella contaminate everything under the sun? A food safety specialist explains how you can stop its spread Kimberly Baker, Clemson University From eggs and jalapenos to dog food, granola and pet turtles – it seems like you can catch a Salmonella infection from just about anything these days. Worms navigate narrow paths faster than wide ones – these findings could inform robot design K. R. Prathyusha, University of Colorado Boulder Scientists studied active matter systems by racing worms through tubes – to unexpected results. Health + Medicine What would you see if you had one eye on the back of your head and the other in the front? Abigail Witmer, The Ohio State University Some animal species have their eyes positioned on their heads differently than how people do – and it comes with pluses and minuses for how they see. Politics + Society Indictments against a top extremism researcher and the SPLC force a reckoning on research ethics – an extremism scholar reflects on the field’s challenges Arie Perliger, UMass Lowell Indictments of a longtime extremism researcher and her former organization raise a crucial question for researchers in the field: What are the ethical limits on research about often-dangerous groups? Trust is a behavior, not a credential – and that explains the Rodgers-Fauci divide John C. Besley, Michigan State University Viewing trust as behaviors, not feelings, can help explain why some heed Aaron Rodgers’ advice over Dr. Fauci’s – and what experts can do about it. Education Federal stimulus money bought new technology for Philly students, but many schools lost track of where items went Suzanne McLeod, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Kathryn Blackman, Binghamton University, State University of New York A significant amount of Philadelphia public schools’ technology and other equipment goes missing each year due to poor inventory and tracking. International A black fungus is thriving in the midst of Ireland’s whiskey boom – we need to know more about it Jenny Lawler, Dublin City University The fungus appears to feed on the airborne alcohol vapours produced during whiskey maturation.