The Conversation

What is Pegasus? A cybersecurity expert explains how the spyware invades phones and what it does when it gets in

Written by Bhanukiran Gurijala, Assistant Professor of Computer Science & Information Systems, West Virginia University

A woman holds a phone in front of the office of NSO Group, which makes a tool that can see and hear everything a phone is used for.Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

End-to-end encryption is technology that scrambles messages on your phone and unscrambles them only on the recipients’ phones, which means anyone who intercepts the messages in...

What is ranked choice voting? A political scientist explains

Written by Joshua Holzer, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster College

Absentee ballots for the New York City mayoral primary, which used ranked-choice voting, are counted.AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Ranked choice voting is on the rise in the United States, with nearly two dozen places now using the system for various offices including, most recently, New York City for its mayoral primary elections.

By the end of 2021, more...

Shutting down school vaccine clinics doesn't protect minors – it hurts people who are already disadvantaged

Written by Katherine A. Foss, Professor of Media Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

A high school student gets his COVID-19 shot at a pop-up vaccine clinic at a public charter school in Los Angeles.Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A 1918 newspaper article captures public attitudes toward a typhoid vaccine clinic at the Oakdale schoolhouse in Louisville, Kentucky. “Everybody comes – railroad men, children,...

Is drinking good for you in any way? If not, why is alcohol legal for adults?

Written by Margie Skeer, Associate Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine; Weiner Hailey Family Professor, Tufts University

Beer, wine and hard liquor are causing nearly 100,000 U.S. deaths a year.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Is alcohol consumption of any benefit to humans? If not, why aren’t we thinking about banning...

People living with HIV face harmful stigma daily – DaBaby's rant was just more public than most

Written by Sannisha Dale, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Miami

HIV stigma manifests in many ways, including microaggressions that could lead to a higher risk of depression, PTSD and suicidality.ASphotowed/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Rapper DaBaby drew sharp criticism after he delivered a rant during a concert on July 25, 2021, insulting people living with HIV or sexually transmitted illnesses. He not only...

The water cycle is intensifying as the climate warms, IPCC report warns – that means more intense storms and flooding

Written by Mathew Barlow, Professor of Climate Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Extreme downpours and flooding like northern England experienced in 2015 can put lives at risk.Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

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The world watched in July 2021 as extreme rainfall became floods that washed away centuries-old homes in Europe, triggered landslides in Asia and inundated subways in China. More than 900 people died in the...

IPCC climate report: Profound changes are underway in Earth's oceans and ice – a lead author explains what the warnings mean

Written by Robert Kopp, Professor, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Director, Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University

What might seem like small changes, like a degree of warming, can have big consequences.AP Photo/John McConnico

Humans are unequivocally warming the planet, and that’s triggering rapid changes in the atmosphere, oceans and polar regions, and increasing extreme weather around the world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns in a...

3 wildfire lessons for forest towns as Dixie Fire destroys historic Greenville, California

Written by Bart Johnson, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon

The Dixie Fire devastated rural Greenville, California, a town of 800 residents, on Aug. 4, 2021.Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

A wildfire burning in dry mountain forest swept through the Gold Rush town of Greenville, California, on Aug. 4, reducing neighborhoods and the historic downtown to charred rubble. Hours earlier, the sheriff had warned...

Why Andrew Cuomo's job is more vulnerable to scandal than Donald Trump's was

Written by Monika L. McDermott, Professor of Political Science, Fordham University

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a press conference in June, 2021.Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Riding high in politics frequently means you simply have further to fall – just ask sitting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo went from being talked about as a potential presidential candidate in the spring of 2020 – thanks in large part...

¿Creías que el trabajo en la oficina murió? Estas son las razones por las que regresarás a tu escritorio

Written by Beth Humberd, Associate Professor of Management, University of Massachusetts Lowell

¿Volverá la cultura de la oficina?AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Nota del editor: El futuro de la oficina se ha convertido en una pregunta abierta después de que el bloqueo de coronavirus obligó a miles de millones de personas a trabajar desde casa. ¿Volverán los oficinistas a sus cubículos con...