The Conversation

Britain’s new prime minister has a chance to reset ties with the White House – but a range of thorny issues and the US election make it more tricky

Written by Garret Martin, Senior Professorial Lecturer, Co-Director Transatlantic Policy Center, American University School of International Service

Sir Keir Starmer will follow up election win with trip to Washington D.C.eff Moore/PA Images via Getty Images

The new U.K. prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, will have just a couple of days to settle into the job before facing his first test on the global stage.

Having presided over a landslide victory for his party on July 4, 2024, Starmer will head...

Detroit’s legacy of housing inequity has caused long-term health impacts − these policies can help mitigate that harm

Written by Roshanak Mehdipanah, Associate Professor in Public Health, University of Michigan

More than half of Detroiters rent Detroit's aging housing stock.Suzanne Tucker/Getty I,ages

Detroiters who face rising rents, poor living conditions and systemic barriers to affordable and safe housing are at greater risk of poor health, our research finds.

We study the connection between housing inequities and health, with the goal of informing...

Fandom usually means tracking your favorite team for years − so why are the Olympics so good at making us root for sports and athletes we tune out most of the time?

Written by Noah Cohan, Assistant Director of American Culture Studies, Washington University in St. Louis

A fan cheers for U.S. tennis players in the men's doubles gold medal match during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano

Every four years, millions of Americans join billions of their fellow humans across the globe to celebrate the astonishing athletic feats at the Summer Olympics.

Warm-weather sports such as swimming and...

To guard against cyberattacks in space, researchers ask ‘what if?’

Written by Patrick Lin, Professor of Philosophy, California Polytechnic State University

Complex space systems like the International Space Station could be vulnerable to hackers.NASA, CC BY-NC

If space systems such as GPS were hacked and knocked offline, much of the world would instantly be returned to the communications and navigation technologies of the 1950s. Yet space cybersecurity is largely invisible to the public at a time of...

Why US schools need to shake up the way they teach physics

Written by Clausell Mathis, Assistant Professor of Education, Michigan State University

Acceleration and thermal energy are physics concepts that can be applied to stock car racing.Jon Feingersh/The Image Bank via Getty Images

America has a physics problem.

Research shows that access to physics education varies based on race, gender, sexuality and disability. Physics courses are usually standard offerings in suburban high schools, but...

Flirting with disaster: When endangered wild animals try to mate with domestic relatives, both wildlife and people lose

Written by Joel Berger, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, Colorado State University

Domestic Bactrian camels in the Altai province of western Mongolia. Joel Berger/Wildlife Conservation Society, CC BY-ND

Fatal attractions are a standard movie plotline, but they also occur in nature, with much more serious consequences. As a conservation biologist, I’ve seen them play out in some of Earth’s most remote locations, from...

Why Nepal had a religious monarchy − and why some people want it back

Written by Anne Mocko, Associate Professor of Asian Religions, Concordia College

Former King Gyanendra Shah is greeted on his 71st birthday.Narayan Maharjan/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Gyanendra Shah, former king of Nepal, will celebrate his 77th birthday on July 7, 2024. Twenty years ago, his birthday would have been a Nepalese national holiday. Indeed, when I first traveled to Nepal in 2001, the nation prided...

Supreme Court of Oklahoma says no to Catholic charter school – but this may not be the end of the boundary-pushing saga

Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton

The Oklahoma Supreme Court bench is pictured in the state Capitol in Oklahoma City in 2014.AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

In Oklahoma, the start of the school year is just six weeks away. But one closely watched school that had planned to open in 2024 is now in limbo: St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a tuition-free, online, K-12 institution.

St....

Even short trips to space can change an astronaut’s biology − a new set of studies offers the most comprehensive look at spaceflight health since NASA’s Twins Study

Written by Susan Bailey, Professor of Radiation Cancer Biology and Oncology, Colorado State University

Crew members from the Inspiration4 mission. New research looks at the biological effects of their short trip to space. SpaceX, CC BY-NC

Only about 600 people have ever traveled to space. The vast majority of astronauts over the past six decades have been middle-aged men on short-duration missions of fewer than 20 days.

Today, with private,...

Hurricane Beryl’s rapid intensification, Category 5 winds so early in a season were alarming: Here’s why more tropical storms are exploding in strength

Written by Brian Tang, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science, University at Albany, State University of New York

Hurricane Beryl hit the island of Carriacou, Grenada, on July 1, 2024, with 150 mph sustained winds. NOAA

Hurricane Beryl was the latest Atlantic storm to rapidly intensify, growing quickly from a tropical storm into the strongest June hurricane on record in the Atlantic. It hit the Grenadine Islands with 150 mph winds and a destructive storm surge...