The Conversation

How the media falls short in reporting epidemics

Written by Yotam Ophir, Postdoctoral Fellow in Science Communication at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania

Lethal infectious diseases are making headlines again, with 17 confirmed new Ebola cases reported in Congo as of August 8. The news brings back the memories of Americans’ unjustified fear during the 2014 outbreak.

In any outbreak or public health crisis, health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention need to...

Wildfires are inevitable – increasing home losses, fatalities and costs are not

Written by Max Moritz, Cooperative Extension Wildfire Specialist at the University of California Forest Research and Outreach; Adjunct Professor Bren School of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Cal Fire Division Chief Mark Higgins directs helicopters dropping water in Lakeport, California. AP Photo/Noah Berger

Wildfire has been an integral part of California ecosystems for centuries. Now, however, nearly a third of homes in California are in wildland urban interface areas where houses intermingling with wildlands and fire is a natural...

We are guinea pigs in a worldwide experiment on microplastics

Written by John Meeker, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan

Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea.By Dirk Wahn/shutterstock.com

One of the main problems with plastics is that although we may only need them fleetingly – seconds in the case of microbeads in personal care products, or minutes as in plastic grocery bags – they stick around for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, much of this plastic...

¿Las noticias te estresan? Estas 4 técnicas de entrenamiento mental te ayudarán a calmar el cerebro

Written by Laurel Mellin, Associate Clinical Professor of Family & Community Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco

El estrés existe para ayudarnos a escapar de una situación de peligro físico, no reaccionar mal al periódico cada mañana. Shutterstock

Desde la histeria provocada por la nominación de un candidato conservador a la Corte Suprema a las políticas anti-inmigrante de Donald Trump y el crecimiento de las...

¿Las noticias te estresan? Estas cuatro técnicas de entrenamiento mental te ayudarán a calmar el cerebro

Written by Laurel Mellin, Associate Clinical Professor of Family & Community Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco

El estrés existe para ayudarnos a escapar de una situación de peligro físico, no reaccionar mal al periódico cada mañana. Shutterstock

Desde la histeria provocada por la nominación de un candidato conservador a la Corte Suprema a las políticas anti-inmigrante de Donald Trump y el crecimiento de las...

Designed to deceive: How gambling distorts reality and hooks your brain

Written by Mike Robinson, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Wesleyan University

The longer they keep you plugged in to a game, the better it is for the house.AP Photo/Seth Wenig

To call gambling a “game of chance” evokes fun, random luck and a sense of collective engagement. These playful connotations may be part of why almost 80 percent of American adults gamble at some point in their lifetime. When I ask my...

Immigration activists fighting to abolish ICE have a bigger vision

Written by A. Naomi Paik, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

There’s a phrase being thrown around a lot these days: “Abolish ICE.” It’s a hashtag, it’s used in political speeches and demonstrations, and it appears all over Facebook.

What does it mean and where did it come from?

ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that enforces immigration laws...

Saudi women can drive, but are their voices being heard?

Written by Nermin Allam, Assistant Professor of Politics, Rutgers University Newark

A woman in Saudi Arabia drives to work for the first time in Riyadh.AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty

Earlier this summer, Saudi Arabia lifted the decades-long ban on women’s driving. The move is part of a series of reforms that the country has been implementing. In April the kingdom loosened male guardianship laws – under which women need the...

The promise of personalized medicine is not for everyone

Written by Daniel R. Weinberger, Director of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and Professor, Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience and The Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

African-Americans are underrepresented in large-scale genetic and neuroscience studies.Wadi Lissa/Unsplash

Could your medical treatment one day be tailored to your DNA? That’s the promise of “personalized medicine,” an individualized approach that has caught the imagination of doctors and researchers over the past few years. This...

Obesity and diabetes: 2 reasons why we should be worried about the plastics that surround us

Written by Bruce Blumberg, Professor, Developmental & Cell Biology , University of California, Irvine

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used in a variety of applications from plumbing to health care to electronics.By SIRIKANLAYA KHLIBNGERN/shutterstock.com

Today, nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults and 21 percent of youth are obese. This trend is on the upswing and the worldwide population is becoming more obese – which is increasing the risk of other...