The Conversation

How to help those who have lost loved ones to suicide cope with grief during the holidays

Written by Michael R. Nadorff, Associate Professor of Psychology, Mississippi State University

Nearly 50,000 Americans kill themselves every year, leaving behind millions of family members and friends.svetikd/E+ via Getty Images

No matter the merriment of the season, the holidays remain a struggle for those who have lost a loved one to suicide.

In 2020, COVID-19 isolated many people from their families. Ironically, that isolation may have...

Sold-out supplies, serving a public need and other adventures of doing science during a pandemic – 4 researchers share their experiences

Written by Christian L'Orange, Assistant Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University

Like much else, scientific labs have been shut down by the pandemic.Cavan Images/Cavan via Getty Images

Closures, remote work, supply chain issues and changing priorities have affected almost everyone’s lives at some point during the nearly two years of the coronavirus pandemic. The process of science itself was no exception. The many people...

'Twas the night before Christmas' helped make the modern Santa – and led to a literary whodunit

Written by Melissa Chim, Adjunct Professor and Reference Librarian, General Theological Seminary

If you picture Santa Claus as plump and jolly and pulled by reindeer, you may have this poem to thank.Clement Clark Moore/New-York Historical Society

The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known by its opening line “‘Twas the Night before Christmas,” has a special place among Christmas traditions, right alongside...

Why spending $2 trillion on child care, health care and fighting climate change won't make inflation any worse than it already is

Written by Michael Klein, Professor of International Economic Affairs at The Fletcher School, Tufts University

You get the metaphor. Edwin Remsberg/The Image Bank via Getty Images

One of the main concerns raised by critics of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is that it will drive up inflation, which is already running at the fastest pace in four decades.

The Senate is currently considering a roughly US$2 trillion bill passed by the House th...

Mistletoe – famous for stolen holiday kisses – is a parasite that steals water and nutrients from other plants

Written by David Hillock, Associate Extension Specialist Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Oklahoma State University

American mistletoe's genus *Phoradendron* means 'thief of trees' in Greek.Joe Decruyenaere/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

A parasitic plant with potentially poisonous berries might not sound like something that would boost your Christmas decorations to the next level. But, botanically speaking, that’s what mistletoe is.

There are some 1,300...

Surveys of scientists show women and young academics suffered most during pandemic and may face long-term career consequences

Written by Lesley Michalegko, Research Project Manager of Public Policy, Arizona State University

Working from home comes with many distractions.MoMoProductions/Digital Vision via Getty Images

On March 6, 2020, universities across the U.S. announced systematic laboratory closures, social distancing policies and travel bans to cope with the growing coronavirus epidemic. These actions, while prudent and necessary, had immediate negative impacts...

It's all in the flag: Bussa's Rebellion and the 200-year fight to end British rule in Barbados

Written by Lewis Eliot, Assistant Professor, History, University of Oklahoma

Dancers perform during the presidential inauguration ceremony at Heroes Square on November 29, 2021, in Bridgetown, Barbados. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

With much fanfare, Barbados officially became a republic, installing Dame Sandra Mason as the first president of the island nation on Nov. 30 2021. Prince Charles, as a representative of Queen...

Latest trials confirm the benefits of MDMA – the drug in ecstasy – for treating PTSD

Written by C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut

MDMA has therapeutic potential for the treatment of PTSD.Aitor Diago/Moment via Getty Images

For people with post-traumatic stress disorder, recalling memories of physical or sexual assault, combat or disaster-related events can induce intense anxiety or panic attacks as well as debilitating flashbacks.

In the U.S., about 7% of people suffer from...

The best way to protect personal biomedical data from hackers could be to treat the problem like a game

Written by Zhiyu Wan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University

Biomedical research relies on large amounts of genomic data, which has to be protected from revealing people's identities.AP Photo/Jerome Delay

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

The big idea

Game theory, which tries to predict how the behavior of competitors influences the choices the other players make, can help...

Brain wrinkles and folds matter – researchers are studying the mechanics of how they form

Written by Mir Jalil Razavi, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Brain folding typically begins at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy and continues after birth.Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images

The human brain has been called the most complex object in the known universe. And with good reason: It has around 86 billion neurons and several hundred thousand miles of axon fibers connecting...