The Conversation

From ancient Jewish texts to androids to AI, a just-right sequence of numbers or letters turns matter into meaning

Written by Rhona Trauvitch, Associate Teaching Professor of English, Florida International University

The power of putting basic elements in just the right order is key to both Jewish mysticism and computer coding.WhataWin/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Isaac Asimov’s iconic science fiction collection “I, Robot” tells the story of androids created at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. The androids range from “Robbie,”...

Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system works well – here's how Hamas got around it

Written by Iain Boyd, Director, Center for National Security Initiatives, and Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

Israel's Iron Dome air defense system launches interceptor missiles to shoot down incoming missiles and rockets.Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images

Because of its unique national security challenges, Israel has a long history of developing highly effective, state-of-the-art defense technologies and capabilities. A prime example of Israeli military...

This engineering course has students use their brainwaves to create performing art

Written by Francesco Fedele, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

“Arts and Geometry”

What prompted the idea for the course?

After a serious injury in 2016, I started drawing and painting during my recovery as a form of self-taught art therapy. I found the experience...

Gaza depends on UN and other global aid groups for food, medicine and basic services – Israel-Hamas war means nothing is getting in

Written by Topher L. McDougal, Professor of Economic Development & Peacebuilding, University of San Diego

Palestinian children play outside an UNRWA school following Israeli airstrikes on Oct. 12, 2023. Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images

International aid groups are warning that they cannot deliver food and other basic services to people in the Gaza Strip and that a “dire” humanitarian crisis is set to worsen.

International aid groups...

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...