The Conversation

Archaeological site along the Nile opens a window on the Nubian civilization that flourished in ancient Sudan

Written by Michele R. Buzon, Professor of Anthropology, Purdue University

Thousands of years ago, people in this part of Sudan used underground tombs to bury their dead.Michele R. Buzon, CC BY-ND

Circular mounds of rocks dot the desert landscape at the archaeological site of Tombos in northern Sudan. They reveal tumuli – the underground burial tombs used at least as far back as 2500 B.C. by ancient inhabitants who...

Abusive bosses often blame a worker's lack of effort or care for poor performance when it's their own biases that may be the problem

Written by Zhanna Lyubykh, PhD Candidate in Organizational Behavior, University of Calgary

Managers who abuse their employees may be suffering from a perceptual bias. imtmphoto/iStock via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Managers may mistreat employees who perform poorly because they assume it results from a lack of diligence rather than other factors, according to research we...

Thawing permafrost is roiling the Arctic landscape, driven by a hidden world of changes beneath the surface as the climate warms

Written by Mark J. Lara, Assistant Professor in Plant Biology & Geography, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Permafrost and ice wedges have built up over millennia in the Arctic. When they thaw, they destabilize the surrounding landscape.Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape.

Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared in the span of a few days....

Raising cattle on native grasses in the eastern U.S. benefits farmers, wildlife and the soil

Written by Patrick Keyser, Professor of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries and Director, Center for Native Grasslands Management, University of Tennessee

Native grasses, long overlooked, have been shown to benefit cattle and diverse native animals. Patrick Keyser, CC BY-ND

Early on a cool June morning, heavy dew lies on the grass of rolling farm country somewhere in Tennessee, or Missouri, or Pennsylvania. Small patches of fog hang in low lying pockets of these fields. In the distance, hardworking...

Monkeys can sense their own heartbeats, an ability tied to mental health, consciousness and memory in humans

Written by Joey Charbonneau, PhD Student in Neuroscience, University of California, Davis

New research indicates that rhesus monkeys show interoception – the ability to sense physiological processes like their own heartbeats. Matthew Verdolivo/UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services, CC BY-ND

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

The big idea

Rhesus monkeys have a sense of when their own hearts are...

Best Easter pageant ever? Half a century of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

Written by Henry Bial, Professor of Theater and Dance, University of Kansas

The musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar' has always had ardent fans and fierce critics.Blick/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images

In the days leading up to Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will participate in retellings of the story of the last days of Jesus’ life, from his entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper and to his trial,...

Psychological tips aren’t enough – policies need to address structural inequities so everyone can flourish

Written by Sarah S. Willen, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Research Program on Global Health & Human Rights at the Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut

Who gets to flourish and who doesn't?Tony Anderson/DigitalVision via Getty Images

“Languishing” is the in-vogue term for today’s widely shared sense of pandemic malaise. According to some psychologists, you can stop languishing with simple steps: Savor the small stuff. Do five good deeds. Find activities that let you “flow.&r...

Mismanaged cloud services put user data at risk

Written by Eric Pauley, PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State

Cloud services that aren't properly managed can 'leak' data into the wrong hands.id-work/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Organizations’ failure to properly manage the servers they lease from cloud service providers can allow attackers to receive private...

Electrifying homes to slow climate change: 4 essential reads

Written by Jennifer Weeks, Senior Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation

LED lightbulbs are just the start.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that to avoid massive losses and damage from global warming, nations must act quickly to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The good news is that experts believe it’s possible to cut global...

Great white sharks occasionally hunt in pairs - new research sheds light on social behavior of these mysterious predators

Written by Yannis Papastamatiou, Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International University

Great white sharks are not normally thought of as social creatures.Yannis Papastamatiou, CC BY-ND

Sitting anchored to the rocky reef 70 feet (21 meters) below the surface of the ocean, hundreds of scalloped hammerhead sharks swam above me in unison, moving as if one. When most people think of sharks, they don’t think of them as social...