NewsPronto

 
Times Advertising


.

The Conversation

Fighting coronavirus fear with empathy: Lessons learned from how Africans got blamed for Ebola

  • Written by Kevin J.A. Thomas, Professor of Sociology, Demography, and African Studies, Pennsylvania State University
Decontee Sawyer, wife of Liberian government official Patrick Sawyer, a naturalized American who died from Ebola after traveling from Liberia to Nigeria, on July 29, 2014.AP Photo/Craig Lassig

With coronavirus cases exploding in China, the U.S. is once again responding to a global epidemic. Five years ago, when the Ebola virus infected more than...

Read more: Fighting coronavirus fear with empathy: Lessons learned from how Africans got blamed for Ebola

This is how ancient Rome's republic died – a classicist sees troubling parallels at Trump's impeachment trial

  • Written by Timothy Joseph, Associate Professor of Classics, College of the Holy Cross
Trump hugs the American flag at a 2019 convention of political conservatives. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The U.S. Senate has made its judgment in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, acquitting the president. Fifty two of 53 senators in the Republican majority voted to acquit the president on the abuse of power charge and all 53...

Read more: This is how ancient Rome's republic died – a classicist sees troubling parallels at Trump's...

Civility in politics is harder than you think

  • Written by Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tears up her copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up the text of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in full public view, her supporters saw defiance of both his policies and his earlier refusal to shake her hand. But...

Read more: Civility in politics is harder than you think

Trump's excess and extravagance turned the State of the Union into an action movie

  • Written by Vanessa B. Beasley, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt University
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address at the Capitol on Feb. 4, 2020. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

State of the Union addresses are supposed to be boring speeches.

Actually, they are not required to be speeches at all. The U.S. Constitution requires only that the president “from time to time give to the...

Read more: Trump's excess and extravagance turned the State of the Union into an action movie

A plasma reactor zaps airborne viruses – and could help slow the spread of infectious diseases

  • Written by Herek Clack, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Researchers Tian Xia and Zijie Lin test a plasma prototype for preventing airborne transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus at a Michigan pig farm.Robert Coelius/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing, CC BY-ND

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

The big idea: It’s the...

Read more: A plasma reactor zaps airborne viruses – and could help slow the spread of infectious diseases

Is the coronavirus a pandemic, and does that matter? 4 questions answered

  • Written by Brian Labus, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Flight attendants check temperatures of passengers aboard an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing on Feb. 4, 2020. AP Photo/Andy Wong

Editor’s note: The new coronavirus has now affected more than 20,000 people in China and claimed more lives as of Feb. 4 than the SARS epidemic from 2002 to 2004. Hong Kong has reported its first death....

Read more: Is the coronavirus a pandemic, and does that matter? 4 questions answered

'American Dirt' fiasco exposes publishing industry that's too consolidated, too white and too selective

  • Written by Christine Larson, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Colorado Boulder
Copies of 'American Dirt' sit on a rack at a bookstore in New York.Laura Bonilla CAL/AFP via Getty Images

In an early chapter of “American Dirt,” the much-hyped novel now at the center of a racial controversy, the protagonist, Lydia, fills her Acapulco, Mexico, bookstore with her favorite literary classics. Because these don’t...

Read more: 'American Dirt' fiasco exposes publishing industry that's too consolidated, too white and too...

Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered

  • Written by Vanessa Dennen, Professor of of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies, Florida State University
Online education presents many conveniences but requires serious time management skills.fizkes/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s Note: When U.S. News & World Report released its best online education program rankings this year, many schools that fared well in the rankings were quick to call attention to their success. Here, Vanessa Dennen, a resea...

Read more: Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered

How the US repeatedly failed to support reform movements in Iran

  • Written by Pardis Mahdavi, Director, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University
A demonstrator protesting a disputed election wearing a headband in support of the Green Movement, Tehran, June 15, 2009. Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

After decades of conflict, recently escalated to near-war, it appears there’s little chance that U.S. relations with Iran will ever improve.

For 40 years, the relationship between the U.S. and Iran...

