The Conversation

Diary of Samuel Pepys shows how life under the bubonic plague mirrored today's pandemic

Written by Ute Lotz-Heumann, Heiko A. Oberman Professor of Late Medieval and Reformation History, University of Arizona

There were eerie similarities between Pepys' time and our own.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In early April, writer Jen Miller urged New York Times readers to start a coronavirus diary.

“Who knows,” she wrote, “maybe one day your diary will provide a valuable window into this period.”

During a different pandemic, one...

Coronavirus is spreading through rural South’s high-risk population – reopening economies will make it worse

Written by Anne Cafer, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Mississippi

In the rural South, chronic illnesses are common, the population is older and health care options have been declining as hospitals close. All put the population at higher risk from COVID-19.AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

In the rural South, the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming a silent disaster.

As rural residents commute to jobs in cities and...

What is a brain freeze?

Written by Tyler Daniel Anderson-Sieg, Doctoral Student in Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina

Cold and sweet in the heat.Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

What is a brain freeze?

Has this ever happened to you? You’re eating a delicious ice cream cone or frozen lemonade, so...

How to score an internship during the COVID-19 pandemic

Written by Jon Schlesinger, Lecturer in the Schol of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Hiatt Career Center, Brandeis University

Forty percent of employers have moved to virtual internships.fizkes/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: Even though unemployment has reached a record high due to business closures and social distancing measures brought about by the new coronavirus, you can still snag an internship if you know how to adapt and get creative. That advice comes from Jon...

BP paid a steep price for the Gulf oil spill but for the US a decade later, it's business as usual

Written by David M. Uhlmann, Jeffrey F. Liss Professor from Practice and Director, Environmental Law and Policy Program, University of Michigan

Pools of floating crude oil at the site of the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, April 27, 2010.Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images

The largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history began ten years ago, on April 20, 2010. A massive explosion killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and a blowout spewed more than 3 million barrels of oil...

Scientists are working to protect invaluable living collections during coronavirus lockdowns

Written by Matt Kasson, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology and Mycology, West Virginia University

Campus shutdowns mean researchers must be classified as essential personnel to tend collections, like these fungus-colonized plants.Cameron Stauder, CC BY-ND

During World War II, a devoted group of botanists guarded the world’s oldest collection of plants over the 28-month-long siege of Leningrad. Nearly a dozen of them starved to death,...

Renters still left out in the cold despite temporary coronavirus protection

Written by Kirk McClure, Professor of Urban Planning, University of Kansas

Protesters demanding a freeze on rents in Minneapolis. Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images

Emergency relief for renters across America may protect them from the threat of eviction during the coronavirus crisis – but it won’t last for long.

The economic shutdown necessitated by COVID-19 has undermined the ability of...

Hajj cancellation wouldn't be the first – plague, war and politics disrupted pilgrimages long before coronavirus

Written by Ken Chitwood, Lecturer, Concordia College New York | Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Concordia College New York

Muslim pilgrims wear masks while praying at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on Feb. 27, 2020.Abdel Ghani Bashir/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia has urged Muslims to delay their plans for the hajj, amid speculation that the obligatory pilgrimage may be canceled this year due to the coronavirus.

Earlier this year, Saudi...

Why farmers are dumping milk down the drain and letting produce rot in fields

Written by Elizabeth Ransom, Associate Professor of International Affairs & Senior Research Associate Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

A Pennsylvania dairy farmer watches 5,500 gallons of milk swirl down the drain.MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Many Americans may be surprised and confused to see farmers dumping milk down the drain or letting vegetables rot in their fields.

Why would they be destroying food at a time when grocery stores and food pantries struggle to...

Why there isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan for states to reopen their economies

Written by Hilary Godwin, Dean, School of Public Health, University of Washington

California is working with Oregon and Washington on coordinated plans for phasing in the reopening of restaurants, stores and other parts of their economies in a way that can keep the coronavirus pandemic at bay.Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: How and when states reopen their economies will look different from one state to the next...