The Conversation

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...

Federal judge overturns part of Florida’s book ban law, drawing on nearly 100 years of precedent protecting First Amendment access to ideas

Written by James B. Blasingame, Professor of English, Arizona State University

Some school librarians in Florida have found themselves in the midst of controversy over complaints of "obscene" titles in their libraries.Trish233/iStock via Getty Images

When a junior at an Orange County public high school in Florida visited the school library to check out a copy of “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, it wasn’t in...

Why do big oil companies invest in green energy?

Written by Michael Oxman, Professor of the Practice of Sustainable Business, Georgia Institute of Technology

A flare burns natural gas at an oil well on Aug. 26, 2021, in Watford City, N.D.AP Photo/Matthew Brown

Some major oil companies such as Shell and BP that once were touted as leading the way in clean energy investments are now pulling back from those projects to refocus on oil and gas production. Others, such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron, have...