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Supreme Court reforms, strengthens Electoral College

  • Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell
imageOn Dec. 19, 2016, Colorado elector Micheal Baca, in T-shirt second from left, cast his electoral ballot for John Kasich, though Hillary Clinton had won his state's popular vote.AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that states can require members of the Electoral College to cast their presidential ballots according to the...

Read more: Supreme Court reforms, strengthens Electoral College

Social isolation: The COVID-19 pandemic's hidden health risk for older adults, and how to manage it

  • Written by Marcia G. Ory, Regents and Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M University
imageThe same stay-at-home recommendations meant to protect older adults from COVID-19 can also leave them feeling isolated and lonely. Sladic via Getty Images

As coronavirus cases rise again, it can be hard for older adults to see any end to the need for social isolation and the loneliness that can come with it.

For months now, they have been following...

Read more: Social isolation: The COVID-19 pandemic's hidden health risk for older adults, and how to manage it

What makes a 'wave' of disease? An epidemiologist explains

  • Written by Abram L. Wagner, Research Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan
imageDaily deaths from COVID-19 have rarely been below 600 in the U.S. since March.Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Panic about a second wave of coronavirus cases is “overblown,” Vice President Mike Pence wrote in June, implying the U.S. has COVID-19 under control. On the other hand, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of...

Read more: What makes a 'wave' of disease? An epidemiologist explains

How did 'white' become a metaphor for all things good?

  • Written by Aradhna Krishna, Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan
image'Jacob's Dream' by Salvador Rosa (c. 1665).artuk.org

Shortly after George Floyd’s death, one of my friends texted me that Floyd wasn’t necessarily a bad person, but, pointing to his prior stints in prison, added that “he wasn’t lily-white either.”

Soon thereafter, I read an article in The New York Times written by Chad...

Read more: How did 'white' become a metaphor for all things good?

Digital contact tracing's mixed record abroad spells trouble for US efforts to rein in COVID-19

  • Written by Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
imageSouth Korea's success in containing COVID-19 came at the price of sacrificing privacy.AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

Two public health measures – testing, to identify those infected, and contact tracing, to identify those who may have encountered an infected person – have become essential as countries around the world reopen their economies...

Read more: Digital contact tracing's mixed record abroad spells trouble for US efforts to rein in COVID-19

Lessons from the 1918 pandemic: A U.S. city's past may hold clues

  • Written by J. Alexander Navarro, Professor of History of Medicine, University of Michigan
imageA list of rules from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1918 to reduce the chances of contracting or spreading the devastating flu pandemic. Getty Images / Fototeca Storica Nazionale

Coronavirus infection rates continue to rise, with the number of new cases climbing in dozens of states and the U.S. reporting record numbers of cases on individual...

Read more: Lessons from the 1918 pandemic: A U.S. city's past may hold clues

Decades of failed reforms allow continued police brutality and racism

  • Written by Stephen M. Underhill, Associate Professor of Communication, Marshall University
imageBlack Lives Matters murals on boarded-up businesses in New York City.AP Photo/STRF/STAR MAX/IPx

Police brutality has a long history of being protected, reinforced and even redoubled for more than a century in the U.S. through a combination of political expediency and racism.

President Donald Trump’s executive order and the stalled bills in...

Read more: Decades of failed reforms allow continued police brutality and racism

Retractions and controversies over coronavirus research show that the process of science is working as it should

  • Written by Mark R. O'Brian, Professor and Chair of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
imageA high-profile paper on the risks of hyrdoxychloroquine was recently and rightfully retracted.AP Photo/John Locher,

Several high-profile papers on COVID-19 research have come under fire from people in the scientific community in recent weeks. Two articles addressing the safety of certain drugs when taken by COVID-19 patients were retracted, and...

Read more: Retractions and controversies over coronavirus research show that the process of science is...

'Renewable' natural gas may sound green, but it's not an antidote for climate change

  • Written by Emily Grubert, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageMethane bubbles form in a pit digester on a dairy farm as bacteria break down cow manure. The methane can be collected and used as an energy source.Edwin Remsburg/VW Pics via Getty Images

Natural gas is a versatile fossil fuel that accounts for about a third of U.S. energy use. Although it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other...

