The Conversation

Brains have a remarkable ability to rewire themselves following injury − a concussion specialist explains the science behind rehabilitation and recovery

Written by Hilary A. Diefenbach, Speech Language Pathologist and Cognitive Rehabilitation Specialist, Marcus Institute for Brain Health; Instructor, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Every brain injury is unique, as is every person's path to recovery. Chinnapong/iStock via Getty Images Plus

High-profile sports like football and soccer have brought greater attention in recent years to concussions – the mildest form of traumatic brain injury.

Yet people often do not realize how common concussions are in everyday life, and...

How PFAS 'forever chemicals' are getting into Miami's Biscayne Bay, where dolphins, fish and manatees dine

Written by Natalia Soares Quinete, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Florida International University

PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that have been raising health concerns across the country, are not just a problem in drinking water. As these chemicals leach out of failing septic systems and landfills and wash off airport runways and farm fields, they can end up in streams that ultimately discharge into ocean ecosystems where fish,...

Insulin injections could one day be replaced with rock music − new research in mice

Written by Bill Sullivan, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University

Turns out pop songs and movie soundtracks are key to a new system to deliver insulin.Sammyvision/Moment via Getty Images

More than 37 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, 8.4 million Americans needed to take insulin in 2022 to lower their blood sugar. Insulin, however, is tricky to deliver into...

PFAS 'forever chemicals' are getting into ocean ecosystems, where dolphins, fish and manatees dine – we traced their origins

Written by Natalia Soares Quinete, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Florida International University

Dreams of a 'broken up' Russia might turn into a nightmare for the West – and an opportunity for China

Written by Susan Smith-Peter, Professor of Russian history , City University of New York

Breaking up is hard to do.Glasshouse Images/Getty Images

Do names on a map matter? When they are in border territories, the answer is probably “yes.”

Earlier in 2023, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources ordered that new maps must use the former Chinese names of its lost territories in what is now Russia’s Far East....

Amid 'checkout charity' boom, some Americans are more likely to be impulse givers than others

Written by Lauren Dula, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Walmart has embraced checkout charity. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

If you live in the United States, chances are that cashiers often ask whether you want to donate to a cause their employer is currently supporting. Organizations like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America or...

Mass shootings often put a spotlight on mental illness, but figuring out which conditions should keep someone from having a gun is no easy task

Written by Arash Javanbakht, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

The mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine -- the worst in the state's history -- was carried out by a gunman with a known history of mental illness.AP Photo/Matt York

Every time the country is shaken by a tragic mass shooting and the loss of innocent lives, mental illness and its role in the actions of the mass shooter come under scrutiny.

Mental illness...

México elegirá pronto a su primera presidenta, pero este hito oculta una marcha desigual hacia los derechos de la mujer

Written by Xavier Medina Vidal, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Arlington

Claudia Sheinbaum, la favorita para convertirse en la primera mujer presidenta de México.AP Photo/Marco Ugarte

México elegirá a su primera mujer presidente en 2024, salvo que haya alguna sorpresa de aquí a las elecciones de junio.

El momento histórico que se avecinaba estaba prácticamente garantizado en...

The battle over right to repair is a fight over your car's data

Written by Leah Chan Grinvald, Professor of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Independent repair shops are fighting for access to vehicles' increasingly sophisticated data. Matthew P/Flickr

Cars are no longer just a means of transportation. They have become rolling hubs of data communication. Modern vehicles regularly transmit information wirelessly to their manufacturers.

However, as cars grow “smarter,” the...

Climate change is altering animal brains and behavior − a neuroscientist explains how

Written by Sean O'Donnell, Professor of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science and Biology, Drexel University

Animal nervous systems may lose their adaptive edge with climate change.PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Human-driven climate change is increasingly shaping the Earth’s living environments. Rising temperatures, rapid shifts in rainfall and seasonality, and ocean acidification are presenting altered environments to many animal species....