The Conversation

Students of color are at greater risk for reading difficulties – even in kindergarten

Written by Paul L. Morgan, Director, Institute for Social and Health Equity, University at Albany, State University of New York

The achievement gap for young readers is stark, even in kindergarten.andresr/E+ via Getty Images

Black, Hispanic and Native American students are more likely than white or Asian students to struggle with reading – and that gap emerges early, according to our new research. During kindergarten, they are more likely to score in the lowest 10% on...

Under Ron DeSantis’ leadership, Florida leads the nation in executions in 2025

Written by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

Florida has executed 15 prisoners in 2025 so far, with two more executions scheduled for November.MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

After years of steady decline in the number of people executed in the United States, there has been a sharp reversal in 2025.

So far this year, 41 people have been killed in 11 states, with five more...

The UN is reinventing peacekeeping – Haiti is the testing ground

Written by Bulbul Ahmed, PhD Candidate, University of Iowa; Bangladesh University of Professionals

A Kenyan police officer, part of a U.N.-backed multinational force, patrols a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in December 2024.AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph

For decades, the United Nations has intervened in Haiti in a bid to address persistent political, economic and security crises. To date, all attempts have failed.

Now, the international body is trying...

Star-shaped cells make a molecule that can ‘rewire’ the brains of mice with Down syndrome – understanding how could lead to new treatments

Written by Ashley Brandebura, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, University of Virginia

Astrocytes (red) are vital to forming neural connections.Jeffrey C. Smith Lab, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH

Delivering a connection-building protein to star-shaped cells in the brain could reverse changes to neural circuits seen in Down syndrome, according to new research my colleagues and I published in the journal...

Electric fields steered nanoparticles through a liquid-filled maze – this new method could improve drug delivery and purification systems

Written by Daniel K. Schwartz, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Nanoparticles move through materials like tiny cars through a maze. OsakaWayne Studios/Moment via Getty Images

In the home, the lab and the factory, electric fields control technologies such as Kindle displays, medical diagnostic tests and devices that purify cancer drugs. In an electric field, anything with an electrical charge – from an...

Blame the shutdown on citizens who prefer politicians to vanquish their opponents rather than to work for the common good

Written by Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University

Who is really responsible for the longest government shutdown in history?iStock/Getty Images Plus

The United States was founded on the idea that government exists to serve its people. To do this, government must deliver services that promote the common good. When the government shuts down, it fails to meet its fundamental purpose.

While government...

A bold new investment fund aims to channel billions into tropical forest protection – one key change can make it better

Written by Jason Gray, Environmental Attorney, Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, University of California, Los Angeles

Cattle, the No. 1 cause of tropical deforestation, roam on tropical forest land that was stripped bare in Acre, Brazil.AP Photo/Eraldo Peres

The world is losing vast swaths of forests to agriculture, logging, mining and fires every year — more than 20 million acres in 2024 alone, roughly the size of South Carolina.

That’s bad news...

Canada loses its official ‘measles-free’ status – and the US will follow soon, as vaccination rates fall

Written by Kathryn H. Jacobsen, William E. Cooper Distinguished University Chair, Professor of Health Studies, University of Richmond

Canada eliminated measles in 1998 but had a major outbreak in 2025.jure/iStock via Getty Images Plus

In the wake of a measles outbreak in Canada that has infected thousands of people over the past year, an international health agency revoked the country’s measles-free status on Nov. 10, 2025.

The Pan American Health Organization, which serves...

What America’s divided and tumultuous politics of the late-19th century can teach us

Written by Robert A. Strong, Senior Fellow, Miller Center, University of Virginia

Can today's divided America learn something from the divisions of the past?zimmytws, iStock/Getty Images Plus

People trying to understand politics in the United States today often turn to history for precedents and perspective. Are our current divisions like the ones that preceded the American Revolution or the Civil War? Did the dramatic events of...

The ‘supercenter’ effect: How massive, one-stop retailers fuel overconsumption − and waste

Written by Suvrat Dhanorkar, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

'Big-box' supercenters can contribute to overpurchasing by shoppersFrederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Imagine walking out of a Walmart, Target or Costco. As you push your large shopping cart to your car, you ask yourself: Did I really need all that stuff?

The answer is you probably didn’t.

In a recent study, my co-authors Lina Wang, Sungho...