The Conversation

Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism

Written by Joshua T. Beck, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Oregon

Dozens of companies have recently expressed support for Black Lives Matter. Jessica Felicio via unsplash, CC BY-SA

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

The big idea

Companies and CEOs are increasingly wading into political issues. My latest research suggests that such corporate activism can come with high costs if it...

Zounds! What the fork are minced oaths? And why are we still fecking using them today?

Written by Kirk Hazen, Professor of Linguistics, West Virginia University

Using minced oaths became a habit in NBC's The Good PlaceYouTube/NBC

What in tarnation is “tarnation?” Why do people in old books exclaim “zounds!” in moments of surprise? And what could a professor of linguistics possibly have against “duck-loving crickets?”

I’ll get to the crickets later. But what unites...

Protestantism's troubling history with white supremacy in the US

Written by Tiffany Puett, Adjunct Professor of Religious and Theological Studies, St. Edward's University

A New Jersey minister welcoming members of the KKK into his church in 1923.Bettmann via Getty Imageshttps://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-unusual-and-exclusive-photo-shows-on-the-platform-of-news-photo/514686802?adppopup=true

In the long-overdue discussions taking place over the legacy of slavery and racism in the United States, few...

Ransomware criminals are targeting US universities

Written by Nir Kshetri, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

Cybercriminals view colleges as high-value targets. Issaro Prakalung / EyeEm/GettyImages

As COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continue to climb, government and higher education leaders have been focused on doing what it takes to protect campus communities from the global pandemic.

But college and university leaders would be wise if they were just as...

How brains do what they do is more complex than what anatomy on its own suggests

Written by Salvatore Domenic Morgera, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering, Tau Beta Pi Eminent Engineer, University of South Florida

Scientists are still piecing together the puzzle of how the brain works.Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

How the brain works remains a puzzle with only a few pieces in place. Of these, one big piece is actually a conjecture: that there’s a relationship between the physical structure of the brain and its functionality.

The brain’s...

An effective climate change solution may lie in rocks beneath our feet

Written by Benjamin Z. Houlton, Professor of Global Environmental Studies, Chancellor's Fellow and Director, John Muir Institute of the Environment, University of California, Davis

Weathering of rocks like these basalt formations in Idaho triggers chemical processes that remove carbon dioxide from the air.Matthew Dillon/Flickr, CC BY

Why has Earth’s climate remained so stable over geological time? The answer just might rock you.

Rocks, particularly the types created by volcanic activity, play a critical role in keeping...

Oklahoma is – and always has been – Native land

Written by Dwanna L. McKay, Assistant Professor of Race, Ethnicity, and Indigenous Studies, Colorado College

Delegates from 34 Native tribes at the Creek Council House in Indian Territory, now called Oklahoma, 1880.National Archives

Some Oklahomans are expressing trepidation about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that much of the eastern part of the state belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. They wonder whether they must now pay taxes to or be...

A new anti-platelet drug shows potential for treating blood vessel clots in heart attacks, strokes and, possibly, COVID-19

Written by Xiaoping Du, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Cardiovascular disease is the leading source of death worldwide.PM Images / Getty Images

Clots obstruct blood vessels and can be deadly. They cause heart attack, stroke and are also a major problem in severe cases of COVID-19 patients. Treating clots with available drugs, however, can cause blood vessel leaking and bleeding, which can also be...

How deadly is the coronavirus? The true fatality rate is tricky to find, but researchers are getting closer

Written by Justin Silverman, Assistant Professor of Information Science and Technology, Pennsylvania State University

Infection fatality rate is simply the number of deaths divided by the number of infections, but finding those numbers is harder than it might seem.AP Photo/John Minchillo

Early reports from January painted a grim picture about just how deadly the coronavirus was. Initially, the World Health Organization estimated that the percentage of infected...

The Electoral College is surprisingly vulnerable to popular vote changes

Written by Steven Heilman, Assistant Professor RTPC of Mathematics, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Staff of the House of Representatives review Illinois' Electoral College vote report in January 2017.Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, changing just 269 votes in Florida from George W. Bush to Al Gore would have changed the outcome of the entire national election. Similarly narrow results have happened...