The Conversation

Chronic stress contributes to cognitive decline and dementia risk – 2 healthy-aging experts explain what you can do about it

Written by Jennifer E. Graham-Engeland, Professor of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State

Social isolation is often stressful and can affect the aging brain.MixMedia/E+ via Getty Images

The probability of any American having dementia in their lifetime may be far greater than previously thought. For instance, a 2025 study that tracked a large sample of American adults across more than three decades found that their average likelihood of d...

Trump wants to cut funding to sanctuary cities and towns – but they don’t actually violate federal law

Written by Benjamin Gonzalez O'Brien, Associate Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University

While sanctuary policies for immigrants have grown in the U.S. since the 1980s, the Trump administration is the first to challenge them. Marcos Silva/iStock/Getty Images Plus

San Francisco, Chicago and New York are among the major cities – as well as more than 200 small towns and counties and a dozen states – that over the past 40...

The hidden power of cultural exchanges in countering propaganda and fostering international goodwill

Written by Nicholas J. Cull, Professor of Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

The bluegrass group Della Mae plays at an orphanage in Kyrgyzstan on its State Department-sponsored American Music Abroad tour in 2012. Photo: Paul Rockower

At a time when China is believed to spend about US$8 billion annually sending its ideas and culture around the world, President Donald Trump has proposed to cut by 93% the part of the State...

Public health and private equity: What the Walgreens buyout could mean for the future of pharmacy care

Written by Patrick Aguilar, Professor of Practice of Organizational Behavior, Washington University in St. Louis

Pharmacies are more than just stores – they’re vital links between people and their health care.

One of us, Patrick, witnessed this firsthand in 2003 while working as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens in a midsize West Texas town. Each day involved handling hundreds of prescriptions as they moved through the system –...

A common parasite can decapitate human sperm − with implications for male fertility

Written by Bill Sullivan, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University

_Toxoplasma_ can infiltrate the reproductive system.wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Male fertility rates have been plummeting over the past half-century. An analysis from 1992 noted a steady decrease in sperm counts and quality since the 1940s. A more recent study found that male infertility rates increased nearly 80% from 1990 to 2019. The...

When Elvis and Ella were pressed onto X-rays – the subversive legacy of Soviet ‘bone music’

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

In the Soviet Union, some clever people realized that X-ray film was just soft enough to be etched by a sound recording device.Michelle Mengsu Chang/Toronto Star via Getty Images

When Western Electric invented electrical sound recording 100 years ago, it completely transformed the public’s relationship to music.

Before then, recording was...

High electricity prices zapping your budget? Here are 5 ways to save

Written by Hannah Wiseman, Professor of Law, Penn State

Pennsylvania residents may get sticker shock when they see their electric bills this summer. Aging infrastructure, extreme weather, transmission bottlenecks and increased demand are sending electricity rates soaring.

Widespread rate hikes across the commonwealth started in December 2024 and are continuing in 2025. Rising prices are related to how...

Critical minerals don’t belong in landfills – microwave tech offers a cleaner way to reclaim them from e-waste

Written by Terence Musho, Associate Professor of Engineering, West Virginia University

Broken electronics still contain valuable critical minerals.Beeldbewerking/iStock/Getty Images Plus

When the computer or phone you’re using right now blinks its last blink and you drop it off for recycling, do you know what happens?

At the recycling center, powerful magnets will pull out steel. Spinning drums will toss aluminum into bins....

Texas’ annual reading test adjusted its difficulty every year, masking whether students are improving

Written by Jeanne Sinclair, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Millions of Americans take high-stakes exams every year.Caiaimage/Chris Ryan/iStock via Getty Images

Texas children’s performance on an annual reading test was basically flat from 2012 to 2021, even as the state spent billions of additional dollars on K-12 education.

I recently did a peer-reviewed deep dive into the test design documentation t...

Anti-trans measures don’t just target transgender men and women – a sociologist explains how ‘male’ or ‘female’ categories miss the mark for nonbinary Americans

Written by Barbara J. Risman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Illinois Chicago

The nonbinary flag, shown here on a pin, represents people who say 'man' or 'woman' does not describe their sense of self.Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Moment via Getty Images

Since his inauguration in January 2025, President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders that seek to limit federal recognition of transgender people. These orders...