The Conversation

Crops could face double trouble from insects and a warming climate

Written by Gregg Howe, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University

In the heat, tomato plants can't fight off the hungry tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. From www.shutterstock.com

For millennia, insects and the plants they feed on have been engaged in a co-evolutionary battle: to eat or not be eaten. Until recently, the two antagonistic sides have maintained a stalemate of sorts. With climate change, however,...

Coronavirus versus democracy: 5 countries where emergency powers risk abuse

Written by Ramya Vijaya, Professor of Economics, Stockton University

Hungarian police officers check cars at the closed Austria-Hungary border, March 18, 2020.Alex Halada/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s note: Emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic set the conditions for political leaders to use expansive powers. They are, as a result, a test of the government’s commitment to human rights and civil...

Democratic governors are quicker in responding to the coronavirus than Republicans

Written by Luke Fowler, Associate Professor and MPA Director, Boise State University

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who did not issue a stay-at-home order for his state until April 1, 2020.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

While the coronavirus pandemic is a national and international concern, state and local officials find themselves on the front lines of the public health battle.

Governors, in particular, have been in the spotlight...

Why Latino citizens are worrying more about deportation

Written by Asad L. Asad, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Rosa Gutierrez Lopez from El Salvador has been living in sanctuary in a church for a year due to a deportation order.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

“You can’t deport a U.S. citizen,” said a friend recently. My friend is correct on the law.

But that doesn’t stop millions of U.S. citizens from fearing deportation anyway.

In a study p...

The CDC now recommends wearing a mask in some cases – a physician explains why and when to wear one

Written by Thomas Perls, Professor of Medicine, Boston University

The change in CDC guidance comes in response to new research on how the new coronavirus can spread. Peter Denovo/Shutterstock.com

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its policy and is now advising everyone, whether or not they have symptoms of COVID-19, to cover their face with a mask or cloth covering whenever social...

Doctors are making life-and-death choices over coronavirus patients – it could have long-term consequences for them

Written by Neil Shortland, Director, Center for Terrorism and Security Studies; Assistant Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Doctors are facing difficult choices in the coronavirus pandemic.Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP

As the coronavirus spreads and demand for medical gear far outstrips the supplies, doctors in the U.S. may have to choose who among their patients lives and who dies. Doctors in Italy have already been forced to make such moral choices.

In a recent article in...

Social media fuels wave of coronavirus misinformation as users focus on popularity, not accuracy

Written by Jon-Patrick Allem, Assistant Professor of Research, University of Southern California

Misinformation and unfounded claims about COVID-19 have flooded social media sites as the new coronavirus has spread. Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images

Over the past few weeks, misinformation about the new coronavirus pandemic has been spreading across social media at an alarming rate. One video that went viral claimed breathing hot air from a...

Stuck at home with your partner? Look to retirees for how to make it work

Written by Anne Fishel, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School

Take a note from older couples who know how to do it right.Geber86/E+ via Getty Images

Across the country an unprecedented number of couples are suddenly spending every waking and sleeping hour of the day with one another.

That’s what many older retired couples do too, even when there isn’t a pandemic. Their experiences are worth...

Here's how scientists are tracking the genetic evolution of COVID-19

Written by Niema Moshiri, Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, University of California San Diego

Why do scientists care about mutations on the coronavirus?Alexandr Gnezdilov Light Painting

When you hear the term “evolutionary tree,” you may think of Charles Darwin and the study of the relationships between different species over the span of millions of years.

While the concept of an “evolutionary tree” originated in...

Shipwrecked! How social isolation can enrich our spiritual lives – like Robinson Crusoe

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

Nearly lost at sea, Robinson Crusoe lands on an island only to reckon with isolation, solitude and his own life. Culture Club/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

He survived the last great plague in London and the city’s Great Fire. He was imprisoned and persecuted for his religious and political views. There was no happy ending for the...