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How Arctic warming can trigger extreme cold waves like the Texas freeze – a new study makes the connection

  • Written by Mathew Barlow, Professor of Climate Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell
imageTemperatures in normally warm Texas plunged into the teens in February 2021, knocking out power for a population unaccustomed to cold, with deadly consequences. Thomas Shea / AFP via Getty Images

In February 2021, in the midst of rapidly warming global temperatures, an exceptionally severe cold wave hit large parts of North America, from Canada to...

Read more: How Arctic warming can trigger extreme cold waves like the Texas freeze – a new study makes the...

Bitcoin will soon be 'legal tender' in El Salvador – here's what that means

  • Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Senior Lecturer, Questrom School of Business, Boston University
imageIt's all legal tender.Steven Puetzer/The Image Bank via Getty Images

On Sept. 7, 2021, El Salvador will become the first country to make bitcoin legal tender.

The government even went a step further in promoting the cryptocurrency’s use by giving US$30 in free bitcoins to citizens who sign up for its national digital wallet, known as...

Read more: Bitcoin will soon be 'legal tender' in El Salvador – here's what that means

Bitcoin is now 'legal tender' in El Salvador – here's what that means

  • Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Senior Lecturer, Questrom School of Business, Boston University
imageIt's all legal tender.Steven Puetzer/The Image Bank via Getty Images

On Sept. 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender.

The government even went a step further in promoting the cryptocurrency’s use by giving US$30 in free bitcoins to citizens who sign up for its national digital wallet, known as...

Read more: Bitcoin is now 'legal tender' in El Salvador – here's what that means

Researchers trained mice to control seemingly random bursts of dopamine in their brains, challenging theories of reward and learning

  • Written by David Kleinfeld, Professor of Physics and Neurobiology, University of California San Diego
imageThe brains of mice randomly produce large bursts of dopamine that could produce feelings of hope.Julia Kuhl, CC BY-ND

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

The big idea

My colleagues and I recently found that we were able to train mice to voluntarily increase the size and frequency of seemingly random dopamine impulses...

Read more: Researchers trained mice to control seemingly random bursts of dopamine in their brains,...

'Work with hope' – a poet and classics scholar on facing the flood of bad news

  • Written by Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University - Newark
imageWhat, more depressing news?Rolling Camera/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

Patience is wearing thin. Not only are we all bone-weary of the pandemic; rising hopes have made the current precarious state of confusion and fear, vigorous variants and stubborn vaccine rejection all the more frustrating.

We thought we were almost out of the woods, but...

Read more: 'Work with hope' – a poet and classics scholar on facing the flood of bad news

An entire generation of Americans has no idea how easy air travel used to be

  • Written by Janet Bednarek, Professor of History, University of Dayton
imageAirplane passengers line up for TSA security screenings at Denver International Airport in 2019.Robert Alexander/Getty Images

During the mid-1990s I traveled between Dayton, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., twice a month during the school year as half of a commuting couple. I could leave Dayton by 5:15 p.m., drive nearly 80 miles to the Columbus airport...

Read more: An entire generation of Americans has no idea how easy air travel used to be

As Texas ban on abortion goes into effect, a religion scholar explains that pre-modern Christian attitudes on marriage and reproductive rights were quite different

  • Written by Luis Josué Salés, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Scripps College
imageThe U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Texas' abortion restrictions to take effect.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court has failed to rule on an emergency application to block SB8, a controversial Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. As such, the legislation went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021.

While signing the new law...

Read more: As Texas ban on abortion goes into effect, a religion scholar explains that pre-modern Christian...

Education debates are rife with references to war – but have they gone too far?

  • Written by Mark Hlavacik, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of North Texas
imageBattlefield analogies are a long-standing feature of public debates about education.Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd/Getty

As President Joe Biden oversaw the transfer of the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan took to Twitter....

Read more: Education debates are rife with references to war – but have they gone too far?

At my hospital, over 95% of COVID-19 patients share one thing in common: They’re unvaccinated

  • Written by Nicholas Johnson, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, UW School of Medicine, University of Washington
imageMany hospitals have reached a point where the demand for health care has outstripped the ability to provide it.Westend61 via Getty Images

The Conversation is running a series of dispatches from clinicians and researchers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. You can find all of the stories here.

As an emergency medicine and...

Read more: At my hospital, over 95% of COVID-19 patients share one thing in common: They’re unvaccinated

When human life begins is a question of politics – not biology

  • Written by Sahotra Sarkar, Professor of Philosophy and Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts
imageScience can observe these various phases of fetal development but cannot determine when human life begins.UrsaHoogle/E+ via Getty Images

A Texas law that aims to eliminate almost all abortions in the state is part of a long-standing nationwide movement to restrict the right to abortion. The Texas law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, and severely...