Read more: 'Renewable' natural gas may sound green, but it's not an antidote for climate change

Islam's anti-racist message from the 7th century still resonates today

  • Written by Asma Afsaruddin, Professor of Islamic Studies and former Chairperson, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University
imageMuslims of all backgrounds pray during the 2019 Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images

One day, in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad dropped a bombshell on his followers: He told them that all people are created equal.

“All humans are descended from Adam and Eve,” said Muhammad in his last known public speech....

Read more: Islam's anti-racist message from the 7th century still resonates today

More Articles ...

  1. Six eyewitnesses misidentified a murderer – here's what went wrong in the lineup
  2. Nearly 3 in 4 US moms were in the workforce before the COVID-19 pandemic – is that changing?
  3. Ethical challenges loom over decisions to resume in-person college classes
  4. Why some Americans seem more 'American' than others
  5. A leading infectious disease expert explains how to be as safe as possible on this very different Fourth
  6. Don't expect Biden's VP pick to make or break the 2020 election
  7. How to manage plant pests and diseases in your victory garden
  8. Mexico City buried its rivers to prevent disease and unwittingly created a dry, polluted city where COVID-19 now thrives
  9. Presidents' panel: How COVID-19 will change higher education
  10. Black churches have lagged in moving online during the pandemic – reaching across generational lines could help
  11. Why 'I was just being sarcastic' can be such a convenient excuse
  12. Police with lots of military gear kill civilians more often than less-militarized officers
  13. Do dogs really see in just black and white?
  14. Group testing for coronavirus – called pooled testing – could be the fastest and cheapest way to increase screening nationwide
  15. The invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism
  16. Video: What we can learn from a book documenting the first vaccine, for smallpox
  17. Which drugs and therapies are proven to work, and which ones don't, for COVID-19?
  18. With the help of trained dolphins, our team of researchers is building a specialized drone to help us study dolphins in the wild
  19. From marmots to mole-rats to marmosets – studying many genes in many animals is key to understanding how humans can live longer
  20. COVID-19 and teletherapy may be changing how much you know about your therapist
  21. COVID-19 and telehealth may be changing how much you know about your therapist
  22. A summer of protest, unemployment and presidential politics – welcome to 1932
  23. Fireworks can torment veterans and survivors of gun violence with PTSD – here's how to celebrate with respect for those who served
  24. Monks, experts in social distancing, find strength in isolation
  25. Why companies as diverse as eBay, IKEA and Mars are increasingly supporting US clean energy policies
  26. TikTok teens and the Trump campaign: How social media amplifies political activism and threatens election integrity
  27. Muslim Americans assert solidarity with Black Lives Matter, finding unity within a diverse faith group
  28. Why are so many people lighting off fireworks?
  29. The US isn't in a second wave of coronavirus – the first wave never ended
  30. When France extorted Haiti – the greatest heist in history
  31. Why soldiers can't claim conscientious objection if ordered to suppress protests
  32. As Arizona coronavirus cases surge from early reopening, Indigenous nations suffer not only more COVID-19 but also the blame
  33. How small towns are responding to the global pandemic
  34. COVID-19 messes with Texas: What went wrong, and what other states can learn as younger people get sick
  35. National parks – even Mount Rushmore – show that there's more than one kind of patriotism
  36. How racism in US health system hinders care and costs lives of African Americans
  37. Money talks: Big business, political strategy and corporate involvement in US state politics
  38. As professional sports come back, members of the US women's soccer team are still paid less than the men's
  39. Fast food is comforting, but in low-income areas it crowds out fresher options
  40. In this era of protest over racism, will colleges embrace Black student activists?
  41. Coronavirus and cancer hijack the same parts in human cells to spread – and our team identified existing cancer drugs that could fight COVID-19
  42. The 'domestic terrorist' designation won't stop extremism
  43. 3 moral virtues necessary for an ethical pandemic response and reopening
  44. Northern Ireland's police transformation may hold lessons for the US
  45. Rethinking the K-pop industry's silence during the Black Lives Matter movement
  46. To achieve a new New Deal, Democrats must learn from the old one
  47. Authorities are yanking the legacy of slaveholder John C. Calhoun from public sphere, but his bigotry remains embedded in American society
  48. Should the president pick the attorney general?
  49. This simple model shows the importance of wearing masks and social distancing
  50. Rethinking what research means during a global pandemic