The Conversation

Local governments are attractive targets for hackers and are ill-prepared

Written by Richard Forno, Principal Lecturer in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Hackers can disrupt local government services, like this library in Willmar, Texas. The town suffered a cyberattack in August 2019.AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

President Joe Biden on March 21, 2022, warned that Russian cyberattacks on U.S. targets are likely, though the government has not identified a specific threat. Biden urged the private sector:...

Soaring crude prices make the cost of pretty much everything else go up too because we almost literally eat oil

Written by Veronika Dolar, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY Old Westbury

Hopefully, we aren't actually what we eat.ozgurdonmaz/iStock via Getty Images

The price of oil has been spiking in recent weeks in response to concerns that the war in Ukraine will significantly reduce supply. But what happens in oil markets never stays in oil markets.

The price of U.S. crude oil jumped to a 13-year high of US$130 of on March 6,...

How MacKenzie Scott's $12 billion in gifts to charity reflect an uncommon trust in the groups she supports

Written by Tyrone McKinley Freeman, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, IUPUI

The top donor is challenging conventional wisdom about giving.Jorg Carstensen/dpa/AFP via Getty Images

MacKenzie Scott disclosed on March 23, 2022, that she had given US$3.9 billion to 465 nonprofits in the previous nine months. These no-strings-attached donations bring the total she has given away in the past two years to at least $12 billion. We...

Coastal home buyers are ignoring rising flood risks, despite clear warnings and rising insurance premiums

Written by Risa Palm, Professor of Urban Studies and Public Health, Georgia State University

Apollo Beach, Fla., averages 3 feet above sea level, with many homes directly on the water.Google Earth

Apollo Beach, Florida, is a maze of canals lined with hundreds of houses perched right near the water’s edge. The whole community, just south of Tampa, is only about 3 feet above sea level, meaning it’s at risk from storm surge as sea...

2020 census miscounted Americans – 4 questions answered

Written by Aggie Yellow Horse, Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State University

Census takers went door to door in 2020, as in past years, seeking to make the count as accurate as possible.AP Photo/John Raoux

_The census conducted in the U.S. every 10 years is meant to count everyone. But it doesn’t actually count everyone.

After every census, the U.S. Census Bureau reports how well it did at counting every person in the...

Asian American mothers confront multiple crises of pandemic, anti-Asian hate and caregiving

Written by Miliann Kang, Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, UMass Amherst

On March 16, 2022, more than a hundred people attended the Justice for Asian Women Rally in New York City. Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

In memory of the Atlanta massage spas shootings on March 16, 2021, that killed eight people, including six Asian women, communities around the country gathered a year later to mourn and...

#OscarsSoWhite still plagues Hollywood's highest achievement awards

Written by Frederick Gooding, Jr., Dr. Ronald E. Moore Professor of Humanities and African American Studies, Texas Christian University

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs attends the Celebration of Black Cinema on Dec. 2, 2019, in Los Angeles.Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for the Celebration of Black Cinema

Four Black actors were nominated for Oscars in 2022, six years after the Twitter campaign #OscarsSoWhite rocked Hollywood.

In the long history of Hollywood snubs, the Academ...

Even after lockdowns eased, pandemic depression persisted across social classes – new study

Written by Catherine Ettman, PhD Candidate, Boston University

The high and persistent prevalence of depression suggests that mental illness increased for all social classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.piola666/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults reported probable...

In Egypt, where a meal isn’t complete without bread, war in Ukraine is threatening the wheat supply and access to this staple food

Written by Jessica Barnes, Associate Professor of Geography, University of South Carolina

A man carries a tray of freshly baked bread outside a bread factory on Dec. 15, 2016, in Cairo.Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting global grain supplies. Restrictions on navigation in the Azov Sea and the closure of ports have interrupted grain shipments from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, and...

Longer naps in the day may be an early sign of dementia in older adults

Written by Yue Leng, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

Older adults who nap at least once for more than an hour a day have a 40% higher chance of developing dementia.ozgurdonmaz/E+ via Getty Images

Doctors often recommend “power naps” as a way to compensate for a poor night’s sleep and help keep alert until bedtime. But for older adults, extensive power naps could be an early sign of...