The Conversation

Anxiety and ADHD can overlap – here’s how to untangle these widespread mental health disorders

Written by Deldhy Nicolás Moya Sánchez, Psychiatrist and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Untreated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder can cause performance problems at school or work, leading to depression and financial stress.Pheelings Media/iStock via Getty Images

For decades, one of the greatest challenges to treating neurological disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is that its symptoms often resemble...

Controversy over Reese’s ingredients reveals standard food industry practices most consumers never notice

Written by Jonathan Deutsch, Professor of Food and Hospitality Management, Drexel University

A 'triangle test' involves mixing up two of the original products with one of the new reformulation -- or vice versa -- to see whether taste testers notice the difference.Garrett Aitken/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Springtime in Pennsylvania is peanut butter egg season. This year some consumers may taste the eggs a bit more critically...

A pet-friendly homeless shelter pilot reduced the rate of homelessness among the people it helped in California

Written by Benjamin F. Henwood, Professor of Social Policy and Health, University of Southern California

A homeless woman in Los Angeles holds her dog after a free veterinary visit in 2024.Mario Tama/Getty Images

When homeless shelters allow people to stay with their dogs and other pets, more unhoused people become more willing to stay in a shelter.

That’s what my team at the University of Southern California’s Homelessness Policy Research...

What ‘gooning’ reveals about intimacy in a world cordoned off by screens

Written by Jennifer Pollitt, Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, Temple University

Gooning usually involves streaming online pornography across multiple screens and browsers for hours at a time.Tero Vesalainen/iStock via Getty Images

Four years ago, I started a class at Temple University titled, “Social Perspectives of Digital Pornography: The Other Sex Ed,” centered on porn literacy, or what young people learn...

Iran war and other tough topics give K-12 teachers chance to teach students how, not what, to think

Written by Boaz Dvir, Associate Professor of Journalism, Penn State

Many teachers are missing the opportunity to use events like the Iran war as teachable moments. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

It’s a scene that’s played out in K-12 schools around the country in recent years. Unprompted, a student expresses her thoughts or feelings about a difficult issue, such as the Iran war. A murmur spreads...

How the Emerald Isle shaped the Steel City – Pittsburgh’s rich Irish history

Written by Paula Kane, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Tens of thousands of locals will line Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 14, 2026.AP Photo/Erin Hooley

Downtown Pittsburgh will turn green on Saturday, March 14. Tens of thousands will line Grant Street for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the...

Jesse Jackson’s misdiagnosis of Parkinson’s is common – new genetic discovery could lead to treatment for this deadly disease

Written by Jose Abisambra, Professor of Neuroscience, University of Florida

Rev. Jesse Jackson died at age 84 after living with progressive supranuclear palsy.AP Photo/Erin Hooley

“Yes, doctor. My dad’s first fall was on his 65th birthday. He stood in the driveway and suddenly dropped backwards on his back. After he fell two more times, we came to the clinic.”

The symptoms the patient’s son...

As the Oscars approach, Hollywood grapples with AI’s growing influence on filmmaking

Written by Holly Willis, Professor of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California

Artificial intelligence's relationship to filmmaking is rapidly evolving, with each week bringing new – often startling – developments.Nick Lehr/The Conversation, CC BY-SA

I teach a course on AI and filmmaking at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and lately, rather than planning each session well in advance, I’ve been...

I was teaching virtue and knowledge while lying on the side

Written by Katherine Moses, Instructional Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Mississippi

Vice usually emerges from a series of small permissions and self-deceptions that gather steam.Rafa Elias/Moment via Getty Images

I had been with my boyfriend, Tyler, for almost 10 years when we finally agreed that we should get engaged and married. Up until then, our respective jobs – mine as an academic, his as a fisherman – had forced...

While the US government is investigating unidentified anomalous phenomena, academic researchers studying them face stigma

Written by Darrell Evans, Professor of Environmental Science and Sustainability, Purdue University

A famous UAP video shows an unexplained object as it soars high along the clouds, traveling against the wind.Department of Defense via AP

President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon and other federal agencies to begin releasing government files related to UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena – called UAP – in February 2026,...