The Conversation

Police killings of civilians in the US have been undercounted by more than half in official statistics

Written by Moshen Naghavi, Professor of Health Metric Science at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington

The names of the dead.Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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

The big idea

The number of people killed by police officers in the U.S. has been massively underreported in official statistics over the past four decades, with an additional 17,000 deaths over that period,...

The brutal trade in enslaved people within the US has been largely whitewashed out of history

Written by Joshua D. Rothman, Professor of History, University of Alabama

A trade card with printed black type for the domestic slave traders Hill, Ware and Chrisp.Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

For my recently published book, “The Ledger and the Chain,” I visited more than 30 archives in over a dozen states, from Louisiana to Connecticut. Along the way,...

Why prescription drugs can work differently for different people

Written by C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut

Genetic differences, drug interactions and inflammation can affect how well drugs work in the body.ronstick/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Different people taking the same drug can have markedly different responses to the same dose. While many people will get the intended effects, some may get little to no benefit, and others may get unwanted side...

Dangerous urban heat exposure has tripled since the 1980s, with the poor most at risk

Written by Cascade Tuholske, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia Climate School, Columbia University

Rising global temperatures are increasing heat risks for outdoor workers and the urban poor.Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images

Extreme urban heat exposure has dramatically increased since the early 1980s, with the total exposure tripling over the past 35 years. Today, about 1.7 billion people, nearly one-quarter of the global population, live in...

In cities, dangerous heat exposure has tripled since the 1980s, with the poor most at risk

Written by Cascade Tuholske, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia Climate School, Columbia University

Rising global temperatures are increasing heat risks for outdoor workers and the urban poor.Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images

Puerto Rico has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a clean energy grid – but FEMA plans to spend $9.4 billion on fossil fuel infrastructure instead

Written by Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School

A banner reads "Fuera Luma" (Luma out), opposing the company managing Puerto Rico's electric grid, at a May Day protest in San Juan on May 1, 2021.Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden Administration has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Puerto Rico transition to a greener and more resilient energy future, but it’s on the...

Cherry-picking the Bible and using verses out of context isn't a practice confined to those opposed to vaccines – it has been done for centuries

Written by John Fea, Professor of American History, Messiah College

Many people are using Bible verses to justify their stance against vaccine.David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

A devout evangelical Christian friend of mine recently texted to explain why he was not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. “Jesus went around healing lepers and touched them without fear of getting leprosy,” he said.

This story that St....

How did white students respond to school integration after Brown v. Board of Education?

Written by Charise Cheney, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of Oregon

The collective memory of school desegregation is of anger and division, like in this photo of 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford walking away from a crowd outside a high school in Little Rock, Ark.Bettmann via Getty Images

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How education reforms can support teachers around the world instead of undermining them

Written by Gerald K. LeTendre, Professor of Educational Administration, Penn State

Access to qualified teachers is a major source of educational inequality around the world.Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

World Teachers’ Day, held on October 5 each year since 1994, is an annual event to reflect on the progress teachers have made.

But in many countries, including the United States, the p...

Five years after largest marine heatwave on record hit northern California coast, many warm–water species have stuck around

Written by Erica Nielsen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Biology, University of California, Davis

Southerly species like the giant owl limpet, seen here, started appearing on northern California shores. Jerry Kirkhart/Flickr, CC BY

Land–based heatwaves have a less obvious though equally important sibling: marine heatwaves. In 2013, the largest marine heatwave on record began when an unusually warm mass of water formed in the Gulf of...