The Conversation

Menopause increases your risk of STIs due to how aging changes your body

Written by Thomas L. Cherpes, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University

The health risks that come with intimacy don't necessarily wane with age.MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Diagnoses for sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, are increasing in older adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the number of people older than 65 diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis in...

Robocars promise to improve traffic even when most of the cars around them are driven by people, study finds

Written by Weizi Li, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Tennessee

Robotaxis have caused problems, but they have the potential to improve traffic conditions.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Robotic vehicles can optimize the flow of traffic in cities even when mixed in with vehicles driven by humans, thereby improving traffic efficiency, safety and energy consumption, my colleagues and I found.

Robot vehicles are no longer a...

A new ‘guest star’ will appear in the sky in 2024 − a space scientist explains how nova events work and where to look

Written by Vahe Peroomian, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The stars aren’t fixed and unchanging, unlike what many ancient people thought. Once in a while, a star appears where there wasn’t one before, and then it fades away in a matter of days or weeks.

The earliest record of such a “guest star,” named so by ancient Chinese astronomers, is a star that suddenly appeared in skies...

Massive protests erupt again over disputed Venezuelan elections – but they look different this time

Written by Rebecca Hanson, Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies, Sociology and Criminology, University of Florida

Demonstrators protest against Nicolás Maduro's government in Caracas on July 29, 2024.Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

Post-election protests are far from uncommon in Venezuela. In 2018, people took to the streets to contest President Nicolás Maduro’s reelection; they did so again in 2019 when the Venezuelan opposition...

With Hezbollah and Hamas assassinations, Netanyahu shows willingness to risk regional war for political survival

Written by Asher Kaufman, Professor of History and Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

Israel’s apparent assassinations of Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top military leader, in Beirut, and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, have raised again the specter of a regional war involving regional adversaries – one that could potentially drag the United States into the fray.

By targeting these two leaders, the...

Iceland’s recent volcanic eruptions driven by pooling magma are set to last centuries into the future

Written by James Day, Professor of Geosciences, University of California, San Diego

The April 2024 Sundhnúkur vent in Iceland.Geoff Cook/SIO, CC BY

To experience a volcanic eruption is to witness nature’s raw power. If you would like to see one for yourself, Iceland is a great location for it. Since 2021, seven eruptions have taken place along the Reykjanes Peninsula, close to Reykjavík.

These recent Icelandic...

This Supreme Court has redefined the meaning of corruption

Written by Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Professor of Law, Stetson University

Recent Supreme Court decisions have made it so that bribing a politician must be cartoonishly blatant to qualify as corruption.DigitalVision Vectors via Getty

The U.S. Supreme Court is deregulating corruption, with arguably grim consequences for American democracy.

The latest example of this troubling trend was the case known as Snyder v. United...

NRA legal judgment bans LaPierre but could signal the end of gun group’s fight with New York authorities

Written by Elizabeth Schmidt, Professor of Practice in Public Policy, Nonprofit Organizations, and Social & Environmental Enterprises, UMass Amherst

Former NRA leader Wayne LaPierre can't do any paid work for the group for the next 10 years.AP Photo/Seth Wenig

A New York judge on July 29, 2024, banned Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the National Rifle Association, from holding any paid position with the organization for a decade. The ruling came five months after a New York City jury found,...

Online fundraising may require different strategies for different devices − new research

Written by Kristen Ferguson, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Notre Dame

Does staring at your phone put you in a giving mood?AndreyPopov/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Most charities aren’t tailoring their online fundraising strategies to the electronic device donors may use when deciding whether to click a “donate” button. That’s what our marketing research team determined when we reviewed the...

Israel’s military starts drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews – but the battle over serving ‘the army of God’ vs. the army of the state isn’t over, and points to key questions for the country’s future

Written by Michael Brenner, Professor of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig Maximilian University and Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies, American University

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attend a rally against army recruitment in Jerusalem on June 30, 2024. AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean

In late July 2024, the Israeli military sent out the first 1,000 conscription notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the government must stop exempting them.

But will these Haredim,...