The Conversation

What are COVID-19 variants and how can you stay safe as they spread? A doctor answers 5 questions

Written by Lilly Cheng Immergluck, Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine

Vaccination, masking and social distancing are tried and true ways to protect against COVID-19 infection.Marko Geber/DigitalVision via Getty Images

With the delta variant making up over 93% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. at the end of July 2021, questions arise about how to stay protected against evolving forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Here,...

The maximum human life span will likely increase this century, but not by more than a decade

Written by Michael Pearce, PhD Candidate in Statistics, University of Washington

Biologists and demographers are actively debating whether there is a natural cap on the human life span, and how high that might be.eucyln/iStock via Getty Images Plus

When Jeanne Calment of France died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days, she set a record for oldest human. That record still stands.

As statisticians who study demography,...

State policies can provide clear guidance on when to put on and take off masks – with benefits to health, education and the economy

Written by Julia Raifman, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University

Amid growing COVID-19 transmission, hospitalization and death rates, mask mandates are returning in some states.Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Although many people are eager to remove their masks, experts and much of the public increasingly recognize that indoor mask mandates can provide protection in areas where COVID-19 cases,...

Claims of voter suppression in newly enacted state laws don't all hold up under closer review

Written by Derek T. Muller, Bouma Fellow in Law & Professor of Law, University of Iowa

Activists at a voting rights rally near the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 3, 2021. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

As states across the U.S. enact new laws relating to elections, there have been efforts to capture, in aggregate, the effects of those laws. Reports, found in both journalism and advocacy group statements, that new election laws will...

5 tips from a play therapist to help kids express themselves and unwind

Written by Jessie D. Guest, Professor of Play Therapy, University of South Carolina

Fantasy play, painting, playing made-up games and building with blocks are a few examples of free play. Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images

As many children go back to school after 18 months of global pandemic, social isolation and on-and-off remote learning, they too are feeling the additional stress and uncertainty of these times.

Children need...

Beyond the ratings, NBC's Olympics telecast showed video's future

Written by Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of Maine

The cameras at the Olympics supplied video to television broadcasts – and to online streams.AP Photo/David J. Phillip

NBC’s Olympic Games programming from Tokyo has proved a historic success.

Perhaps you’ve heard otherwise. Much reporting focused upon the decline in traditional Olympic TV ratings. On Twitter, Washington Post media...

New technology can create treatment against drug-resistant bacteria in under a week and adapt to antibiotic resistance

Written by Kristen Eller, PhD Candidate in Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Effective delivery of PNA therapies may offer a way to treat multidrug-resistant infections and other diseases.sorbetto/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

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

The big idea

A new technique my colleagues and I developed that can kill deadly, multidrug-resistant bacteria in real time...

Robots are coming for the lawyers – which may be bad for tomorrow's attorneys but great for anyone in need of cheap legal assistance

Written by Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor of Law, University of Oregon

Sign on the dotted line.AndreyPopov/iStock via Getty Images

Imagine what a lawyer does on a given day: researching cases, drafting briefs, advising clients. While technology has been nibbling around the edges of the legal profession for some time, it’s hard to imagine those complex tasks being done by a robot.

And it is those complicated,...

Taxing bachelors and proposing marriage lotteries – how superpowers addressed declining birthrates in the past

Written by Amy Froide, Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

In England, children were seen as a way to replenish the military and sustain the economy.Universal Images Group via Getty Images

There’s growing awareness – and concern – about declining birthrates in the U.S. and other countries around the world.

Falling birth rates are usually seen as a sign of societal decline, a nation’s...

Why refusing the COVID-19 vaccine isn't just immoral – it's 'un-American'

Written by Christopher Beem, Managing Director of the McCourtney Institute of Democracy, Co-host of Democracy Works Podcast, Penn State

Many individuals are rejecting the COVID-19 vaccines for personal reasons.Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images

Decades ago I helped organize a conference that brought together vaccine skeptics and public health officials. The debate centered on what governments can and cannot demand from citizens, and what behaviors one can rightly expect from others.

I...