The Conversation

Beauty sleep isn’t a myth – a sleep medicine expert explains how rest keeps your skin healthy and youthful

Written by Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh

Getting enough sleep is one of the most accessible and powerful ways to maintain healthy skin.TatyanaGl/iStock via Getty Images

Have you ever woken up after a night of poor sleep, glanced in the mirror and thought, “I look tired?”

You’re not imagining it.

I am a neurologist who specializes in sleep medicine. And though...

Proposed cuts to NIH funding would have ripple effects on research that could hamper the US for decades

Written by Mohammad S. Jalali, Associate Professor, Systems Science and Policy, Harvard University

The NIH is a node in an interconnected system producing health and medical advances. Anchalee Phanmaha/Moment via Getty Images

In May 2025, the White House proposed reducing the budget of the National Institutes of Health by roughly 40% – from about US$48 billion to $27 billion. Such a move would return NIH funding to levels last seen in 2007....

Social scientists have long found women tend to be more religious than men – but Gen Z may show a shift

Written by Ryan Burge, Professor of Practice, Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis

Students leave after attending a Catholic Mass at Benedictine College on Dec. 3, 2023, in Atchison, Kan.AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

For decades, one of the most consistent findings in religion research has been that women tend to be more religious than men. This holds true across dozens of countries and on nearly every measure of religiosity, from how...

Fewer international students are coming to the US, costing universities and communities that benefit from these visitors

Written by Tara Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy, Tufts University

The international student population is expected to experience a dive in the fall of 2025. iStock/Getty Images Plus

American college campuses from Tucson to Tallahassee are buzzing with the familiar routine of students getting settled in classes and dorms.

One new trend, though, is emerging.

An estimated 30% to 40% fewer international students are...

Bolsonaro joins a rogues’ gallery of coup plotters held to account for their failed power grab

Written by John Joseph Chin, Assistant Teaching Professor of Strategy and Technology, Carnegie Mellon University

Soon to be exchanging blinds with bars?Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images

Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction on Sept. 11, 2025, puts the former Brazilian president in a rogues’ gallery of failed coup plotters to be held to account for their attempted power grab.

Brazil’s Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of being part of an armed...

‘This will not end here’: A scholar explains why Charlie Kirk’s killing could embolden political violence

Written by Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass Lowell

A boy in Scottsdale, Ariz., attends a Catholic rosary prayer vigil for Charlie Kirk after he was killed during a Utah college event on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

The fatal shooting of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025, has brought renewed attention to the climate of political violence in...

Detroit is the most challenging place in the country for people with asthma − here’s how to help kids in the Motor City breathe easier

Written by Rhonda Conner-Warren, Assistant Professor of Health Programs, Michigan State University

Smoke and haze from a Canadian wildfire blankets downtown Detroit in August 2025. AP Photo/Ryan Sun

Detroit kids 17 and under were nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than other kids in Michigan, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released on Sept. 2, 2025. The data examines the...

Who was Charlie Kirk? The activist who turned campus politics into national influence

Written by Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin, Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs, Boise State University

Charlie Kirk addresses the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024. Al Drago/Getty Images

The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, has drawn widespread condemnation and renewed attention to the climate of political violence in the United States....

Federal subpoenas for transgender care records raise medical privacy concerns and put providers in a legal bind – a health law expert explains what’s at stake

Written by Margaret Riley, Professor of Law, Public Health Sciences, and Public Policy, University of Virginia

Under medical privacy regulations, health care providers can disclose health information in response to a subpoena, but they are not required to.designer491/iStock via Getty Images

On Sept. 10, 2025, a federal judge blocked the Department of Justice’s attempt to subpoena medical records and other private health information on minors receiving...

A federal program helps older people get jobs, but the Trump administration wants to get rid of it

Written by Cal J. Halvorsen, Associate Professor of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis

The program helps Americans over 55 find job training and short-term employment.Marc Romanelli/Tetra images via Getty Images

For the first time in U.S. history, there are more Americans over 62 than under 18. With the national workforce getting older every year, many economists argue that having people keep working longer than they used to would...