The Conversation

China's balancing act on Russian invasion of Ukraine explained

Written by Joseph Torigian, Assistant Professor of International Service, American University

A friendship far from flagging?Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Russia has few friends in the international community following its invasion of Ukraine. But China, which shares a 2,672-mile (4,300-kilometer) border with Russia, is among the handful of nations that has refused to condemn Vladimir Putin’s actions, while criticizing...

Why daylight saving time is unhealthy – a neurologist explains

Written by Beth Ann Malow, Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University

Changing clocks twice a year may be more than just a biannual annoyance.Carol Yepes/Moment via Getty Images

As people in the U.S. prepare to turn their clocks ahead one hour in mid-March, I find myself bracing for the annual ritual of media stories about the disruptions to daily routines caused by switching from standard time to daylight saving...

Ukraine’s Twitter account is a national version of real-time trauma processing

Written by Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor and Co-Director, Office of Politics, Communication and Media, University of Alabama

A meme showing Adolf Hitler caressing Russian President Vladimir Putin's face, tweeted by the official Ukraine state account on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded.Official Ukraine Twitter account

TikToks of cats in cardboard tanks. Flirty comments on Instagram accounts dedicated to Vladmir Putin, begging him to stop Russia’s attacks on...

Russian church leader puts the blame of invasion on those who flout ‘God’s law,’ but taking biblical law out of its historical context doesn't work

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Patriarch of Russia Kirill and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (in background), at a monastery outside Moscow in 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, preached a sermon on March 6, 2022, in which he suggested the violation of “God&rs...

What's a natural burial? A Christian theologian explains

Written by Beth Hoeltke, Director of the Graduate School, Concordia Seminary

Some people are drawn to the idea of a natural burial to bring more of the dying ritual into their homes. LPETTET/E+ via Getty Images

Death is not a subject people typically have an easy time discussing. But for Christian scholar Beth Hoeltke, it’s one she’s devoted much time to, focusing particularly on the growing interest in natural...

Long COVID leaves newly disabled people facing old barriers – a sociologist explains

Written by Laura Mauldin, Associate Professor of Women's Gender & Sexuality Studies and Human Development & Family Sciences, University of Connecticut

Some COVID-19 patients experience months of debilitating symptoms.sharply_done/E+ via Getty Images

Up to one-third of COVID-19 survivors will acquire the condition known as long or long-haul COVID-19. The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation estimates that long COVID will add as many as 22 million individuals to the U.S....

Why some women are traveling to South Korea to find boyfriends

Written by Min Joo Lee, Visiting Lecturer in Women's & Gender Studies, Wellesley College

Actor Seo Kang Joon poses with a fan at an autograph signing. Visual China Group/Getty Images

For my entire life I’ve obsessively watched South Korean television dramas, or K-dramas.

The term refers to the disparate genres of television dramas produced in South Korea, including mystery, crime and rom-com. Regardless of genre, most K-dramas...

Lungs have their own microbiome – and these microbes affect the success of bone marrow transplants in kids

Written by Matt Zinter, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco

While the gut microbiome has gotten much of the spotlight, the microbes in the lungs also play an important role in health.sorbetto/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

The microorganisms deep in your lungs may play an important role in your overall lung health. And for children undergoing bone marrow transplants, measuring the microbes in their...

Why Apple, Disney, IKEA and hundreds of other Western companies are abandoning Russia with barely a shrug

Written by Douglas Schuler, Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

Muscovites rushed to buy furniture and other goods from IKEA before it closed its Russian stores.AP Photo/Vladimir Kondrashov

Many companies in the U.S. and elsewhere have been quick to sever ties to Russia – going well beyond applying the sanctions ordered by their governments.

IKEA, Nike and H&M are temporarily closing their Russian...

Supreme Court inches towards deciding whether state legislatures can draw congressional districts largely free of court oversight

Written by Henry L. Chambers Jr., Professor of Law, University of Richmond

Which branch has the power to rewrite congressional maps?Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

To what extent can state or federal courts limit how state legislatures draw congressional districts?

It is a substantial question with huge implications for future elections and voting rights in America. But the Supreme Court has decided not to answer it &ndas...