The Conversation

Social distancing is no reason to stop service learning – just do it online

Written by Marianne E. Krasny, Professor of Environmental Education and Civic Ecology, Cornell University

College students don't have to appear in person to do good.Tom Werner/Getty Images

At Troy University in Alabama, students went online to help a county with a high infant mortality rate in the state of Georgia to analyze health disparities and develop solutions.

At Cornell University, where I teach, law students are providing legal services online...

Everyday ethics: Stripping puts me in close contact with others – should I go back to work?

Written by Lee McIntyre, Research Fellow, Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University

Tipping from a social distance at The Lucky Devil strip club in Portland, Oregon. Steve Dykes/Getty Images

A lot of people are facing ethical decisions about their daily life as a result of the coronavirus. Ethicist Lee McIntyre has stepped in to help provide advice over the moral dilemmas we face. If you have a question you’d like a...

Delaying primaries helps protect incumbents as well as voters

Written by Robert Boatright, Professor of Political Science, Clark University

An Ohio election official on the night of the primary vote rescheduled from March 17 to April 28.AP/Gene J. Puskar

Nineteen states, including Wyoming, Hawaii and Maryland, have postponed or canceled their primary elections. To many Americans, the idea that states might cancel or postpone their primaries as a response to the COVID-19 epidemic may...

We designed an experimental AI tool to predict which COVID-19 patients are going to get the sickest

Written by Anasse Bari, Clinical Assistant Professor of Computer Science, New York University

AI can help doctors tackle new problems. Paulus Rusyanto / EyeEm via Getty Images

COVID-19 doesn’t create cookie cutter infections. Some people have extremely mild cases while others find themselves fighting for their lives.

Clinicians are working with limited resources against a disease that is very hard to predict. Knowing which patients...

A new type of chemical bond: The charge-shift bond

Written by John Morrison Galbraith, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Marist College

A universe of chemical equations.Nikolayenko Yekaterina/Shutterstock.com

The Abstract features interesting research and the people behind it.

John Morrison Galbraith is an associate professor of chemistry at Marist College who studies chemical bonding, which is the process that holds atoms together to make molecules.

What have you discovered?

Did you...

What is the ACE2 receptor, how is it connected to coronavirus and why might it be key to treating COVID-19? The experts explain

Written by Krishna Sriram, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California San Diego

A molecular model of the spike proteins (red) of SARS-CoV-2 binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) protein, the receptor (blue) which is its the entry route to the target cell.Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library

In the search for treatments for COVID-19, many researchers are focusing their attention on a specific protein that allows...

'I thought I could wait this out': Fearing coronavirus, patients are delaying hospital visits, putting health and lives at risk

Written by Arif R. Sarwari, Physician, associate professor of infectious diseases, chair of Department of Medicine, West Virginia University

Emergency rooms across the country are seeing sharp drops in the number of patients seeking care for problems other than COVID-19.AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

“Where have all the patients gone?” That’s what doctors in our West Virginia University hospitals began asking as the coronavirus...

Masks help stop the spread of coronavirus – the science is simple and I'm one of 100 experts urging governors to require public mask-wearing

Written by Jeremy Howard, Distinguished Research Scientist, University of San Francisco

Evidence is growing that when masks are worn by nearly everyone, it can slow coronavirus transmission.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

I’m a data scientist at the University of San Francisco and teach courses online in machine learning for fast.ai. In late March, I decided to use public mask-wearing as a case study to show my students how to combine and...

Americans may be willing to pay $5 trillion to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save lives

Written by Diego C. Nocetti, Professor of Economics and Financial Studies, Clarkson University

Social distancing has costs.narvikk/Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

A new analysis suggests Americans are willing to pay about US$5 trillion to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save as many lives as possible – dwarfing the $3 trillion Congress has so far agreed to spend to support the...

What the coronavirus crisis reveals about vulnerable populations behind bars and on the streets

Written by Stephanie Hartwell, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Professor of Sociology and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

Inmates work in the laundry room at Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility in Santee, California, on April 22, 2020.Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

The notion that COVID-19 is an equal opportunity killer has crumbled. The health and economic fallout from the crisis has disproportionately hit lower-income areas and communities of color. Nowhere...