The Conversation

'Freezer burn' is a serious problem – preventing ice recrystallization may alleviate it

Written by Tong (Toni) Wang, Professor, food scientist, University of Tennessee

Americans throw away around $5.89 billion worth of frozen food a year.E+ via Getty Images

Open the freezer door and there, way in the back, may be an old carton of ice cream growing spikes of ice. Or a forgotten frozen lasagna covered in icy crystals. Or drying of meat surfaces if not well covered.

People sometimes call this phenomenon “freeze...

Is it possible to recreate dinosaurs from their DNA?

Written by William Ausich, Professor Emeritus of Paleontology, The Ohio State University

_Tyrannosaurus rex_ was a relentless predator who lived during the Cretaceous Period more than 65 million years ago.Roger Harris/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

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.

Would it really be...

Deciphering the symptoms of long COVID-19 is slow and painstaking – for both sufferers and their physicians

Written by Allison Navis, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

People suffering from long-term effects of COVID-19 face uncertainty about the nature of their symptoms and how long they might last. Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

My first patient that day was a woman in her early 40s, an avid marathon runner who had contracted COVID-19 in March 2020. Now, 13 months later, she noted that she still felt...

250 preschool kids get suspended or expelled each day - 5 questions answered

Written by Kate Zinsser, Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Pre-K students are more likely to be expelled than any K-12 grade.Heather Walker/RooM Collection via Getty Images

When parents think of a child getting kicked out of school, they might imagine drugs found stashed in a locker, a classroom that’s been vandalized, or some kind of sexual or other violent assault. But the fact is that it’s...

Afghan government collapses and Taliban on verge of controlling country: 5 essential reads

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US

U.S. personnel were evacuated from the U.S. embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, as Taliban insurgents broke through the city's defensive line, Aug. 15, 2021.AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

The president of Afghanistan has fled and the government apparently fallen, after Taliban insurgents captured the capital city of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021. The Taliban also...

Afghan government collapses, Taliban seize control: 5 essential reads

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US

Personnel were evacuated from the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, as Taliban insurgents broke through the capital city's defensive line.AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

Panic and turmoil grip Afghanistan after Taliban insurgents captured the capital city of Kabul and the president fled on Aug. 15, 2021.

There would be “no transitional government in...

Cómo los barrios gay en Estados Unidos utilizaron la experiencia del VIH para ayudar contra el COVID

Written by Daniel Baldwin Hess, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University at Buffalo

Los grupos de salud y apoyo del VIH ofrecieron pruebas de COVID-19 y otros servicios comunitarios durante la pandemia iStock / Getty Images PlusiStock / Getty Images Plus

A lo largo de la pandemia, los vecindarios han desempeñado un papel fundamental y bien documentado al brindar los servicios sociales y de salud necesarios para que las...

The disturbing history of how conservatorships were used to exploit, swindle Native Americans

Written by Andrea Seielstad, Professor of Law, University of Dayton

The Osage Nation were once among the wealthiest people in the world.FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Pop singer Britney Spears’ quest to end the conservatorship that handed control over her finances and health care to her father demonstrates the double-edged sword of putting people under the legal care and control of another person.

A judge may...

How religious fervor and anti-regulation zealotry laid the groundwork for America's $36 billion supplement industry

Written by Conor Heffernan, Assistant Professor of Physical Culture and Sport Studies, University of Texas at Austin

More than half of Americans regularly take supplements.James Keyser/Getty Images

Spend any time watching television or scrolling through social media, and you’ll inevitably see advertisements for pills, powders and potions that promise to grow muscle, shed body fat, improve your focus and resurrect your youth.

Most of us have used them. At...

Women make fewer political donations and risk being ignored by elected officials

Written by Kira Sanbonmatsu, Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar, Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University

From 2001 to 2020, female donors accounted for 23% of all general election contributions in statewide races while men accounted for 77%. Mykola Sosiukin / EyeEm via GettyImages

Candidates ignore female voters at their peril: Women have outvoted men since 1980. Census data shows that nearly 10 million more women than men cast ballots in the 2020...