The Conversation

A cold shock to ease the burn − how brief stress can help your brain reframe a tough workout

Written by Marcelo Bigliassi, Assistant Professor, Florida International University

When you lift weights, walk up a steep hill or ride a bike, your body is continuously sending sensory signals to your brain. These signals paint a picture of the physical sensation of what you’re doing. Your brain then takes these signals and filters them through your past experience, goals, expectations and current emotional state.

It turns...

Bolsonaro conviction breaks Brazil’s record of handing impunity to coup plotters and may protect its democracy from military interference

Written by Rafael R. Ioris, Professor of Modern Latin America History, University of Denver

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes delivered the verdict. Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)

Brazil has a long and tragic history of military intervention in politics. Too often, the country’s armed forces have made themselves arbiters of what the country’s government could or could not do.

In many cases, the military has...

For birds, flocks promise safety – especially if you’re faster than your neighbor

Written by Joan Strassmann, Professor of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis

Sanderlings run in groups as they hunt for food in the sand on Long Beach Island, N.J.Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography/Moment via Getty Images

As I walked along Bolivar Flats, just across from Galveston Island in Texas, I watched flocks of sanderlings forage along the frothy wavefront as it surged and retreated. Nearby, Caspian terns, Am...

Fed rate cut is attempt to prevent recession without sending prices soaring

Written by Ryan Herzog, Associate Professor of Economics, Gonzaga University

The Fed's job can seem like a balancing act.Dimitri Otis/DigitalVision via Getty Images

The Federal Reserve on Sept. 17, 2025, cut its target interest rate as it shifts focus from fighting inflation to supporting the choppy labor market.

As financial markets expected, the Fed lowered rates a quarter point to a range of 4% to 4.25%, its first cut...

Vaccine death and side effects database relies on unverified reports – and Trump officials and right-wing media are applying it out of context

Written by Matt Motta, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University

Government approval of COVID-19 vaccines determines their availability to populations vulnerable to infection, such as children.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Trump officials intend to link 25 child deaths to COVID-19 vaccines, according to reporting from The Washington Post. These findings will reportedly be discussed during the Sept. 18-19, 2025,...

Right-wing extremist violence is more frequent and more deadly than left-wing violence − what the data shows

Written by Art Jipson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Dayton

President Donald Trump is targeting left-wing organizations he incorrectly says promote political violence.Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images

After the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump claimed that radical leftist groups foment political violence in the U.S., and “they...

Can violent extremists be deradicalized? I spoke with 24 former terrorists in Indonesia to find out

Written by Bernard Loesi, PhD Candidate in International Studies, University of Washington

Alleged members of Jemaah Islamiyah behind bars at the South Jakarta court detention house on April 7, 2009.Bay Ismoyo/AFP via Getty Images

Terrorism remains a persistent threat to nations around the world.

Indeed, the Global Terrorism Index, an annual chronicle of terrorism trends, found in its latest report that the number of countries that...

Mars rovers serve as scientists’ eyes and ears from millions of miles away – here are the tools Perseverance used to spot a potential sign of ancient life

Written by Ari Koeppel, Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Scientist and Adjunct Associate, Dartmouth College

Scientists absorb data on monitors in mission control for NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover.NASA/Bill Ingalls, CC BY-NC-ND

NASA’s search for evidence of past life on Mars just produced an exciting update. On Sept. 10, 2025, a team of scientists published a paper detailing the Perseverance rover’s investigation of a distinctive rock...

Muslim men have often been portrayed as ‘terrorists’ or ‘fanatics’ on TV shows, but Muslim-led storytelling is trying to change that narrative

Written by Tazeen M. Ali, Assistant Professor of Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis

Hulu’s comedy-drama series 'Ramy,' created by actor-comedian Ramy Youssef, follows a young Egyptian-American Muslim navigating life’s challenges. Youssef, center, appears at a press conference in 2019.Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

For over a century, Hollywood has tended to portray Muslim men through a remarkably narrow lens: as...

Would you eat a grasshopper? In Oaxaca, it’s been a tasty tradition for thousands of years

Written by Jeffrey H. Cohen, Professor of Anthropology, The Ohio State University

Billions of people regularly eat insects. In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, chapulines – toasted grasshoppers – stand out as a beloved seasonal treat that follows the start of the rainy season, a period that runs from late May through September.

My new book, “Eating Grasshoppers: Chapulines and the Women who Sell Them,&rdqu...