The Conversation

Marburg virus outbreaks are increasing in frequency and geographic spread – three virologists explain

Written by Adam Hume, Research Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Boston University

Marburg virus spreads through close contact with infected body fluids.NIAID/flickr, CC BY-SA

The World Health Organization confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus disease in the central African country of Equatorial Guinea on Feb. 13, 2023. To date, there have been 11 deaths suspected to be caused by the virus, with one case confirmed....

Smell is the crucial sense that holds ant society together, helping the insects recognize, communicate and cooperate with one another

Written by Laurence Zwiebel, Professor of Biological Sciences and of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University

Ants from different colonies will fight based on smell alone.Joseph Howell, Vanderbilt University, CC BY-ND

Ants can be found in nearly every location on Earth, with rough estimates suggesting there are over 10 quadrillion individuals – that is a 1 followed by 16 zeroes, or about 1 million ants per person. Ants are among the most biologically...

Vinyl record sales keep spinning and spinning – with no end in sight

Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Clinical Associate Professor, Boston University

There are far easier ways to consume music than buying records, which takes time, money and effort.Alejandra Villa Loraca/Newsday via Getty Images

Over the past decade, vinyl records have made a major comeback. People purchased US$1.2 billion of records in 2022, a 20% jump from the previous year.

Not only did sales rise, but they also surpassed CD...

JetBlue merger with Spirit not cleared for takeoff – why Justice Department is suing to scupper deal

Written by Joe Mazur, Assistant Professor of Economics, Purdue University

Stuck on the runway?AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened to block a proposed deal that would see carrier JetBlue buy budget service Spirit Airlines.

In a lawsuit filed on March 7, 2023, the department warned that allowing the US$3.8 billion deal to go through would “eliminate the unique competition” that...

Silicon Valley Bank biggest US lender to fail since 2008 financial crisis – a finance expert explains the impact

Written by William Chittenden, Associate Professor of Finance, Texas State University

SVB encountered a perfect storm of high interest rates and fearful clients. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Silicon Valley Bank, which catered to the tech industry for three decades, collapsed on March 10, 2023, after the Santa Clara, California-based lender suffered from an old-fashioned bank run. State regulators seized the bank and made the Federal Deposit...

Who are Jehovah's Witnesses? A religion scholar explains the history of the often misunderstood group

Written by Mathew Schmalz, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

The entrance at the headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses Germany.Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Images

Six adults were killed March 9, 2023, in Hamburg, Germany, in what police described as a “rampage” after an evening religious service. Several others were wounded during the attack at a Jehovah’s Witness center,...

Why employment remains red hot even as the Federal Reserve tries to put job market on ice

Written by Edouard Wemy, Assistant Professor of Economics, Clark University

Is strong hiring fanning the flames of inflation?AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The hot U.S. labor market is showing few signs of cooling down, with the latest jobs report showing continued strong gains, particularly in service industries such as retail and hospitality. The robust employment landscape may put pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise rates...

5 tips for women to negotiate a higher salary

Written by Alexandra Mislin, Associate Professor of Management, American University

U.S. women earn 82% of what U.S. men earn — and the gap is significantly higher for Black and Hispanic women.Portra/E+ Collection/Getty Images

Equal Pay Day falls in 2023 on March 14 — a date determined by how long into the new year American women must work to catch up to American men’s earnings the previous year. In 2022, women...

Biggest racial gap in prison is among violent offenders – focusing on intervention instead of incarceration could change the numbers

Written by Thaddeus L. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University

Black men disproportionately make up the US prison population.AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Racial disparities in state imprisonment rates dropped significantly during the first two decades of the 21st century.

That’s one of the main findings from a report published by one of us in late 2022, along with Georgia State University colleague William...

Distant star TOI-700 has two potentially habitable planets orbiting it – making it an excellent candidate in the search for life

Written by Joey Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University

The TOI-700 star system is home to four planets, including two in its habitable zone that could host liquid water.NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA recently announced the discovery of a new, Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a nearby star called TOI-700. We are two of the astronomers who led the discovery of this planet, called...