The Conversation

‘Shared decision-making’ for childhood vaccines sounds empowering – but it may mean less access for families already stretched thin

Written by Y. Tony Yang, Endowed Professor of Health Policy and Associate Dean, George Washington University

Pediatricians often spend at least 10 minutes of an already-short visit discussing vaccines. Heather Hazzan, SELF Magazine

When federal health officials announced on Jan. 5, 2026, that they were taking six out of 17 vaccines off the childhood immunization schedule, they argued that the move would give parents and caregivers more choice.

Instead of...

Live healthier in 2026 by breathing cleaner air at home

Written by Katelyn Richard, Ph.D. Candidate in Analytical Chemistry, Colorado State University

It's not hard to breathe easy at home.Milan Markovic/E+ via Getty Images

I have a health goal for the new year that doesn’t require me to get out of bed earlier or eat fewer cookies. I am an atmospheric chemist and will be committing to clean air at home.

People in the U.S. spend as much as 90% of their lives indoors. Overall, air pollution is...

Americans have had their mail-in ballots counted after Election Day for generations − a Supreme Court ruling could end the practice

Written by Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, Honorary Reader in MIgration and Politics, University of Kent

An active service member used this election war ballot cover to mail in a vote in the 1944 presidential election.National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

What is an election and when is it completed?

That’s the legal question at the heart of Watson v. Republican National Committee, the mail-in ballot case the U.S. Supreme Court took up...

The 17th-century Pueblo leader who fought for independence from colonial rule – long before the American Revolution

Written by Peter C. Mancall, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Po'pay's statue in the U.S. Capitol, representing the state of New Mexico, was dedicated in 2005.Chris Maddaloni/Roll Call/Getty Images

The U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall Collection contains 100 sculptures: two luminaries from each state. They include many familiar figures, such as Helen Keller, Johnny Cash, Ronald Reagan and Amelia Earhart....

Superheavy-lift rockets like SpaceX’s Starship could transform astronomy by making space telescopes cheaper

Written by Martin Elvis, Senior Astrophysicist, Smithsonian Institution

SpaceX's Starship rocket launches in August 2025. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

After a string of dramatic failures, the huge Starship rocket from SpaceX had a fully successful test on Oct. 13, 2025. A couple more test flights, and SpaceX plans to launch it into orbit.

A month later, a rival rocket company, Blue Origin, flew its...

ICE killing of driver in Minneapolis involved tactics many police departments warn against − but not ICE itself

Written by Ben Jones, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State

A protester stands near a makeshift memorial honoring Renee Nicole Good, the victim of a fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving federal law enforcement agents.AP Photo/Tom Baker

Minneapolis is once again the focus of debates about violence involving law enforcement after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Nicole...

New US dietary guidelines recommend more protein and whole milk, less ultraprocessed foods

Written by Cristina Palacios, Professor and Chair of Dietetics and Nutrition, Florida International University

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans shape nutrition policy in the U.S. and abroad.Liudmila Chernetska/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Every five years, the U.S. government releases an updated set of recommendations on healthy eating. This document, called the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, has served as the cornerstone of nutrition policy for...

Illness is more than just biological – medical sociology shows how social factors get under the skin and cause disease

Written by Jennifer Singh, Associate Professor of Sociology, Georgia Institute of Technology

Lack of access to safe and affordable housing is harmful to health.Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Health and medicine is more than just biological – societal forces can get under your skin and cause illness. Medical sociologists like me study these forces by treating society itself as our laboratory. Health and illness are...

Seeking honor is a double-edged sword – from ancient Greece to samurai Japan, thinkers have wrestled with whether it’s the way to virtue

Written by Kenneth Andrew Andres Leonardo, Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government, Hamilton College

Desire for validation from other people can lead people toward virtue – or in the other direction.Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Pete Hegseth, the current defense secretary, has stressed what he calls the “warrior ethos,” while other Americans seem to have embraced a renewed interest in “warrior culture.&rdqu...

Racial profiling by ICE agents mirrors the targeting of Japanese Americans during World War II

Written by Anna Storti, Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and Asian American Studies, Duke University

A Japanese American family is taken to a relocation center in San Francisco in May 1942. Circa Images/GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security in September 2025 said that 2 million undocumented immigrants had been forced out of the United States since the start of Donald Trump’s...