The Conversation

Intelligence failure or not, the Israeli military was unprepared to respond to Hamas' surprise attack

Written by Liam Collins, Founding Director, Modern War Institute, United States Military Academy West Point

Israeli soldiers ride on a transport vehicle near Re'im, Israel, on Oct. 10, 2023. Marcus Yam/ Los Angeles Times

As the Israeli army has stepped up its counteroffensive into the Gaza Strip, questions remain on how the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was able to use bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to conduct the largest attack in 50 years...

Philadelphia bans supervised injection sites – evidence suggests keeping drug users on the street could do more harm than good

Written by Jordan Hyatt, Associate Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, Drexel University

A registered nurse treats Dominic Rodriguez for a skin injury related to xylazine use in Philadelphia in May 2023. Treatment vans are allowed in the city, but not supervised injection sites. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

The United States remains tightly in the grasp of an ongoing, and escalating, crisis of deaths caused by opioid overdoses.

With a...

Horseshoe crab blood is vital for testing intravenous drugs, but new synthetic alternatives could mean pharma won't bleed this unique species dry

Written by Kristoffer Whitney, Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Rochester Institute of Technology

Horseshoe crabs in spawning season at Reeds Beach, N.J., on June 13, 2023.AP Photo/Matt Rourke

If you have ever gotten a vaccine or received an intravenous drug and did not come down with a potentially life-threatening fever, you can thank a horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus).

How can animals that are often called living fossils, because they have...

How Chicana women artists have often used the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe for political messages

Written by Judith Huacuja, Professor of Art History, University of Dayton

Chicana artist Yolanda Lopez's artwork: 'Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe.'Yolanda Lopez, CC BY-NC-ND

In 1975, Chicano artist Amado M. Peña depicted police brutality by showing the bloodied head of 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez, whom Dallas police had shot for allegedly stealing $8 from a vending machine. The painting “A...

Vaccines against COVID-19, the seasonal flu and RSV are our best chance of preventing a winter surge

Written by Libby Richards, Associate Professor of Nursing, Purdue University

The CDC recommends getting your updated COVID-19 shot and your seasonal flu shot as soon as possible. AngelaMacario/iStock via Getty Images

As cold and flu season ramps up, health care experts are once again on high alert for the possibility of a tripledemic, or a surge brought on by the respiratory viruses that cause COVID-19, the flu and...

What is a strong El Niño? Meteorologists anticipate a big impact in winter 2023, but the forecasts don't all agree

Written by Aaron Levine, Atmospheric Research Scientist, CICOES, University of Washington

The El Niño pattern stands out in the warm sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacific in 2023NOAA Climate.gov

Winter is still weeks away, but meteorologists are already talking about a snowy winter ahead in the southern Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. They anticipate more storms in the U.S. South and Northeast, and warmer, drier...

Astronomers have learned lots about the universe − but how do they study astronomical objects too distant to visit?

Written by Luke Keller, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College

Telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory near La Serena, Chile.Guillaume Doyen/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, CC BY

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft flew by Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, dropping off its sample of dust and pebbles gathered from the surface of near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

Analysis of this sample will help scientists understand...

How did Israeli intelligence miss Hamas' preparations to attack? A US counterterrorism expert explains how Israeli intelligence works

Written by Javed Ali, Associate Professor of Practice in Counterterrorism, Domestic Terrorrism, Cybersecurity and National Security Law and Policy, University of Michigan

Israeli soldiers move past a military medical vehicle on Oct. 10, 2023, at Kfar Aza, a kibbutz where Hamas militants killed Israelis days before.Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Israel is widely recognized as having highly sophisticated intelligence capabilities, both in terms of its ability to collect information about potential threats within its...

Rising oil prices, surging inflation: The Arab embargo 50 years ago weaponized oil to inflict economic trauma – sound familiar?

Written by Jim Krane, Fellow in Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy; Lecturer, Rice University

Cars lined up for gasoline in New Jersey in 1973 as supplies ran low and prices shot upward.Frederic Lewis/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Fifty years ago, a secret deal among Arab governments triggered one of the most traumatic economic crises to afflict the United States and other big oil importers.

Saudi King Faisal and other Arab leaders launched...

Rising oil prices, surging inflation: The Arab embargo 50 years ago weaponized oil to inflict economic trauma

Written by Jim Krane, Fellow in Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy; Lecturer, Rice University

Cars lined up for gasoline in New Jersey in 1973 as supplies ran low and prices shot upward.Frederic Lewis/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Fifty years ago, a secret deal among Arab governments triggered one of the most traumatic economic crises to afflict the United States and other big oil importers.

Saudi King Faisal and other Arab leaders launched...