Read more: When human life begins is a question of politics – not biology

More Articles ...

  1. How the Purdue opioid settlement could help the public understand the roots of the drug crisis
  2. 20 years of 'forever' wars have left a toll on US veterans returning to the question: 'Did you kill?'
  3. Feds are increasing use of facial recognition systems – despite calls for a moratorium
  4. Zinc-infused proteins are the secret that allows scorpions, spiders and ants to puncture tough skin
  5. What's on the agenda when Ukraine president meets Biden?
  6. What are the Jewish High Holy Days? A look at Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and a month of celebrating renewal and moral responsibility
  7. State efforts to ban mask mandates in schools mirror resistance to integration
  8. Calculating the costs of the Afghanistan War in lives, dollars and years
  9. Hurricane Ida turned into a monster thanks to a giant warm patch in the Gulf of Mexico – here’s what happened
  10. Even with the eviction moratorium, landlords continued to find ways to kick renters out
  11. Afghanistan has vast mineral wealth but faces steep challenges to tap it
  12. Microeconomics explains why people can never have enough of what they want and how that influences policies
  13. Refugees after the American Revolution needed money, homes and acceptance
  14. Do US teens have the right to be vaccinated against their parents' will? It depends on where they live
  15. Bilingual people with language loss due to stroke can pose a treatment challenge – computational modeling may help clinicians treat them
  16. Lessons about 9/11 often provoke harassment of Muslim students
  17. New gene therapies may soon treat dozens of rare diseases, but million-dollar price tags will put them out of reach for many
  18. Autonomous drones could speed up search and rescue after flash floods, hurricanes and other disasters
  19. What do Muslims believe and do? Understanding the 5 pillars of Islam
  20. Understanding Islam - a brief introduction to its past and present in the United States
  21. Why some Muslim women feel empowered wearing hijab, a headscarf
  22. Islam's deep traditions of art and science have had a global influence
  23. America's Muslims come from many traditions and cultures
  24. How much do you know about Islam?
  25. What is Sharia? Islamic law shows Muslims how to live, and can be a force for progress as well as tool of fundamentalists
  26. What happens when the COVID-19 vaccines enter the body – a road map for kids and grown-ups
  27. Breathing wildfire smoke can affect the brain and sperm, as well as the lungs
  28. Drink less, exercise more and take in the air – sage advice on pandemic living from a long-forgotten, and very long, 18th-century poem
  29. What is Wicca? An expert on modern witchcraft explains.
  30. Data privacy laws in the US protect profit but prevent sharing data for public good – people want the opposite
  31. Is it a crime to forge a vaccine card? And what’s the penalty for using a fake?
  32. Why is it so difficult to fight domestic terrorism? 6 experts share their thoughts
  33. Hurricane Ida: 4 essential reads about New Orleans' high hurricane risk and what climate change has to do with the storms
  34. The Taliban reportedly have control of US biometric devices – a lesson in life-and-death consequences of data privacy
  35. CDC eviction ban ended by Supreme Court: 4 questions about its impact answered by a housing law expert
  36. Poison ivy can work itchy evil on your skin – here's how
  37. TikTok, #BamaRush and the irresistible allure of mocking Southern accents
  38. How public health partnerships are encouraging COVID-19 vaccination in Mississippi, Michigan, Indiana and South Carolina
  39. Assassinations and invasions – how the US and France shaped Haiti's long history of political turmoil
  40. The invasive emerald ash borer has destroyed millions of trees – scientists aim to control it with tiny parasitic wasps
  41. Do I need a booster shot if I got the Johnson Johnson vaccine? A virologist answers 5 questions
  42. Vaccines could affect how the coronavirus evolves - but that's no reason to skip your shot
  43. What is ISIS-K? Two terrorism experts on the group behind the deadly Kabul airport attack and its rivalry with the Taliban
  44. Racial income and wealth gaps are huge – but the Fed doesn't have the right tools to fix them
  45. American religious groups have a history of resettling refugees – including Afghans
  46. Do star athletes who want to play for the NBA really need college? What LaMelo Ball got right – and wrong – about why they don't
  47. Why students learn better when they move their bodies – instead of sitting still at their desks
  48. These 3 energy storage technologies can help solve the challenge of moving to 100% renewable electricity
  49. 7 tips for LGBTQ parents to help schools fight stigma and ignorance
  50. The history of the Taliban is crucial in understanding their success now – and also what might happen next