Read more: How the US repeatedly failed to support reform movements in Iran

R0: How scientists quantify the intensity of an outbreak like coronavirus and its pandemic potential

  • Written by Joseph Eisenberg, Professor and Chair of Epidemiology, University of Michigan
To how many others will one infected person spread the infection?Bim/Getty Images

If you saw the 2011 movie “Contagion,” about a worldwide pandemic of a new virus, then you’ve heard the term R0.

Pronounced “R naught,” this isn’t just jargon made up in Hollywood. It represents an important concept in epidemiology...

Read more: R0: How scientists quantify the intensity of an outbreak like coronavirus and its pandemic potential

More Articles ...

  1. Iowa caucuses did one thing right: Require paper ballots
  2. US could learn how to improve election protection from other nations
  3. Learn to trust immigrants by role-playing in their shoes
  4. Is hiring more black officers the key to reducing police violence?
  5. The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion
  6. A clue to stopping coronavirus: Knowing how viruses adapt from animals to humans
  7. Cancer deaths decline in US, with advances in prevention, detection and treatment
  8. At-risk colleges should do what's best for students, alumni, donors, employees – and local communities
  9. 100 years ago, Congress threw out results of the census
  10. US workplaces are nowhere near ready to contain a coronavirus outbreak
  11. What do kids think of the president?
  12. Do authors really put deeper meaning into poems and stories – or do readers make it up?
  13. Quarantines have tried to keep out disease for thousands of years
  14. Catholic investigations are still shrouded in secrecy
  15. Inside Mexico's war on drugs: Conversations with 'el narco'
  16. The Trump administration has made the US less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus
  17. The Trump administration has made the U.S. less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus
  18. Anthrax vs. cancer – researchers harness the deadly toxin to cure dogs and hopefully people
  19. France-US skirmish over Amazon digital tax shows why the century-old international tax system is broken
  20. Why Italian cinema is starting to glamorize the mafia
  21. Fracking has led to a 'bust' for Pennsylvania school district finances
  22. WHO declares global health emergency over coronavirus: 4 questions answered
  23. Coronavirus grown in lab outside China for first time, aiding the search for vaccine
  24. The Kobe legacy: Should the NBA let high school players skip college?
  25. Why losing Kobe Bryant felt like losing a relative or friend
  26. Iowa caucuses: It's not just candidates who face uncertainty – it's their campaign workers, too
  27. As Democratic primaries near, educators can teach hope to a polarized citizenry
  28. Humans are hardwired to dismiss facts that don't fit their worldview
  29. How do woodpeckers avoid brain injury?
  30. The Senate has actually tied in an impeachment trial – twice
  31. Supreme Court allows public charge clause that kept Nazi-era refugees from the US
  32. Why we knock on wood
  33. Has Trump proposed a Middle East peace plan – or terms of surrender for the Palestinians?
  34. Limiting Senate inquiry ignores Founders' intent for impeachment
  35. Britain's Brexit divorce is here – but the bickering over alimony payments and who gets the house is only beginning
  36. The US economy produced about $21.7 trillion in goods and services in 2019 - but what does GDP really mean?
  37. The US economy produced about $21.7 trillion in goods and services in 2019 – but what does GDP really mean?
  38. Is the coronavirus outbreak as bad as SARS or the 2009 influenza pandemic? A biologist explains the clues
  39. What is a super spreader? An infectious disease expert explains
  40. Harvey Weinstein's 'false memory' defense is not backed by science
  41. How do I know if I might have coronavirus? 5 questions answered
  42. Modern tomatoes are very different from their wild ancestors – and we found missing links in their evolution
  43. Union gunboats didn't just attack rebel military sites – they went after civilian property, too
  44. 4 myths the Trump team promoted about Andrew Johnson
  45. Preventing genocide in Myanmar: Court order tries to protect Rohingya Muslims where politics has failed
  46. Brain organoids help neuroscientists understand brain development, but aren't perfect matches for real brains
  47. I track murder cases that use the 'gay panic defense,' a controversial practice banned in 9 states
  48. Britain is about to leave the EU – what's next?
  49. Islamophobia in the US did not start with Trump, but his tweets perpetuate a long history of equating Muslims with terrorism
  50. The meme endorsement you might have missed – and why it matters for 2020