The Conversation

‘Lebanon wanted us gone … it was a risk to leave’ − Syrian refugees who fled Israeli bombs face hostility and uncertainty on return

Written by Jasmin Lilian Diab, Assistant Professor of Migration Studies; Director of the Institute for Migration Studies, Lebanese American University

Lebanese aid workers help Syrian refugees at the Masnaa border crossing in Bekaa Valley.Sami Boudra/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has brought a cautious sense of relief to a Lebanese population battered by a yearlong conflict, not least the more than 1 million people displaced during the escalatio...

Bluesky isn’t the ‘new Twitter,’ but its resemblance to the old one is drawing millions of new users

Written by Casey Fiesler, Associate Professor of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder

Bluesky is having a moment as millions of people have joined in the wake of the 2024 election.Anna Barclay/Getty Images

What would you say at Twitter’s funeral?

That’s the question my collaborators and I asked over 1,000 people on social media as part of a broader research project on Twitter migration. Responses ranged from the profane...

How a director of national intelligence helps a president stay on top of threats from around the world

Written by Gregory F. Treverton, Professor of Practice in International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The director of national intelligence coordinates the work of 18 agencies that ultimately provide crucial intelligence to the president. Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images Plus

In all the arguments over whether President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence is fit for the job, it’s easy to lose sight of...

Prenatal supplements largely lack the recommended amount of omega-3 fatty acids to help prevent preterm birth − new research

Written by Mary Scourboutakos, Family Medicine Resident and Nutrition Expert, Eastern Virginia Medical School

Few women of childbearing age consume adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.Caroline Purser/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Most prenatal supplements lack the amount of omega-3 fatty acids that could help prevent preterm birth, meaning delivery before 37 weeks’ gestation. This is a key finding of a new study, published by my team, in the...

Supreme Court could narrow the scope of federal environmental reviews, with less consideration of how projects would contribute to climate change

Written by J.B. Ruhl, Professor of Law, Director, Program on Law and Innovation, and Co-director, Energy, Environment and Land Use Program, Vanderbilt University

NEPA reviews are a tool for informing the public about how major federal actions could affect the environment.May Lim / 500px via Getty Images

In the 1993 movie “Jurassic Park,” Dr. Ian Malcolm, a fictional math genius specializing in chaos theory, explains the “butterfly effect,” which holds that tiny actions can lead to...

Water fluoridation helps prevent tooth decay – how growing opposition threatens a 70-year-old health practice

Written by Amal Noureldin, Clinical Professor of Cariology, Prevention and Restorative Dentistry, Texas A&M University

Fluoride is a mineral found in water that strengthens teeth and helps prevent cavities.vitapix/E+ via Getty Images

Driving through downtown Dallas, you might see a striking banner hanging at the U-turn bridge, near the Walnut Hill exit on Central Expressway (US 75): “Stop Fluoridation!” Below it, other banners demand action and warn of...

Notre Dame reopens in Paris 5 years after fire – its reconstruction preserves the past and illuminates France’s modern ambitions

Written by Irit Kleiman, Associate Professor of Romance Studies, Boston University

Onlookers watch Notre Dame Cathedral burn on April 14, 2019.Photo by Eric BOUVET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Parisians navigating the narrow streets of the 4th arrondissement in recent days may have heard a familiar, yet nearly forgotten, sound. The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral have been ringing again after nearly five years, in preparation for...

America’s counties are less purple than they used to be

Written by Robert J. Vanderbei, Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, Princeton University

Looking at county election results shows the geography of America's partisan divide.Robert Vanderbei

The United States isn’t mostly red or mostly blue. It’s mostly purple. That’s what I’ve learned from a quarter-century of making maps based on the results of presidential elections.

The country is, however, becoming more...

AI Jesus might ‘listen’ to your confession, but it can’t absolve your sins − a scholar of Catholicism explains

Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

Visitors were invited to pose questions to the AI Jesus, viewed on a monitor behind a latticework screen.Courtesy of the Catholic Church of the City of Lucerne, CC BY

This autumn, a Swiss Catholic church installed an AI Jesus in a confessional to interact with visitors.

The installation was a two-month project in religion, technology and art titled...

One’s a Hugh Grant thriller, one’s a hot-mess reality show – and both center on stereotypes about Mormon women

Written by Rebecca Janzen, Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

Two missionaries' visit to a potential convert's home goes awry in 'Heretic.' A24 via IMDB

I don’t often watch movies in a theater, let alone horror films. But a few weeks ago, I found myself watching “Heretic,” which intrigued me for personal and professional reasons.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s I watched many romantic...