The Conversation

3 ways a 6-3 Supreme Court would be different

Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

People gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court building as news spread of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Sept. 18 death.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

If the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is replaced this year, the Supreme Court will become something the country has not seen since the justices became a dominant force in American cultural...

The case of Biden versus Trump – or how a judge could decide the presidential election

Written by John E. Finn, Professor Emeritus of Government, Wesleyan University

Will judges decide who wins the presidential election?Geoff Livingston/Getty

Imagine the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Given the unprecedented number of mail-in votes this election, Americans may wake up and still not know who won the presidential contest between Republican President Donald J. Trump and Democratic challenger Joseph Biden.

The...

Tips for living online – lessons from six months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Written by Pamela Scott Bracey, PhD, Associate Professor of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development, Mississippi State University

Life online isn't ideal, but it is manageable.Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Valentine’s Day was sweet, spring break was fun, then… boom! COVID-19. Stay-at-home orders, workplace shutdowns, school closures and social distancing requirements changed lives almost overnight. Forty-two percent of the U.S. workforce now works...

Pandemic crushes Guyana’s dreams of big oil profits as ‘resource curse’ looms over oil-producing nations

Written by Amy Myers Jaffe, Research professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with Guyana's president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Sept. 18. Pompeo is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the tiny South American country. AFP via Getty Images

This year was supposed to bring great things for Guyana.

ExxonMobil discovered massive oil deposits off the South American country’s Caribbean coast in...

How can smoke from West Coast fires cause red sunsets in New York?

Written by Jeffrey B. Halverson, Professor of Geography & Environmental Systems, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

A red hazy sunset over Indiana caused by wildfire smoke from the Western U.S. SOPA Images/LightRocket va Getty Images

If you are one of the millions of people in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. who turned your gaze toward the sky recently, you may have noticed the Sun shining through an odd, milky haze. This widespread opaque veil was caused not by...

Retiring early can be bad for the brain

Written by Plamen Nikolov, Assistant Professor of Economics, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Continuing to engage in mental challenges keeps the brain from deteriorating in early retirement. Westend61/Getty Images

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

The big idea

People who retire early suffer from accelerated cognitive decline and may even encounter early onset of dementia, according to a new economic study I...

Voting while God is watching – does having churches as polling stations sway the ballot?

Written by Jordan LaBouff, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Maine

Primary voters at St. Joseph Church in Dover, New Hampshire.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff via Getty Images

Houses of worship may be busier than usual come Election Day as Americans head to the polls rather than the pews.

A 2010 census of religious congregations identified nearly 350,000 churches, mosques, temples and other religious establishments...

SARS-CoV-2 infection can block pain, opening up unexpected new possibilities for research into pain relief medication

Written by Rajesh Khanna, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Arizona

The spike protein on SARS-CoV-2 interferes with pain perception. SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

Imagine being infected with a deadly virus that makes you impervious to pain. By the time you realize you are infected, it’s already too late. You have spread it far and wide. Recent findings in my lab suggest that this...

Que la pandemia no te impida observar el cielo estrellado y la Luna: aquí 5 opciones para hacerlo en casa

Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona

A medida que la Tierra se mueve alrededor del Sol, aparecen diferentes estrellas y constelaciones para que pueda disfrutar de nuevas vistas durante todo el año. Allexxandar via iStock/GettyImages

Este es un momento difícil para las familias. Las escuelas de todo el mundo luchan por brindar una experiencia en línea...

Ginsburg's legal victories for women led to landmark anti-discrimination rulings for the LGBTQ community, too

Written by Penny Venetis, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the International Human Rights Clinic, Rutgers University Newark

Michael Widomski, left, and David Hagedorn at the makeshift memorial for Justice Ginsburg in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. Ginsburg officiated their wedding in 2013.Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The well-deserved tributes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the wake of her death justifiably focus on her transformational...