The Conversation

Immune cells can adapt to invading pathogens, deciding whether to fight now or prepare for the next battle

Written by Kathleen Abadie, Ph.D. Candidate in Bioengineering, University of Washington

Understanding the flexibility of T cell memory can lead to improved vaccines and immunotherapies.Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

How does your immune system decide between fighting invading pathogens now or preparing to fight them in the future? Turns out, it can change its mind.

Every person has 10 million to 100 million unique...

What families need to know about how to safely store firearms at home

Written by Kerri Raissian, Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of Connecticut

Guns are the leading cause of death of children in the U.S.Laurent Hamels via Getty Images

For the past few years, guns have been identified as the leading cause of death for children in the United States.

There were 2,571 children age 1 to 17 who died in shootings in the U.S. in 2021, 68% more than the 1,531 that occurred in 2000.

To help reduce the...

UAW’s Southern strategy: Union revs up drive to get workers employed by foreign automakers to join its ranks

Written by Bob Bussel, Professor Emeritus of History and Labor Education, University of Oregon

A UAW supporter in 2017 outside a Nissan plant in Canton, Miss., ahead of a vote the union lost.AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Persuading Southern autoworkers to join a union remains one of the U.S. labor movement’s most enduring challenges, despite persistent efforts by the United Auto Workers union to organize this workforce.

To be sure, the UAW...

Rare access to hammerhead shark embryos reveals secrets of its unique head development

Written by Gareth J. Fraser, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, University of Florida

The characteristic hammer-shaped head is just becoming visible in this image of an embryonic bonnethead shark. Scale bar = 1 cm.Steven Byrum and Gareth Fraser, Department of Biology, University of Florida

Scientists very rarely get access to most sharks, the development of their young or the nursery grounds where they grow. So seeing a hammerhead...

Centuries after Christine de Pizan wrote a book railing against misogyny, Taylor Swift is building her own ‘City of Ladies’

Written by Jill R. Fehleison, Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Studies, Quinnipiac University

In her work, Taylor Swift has taken inspiration from women of the past, including actress Clara Bow, socialite Rebekah Harkness and her grandmother Marjorie Finlay, who was an opera singer.

But sometimes I wonder what the 34-year-old pop star would think of the life and work of Italian-born French writer Christine de Pizan.

Back in the 15th...

Despite its big night at the Oscars, ‘Oppenheimer’ is a disappointment and a lost opportunity

Written by Naoko Wake, Professor of History, Michigan State University

The U.S. detonates an atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in Micronesia in the first underwater test of the device.Universal History Archive/Getty Images

With 13 Oscars nominations and seven wins – including best picture – “Oppenheimer” was the star of the 96th Academy Awards.

Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster, which told the...

Biden defends immigration policy during State of the Union, blaming Republicans in Congress for refusing to act

Written by Jean Lantz Reisz, Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Co-Director, USC Immigration Clinic, University of Southern California

President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

President Joe Biden delivered the annual State of the Union address on March 7, 2024, casting a wide net on a range of major themes – the economy, abortion rights, threats to democracy, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine – that are...

Detroiters more likely to support local solar power development if they think it reduces energy prices for their community

Written by Douglas Bessette, Associate Professor for Energy Systems, Michigan State University

Solar panels at the DTE O'Shea Solar Park at work in Detroit in November 2022. AP/ Paul Sancya

Michigan residents overwhelmingly want more solar power.

In the spring of 2023, nearly two-thirds of 1,000 state residents surveyed supported additional large-scale solar development.

In the Energy Values Lab at Michigan State University, we study how the...

Femicide in Italy: A modern phenomenon deeply rooted in country’s cultural past

Written by Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Associate Professor of Critical Cultural & International Studies, Colorado State University

“Femicide is not a crime of passion, it is a crime of power,” wrote Elena Cecchettin after her sister was killed in November 2023.

Italian student Giulia Cecchettin, 22, was killed allegedly by her controlling ex-boyfriend, Filippo Turetta, a fellow student at a university in Padua. Not being able to handle the breakup, Turetta lured...

What is a frozen embryo worth? Alabama’s IVF case reflects bigger questions over grieving and wrongful death laws

Written by Katherine Drabiak, Professor of Health Law, Public Health Law and Medical Ethics, University of South Florida

An embryologist uses a microscope to view an embryo, visible on a monitor.AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

In the weeks since the Alabama Supreme Court held that embryos are “unborn children” under one state law, most attention has been focused on in vitro fertilization – whether the decision imperils parents’ attempts to create...