The Conversation

Rampage at Virginia Walmart follows upward trend in supermarket gun attacks – here's what we know about retail mass shooters

Written by Jillian Peterson, Professor of Criminal Justice, Hamline University

The latest target in America's gun crime epidemic.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

A gun rampage at a Walmart in Virginia is the latest amid a rise in mass shootings in general in the U.S., and mass shootings at grocery and retail stores in particular.

Multiple people including the gunman were killed in the incident on Nov. 22, 2022, at an outlet of the...

Wilma Mankiller, first female principal chief of Cherokee Nation, led with compassion and continues to inspire today

Written by Julie Reed, Associate Professor in History, Penn State

Wilma Mankiller served in the top leadership role of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995.Peter Turnley/Corbis Historical via Getty Images

If you fish in your pocket or purse for a U.S. quarter today, there’s a chance you’ll see Wilma Mankiller’s face. She was the Cherokee Nation’s first female principal chief, and she...

What is ethical animal research? A scientist and veterinarian explain

Written by Lana Ruvolo Grasser, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neuroscience, National Institutes of Health

Animal research's benefits are clear -- but public awareness of what it involves is not.Javier Pierini/DigitalVision via Getty Images

A proposed measure in Switzerland would have made that country the first to ban medical and scientific experimentation on animals. It failed to pass in February 2022, with only 21% of voters in favor. Yet globally, in...

Scientists discover five new species of black corals living thousands of feet below the ocean surface near the Great Barrier Reef

Written by Jeremy Horowitz, Post-doctoral Fellow in Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution

Researchers discovered five new species of black corals, including this *Hexapathes bikofskii* growing out of a nautilus shell more than 2,500 feet (760 meters) below the surface.Jeremy Horowitz, CC BY-NC

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Using a remote-controlled submarine, my colleagues and I discovered...

Midterm election results reflect the hodgepodge of US voters, not the endorsement or repudiation of a candidate’s or party’s agenda

Written by Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University

Voters in the midterm elections decided that the GOP would run the House, while the Democrats would run the Senate.Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

The results from the U.S. midterm elections came as a shock to many. The sitting president’s party typically suffers significant losses in House, Senate and gubernatorial races in the first midterm...

Dreaming of beachfront real estate? Much of Florida's coast is at risk of storm erosion that can cause homes to collapse, as Daytona just saw

Written by Zhong-Ren Peng, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Florida

Dozens of homes were left unstable in the Daytona Beach area after Hurricane Nicole's erosion.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Back-to-back hurricanes left an unnerving scene on the Florida coast in November 2022: Several houses, and even swimming pools, were left dangling over the ocean as waves eroded the property beneath them. Dozens of homes and condo...

The World Cup puts the spotlight on Qatar, but also brings attention to its human rights record and politics – 4 things to know

Written by David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass Amherst

Fans watch the World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador on Nov. 20, 2022, in Doha. Clive Brunskili/Getty Images

With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams from 32 countries and tens of thousands of fans have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022”...

Suspect in the Colorado LGBTQ shootings faces hate crimes charges – what exactly are they?

Written by Jeannine Bell, Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago

Club Q co-owners Nic Grzecka, left, and Matthew Haynes listen during a police news conference on Nov. 21, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The 22-year-old suspected shooter at a gay night club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who allegedly killed five and injured dozens faces five counts of murder and hate crimes charges.

Hate...

Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common health problem that can have serious consequences – but doctors often overlook it

Written by Diane Cress, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University

Fatigue can be a sign of a potential B12 deficiency.Maca and Naca/E+ via Getty Images

For several months during the summer of 2022, my dog Scout vomited at 3 a.m. nearly every day. If you have a dog, you know the sound. And each time, she gobbled up her mess before I could get to it, making diagnosis of the cause difficult.

The vet and I eventually...

After COP27, all signs point to world blowing past the 1.5 degrees global warming limit – here's what we can still do about it

Written by Peter Schlosser, Vice President and Vice Provost of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University

Young activists have been pushing to keep a 1.5-Celsius limit, knowing their future is at stake.AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty

The world could still, theoretically, meet its goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level many scientists consider a dangerous threshold. Realistically, that’s unlikely to happen.

Part of the problem...