The Conversation

What is Mastodon? A social media expert explains how the 'federated' network works and why it won't be a new Twitter

Written by Brian C. Keegan, Assistant Professor of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder

Twitter users who are fleeing to the social media platform Mastodon are finding it to be a different animal.Davide Bonaldo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In the wake of Elon Musk’s noisy takeover of Twitter, people have been looking for alternatives to the increasingly toxic microblogging social media platform. Many of those fleeing...

How cancer cells can become immortal – new research finds a mutated gene that helps melanoma defeat the normal limits on repeated replication

Written by Pattra Chun-On, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

Melanoma is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer.Dlumen/iStock via Getty Images Plus

A defining characteristic of cancer cells is their immortality. Usually, normal cells are limited in the number of times they can divide before they stop growing. Cancer cells, however, can overcome this limitation to form tumors and bypass...

The 'carpetbagger' label that Fetterman stuck on Oz may have been key in defeating him

Written by Charles R. Hunt, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

John Fetterman, left, relentlessly ridiculed Mehmet Oz, right, with the label 'carpetbagger' during the U.S. Senate campaign, which Fetterman ultimately won.AP

Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz came to a close very early on the morning of Nov. 9, 2022, with Fetterman securing a crucial...

Remembering the veterans who marched on DC to demand bonuses during the Depression, only to be violently driven out by active-duty soldiers

Written by Shannon Bow O'Brien, Associate Professor of Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts

The Bonus Army protesting on the U.S. Capitol steps on Jan. 2,1932.Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Bonus Army March is a forgotten footnote of American history.

It involved as many as 30,000 mostly unemployed veterans who converged on Washington, D.C. in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand an early cash...

Voters largely reject election deniers as secretaries of state – but the partisan battle for election administration will continue

Written by Thom Reilly, Professor & Co-Director, Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University

Jim Marchant, Republican candidate for Nevada secretary of state, arrives at a rally in Henderson on Nov. 6, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Midterm voters in six states – Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont – appear to have rejected extremist secretary of state candidates who denied the validity of...

Renaming California's Hastings law school sparks $1.7 billion legal fight that shows how hard it is to ditch donors' names

Written by Terri Lynn Helge, Professor of Law, Texas A&M University

The state has signed off on rebranding the San Francisco law school.AP Photo/Eric Risberg

Six descendants of Serranus Clinton Hastings, California’s first chief justice, and a group that says it represents alumni are suing the state of California over its decision to rename a nearly 150-year-old law school. The University of California,...

Concussions can cause disruptions to everyday life in both the short and long term – a neurophysiologist explains what to watch for

Written by David Howell, Assistant Professor of Orthopedics,, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Sleep plays a critically important role in the recovery process in the days following a concussion.nicolamargaret/E+ via Getty Images

The repeat concussions suffered by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa less than a week apart in September 2022 have brought the seriousness of traumatic brain injury back into the public eye and triggered...

Disparities in advanced math and science skills begin by kindergarten

Written by Paul L. Morgan, Harry and Marion Eberly Fellow, Professor of Education and Demography, Department of Education Policy Studies, Penn State

A child's family background has a lot to do with how advanced their math knowledge is in kindergarten.Nitat Termmee/Moment via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Racial and ethnic disparities in advanced math and science skills occur far earlier in the U.S. than previously known. Our new...

What is a flash drought? An earth scientist explains

Written by Antonia Hadjimichael, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, Penn State

Weeds grow on the dried-out floor of the Hoppin Hill Reservoir in North Attleboro, Mass., on Aug. 3, 2022.AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Many people are familiar with flash floods – torrents that develop quickly after heavy rainfall. But there’s also such a thing as a flash drought, and these sudden, extreme dry spells are becoming a big...

The inconvenient truth of Herman Daly: There is no economy without environment

Written by Jon D. Erickson, Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy, University of Vermont

The economy depends on the environment. Economics can seem to forget that point.Ines Lee Photos/Moment via Getty Images

Herman Daly had a flair for stating the obvious. When an economy creates more costs than benefits, he called it “uneconomic growth.” But you won’t find that conclusion in economics textbooks. Even suggesting that...