The Conversation

LA gets rain, but also risk of flooding and debris flows from wildfire burn scars – a geologist explains the threat

Written by Jen Pierce, Professor of Geosciences, Boise State University

A debris flow channel in a severely burned watershed in Idaho.Amirhossein Montazeri/Boise State University, CC BY-ND

While firefighters work to extinguish the Los Angeles-area wildfires, city officials and emergency managers are also worried about what could come next.

Light rain began falling on Jan. 25, 2025, helping firefighters who have been...

FDA bans Red 3 dye from food and drugs – a scientist explains the artificial color’s health risks and long history

Written by Lorne J. Hofseth, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina

Look out for Red 3, FD&C Red No. 3, erythrosine or E127 in the ingredients list of your favorite processed foods.Anhelina Chumak/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Red 3 – also called FD&C Red No. 3, erythrosine or E127 – has been widely used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals since its FDA approval in 1969. You’ve likely...

Kremlin promotes ‘traditional values’ – but leaves some battles to the governors

Written by Guzel Garifullina, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond

Vladimir Putin poses with participants at the Russia Expo in Moscow in front of a sign that says 'Year of the Family' on Jan. 23, 2024. Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

As 2025 begins, Russia ends its official “Year of the Family.” But the state has been promoting what it calls “traditional” or...

What another Lukashenko ‘victory’ will mean for Europe’s security – and that of Belarus’ citizenry

Written by Tatsiana Kulakevich, Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, University of South Florida

Europe’s longest-serving authoritarian leader, Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko, is set to run for a seventh term on Jan. 26, 2025. And even before the first vote is counted, it can be stated with a fair degree of confidence that he will prevail.

With no genuine opposition and a history of vote rigging, Lukashenko – in power since...

Meet phosphine, a gas commonly used for industrial fumigation that can damage your lungs, heart and liver

Written by Aliasger K. Salem, Associate Vice President for Research and Bighley Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Iowa

Grain transported in cargo ships usually undergoes fumigation to kill pests − a process that often uses toxic phosphine gas. bfk92/E+ via Getty Images

In 1980, two children and 29 crew members aboard a grain freighter became ill. They had been exposed to phosphine – a chemical used in fumigation to kill pests in and on grain – for...

Many more older people are leaving prison and face unmet needs for housing and health care − as well as a tangle of groups trying to help

Written by Angela S. Murolo, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology, St. Francis College

Nearly a quarter of all people in U.S. prisons are 50 or older, like these inmates at FMC Devens in Massachusetts in 2015. Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images

American prisons are rapidly graying.

Following decades of mass incarceration, exacerbated by the U.S. war on drugs, the proportion of older people in prison has increased since...

As Gaza ceasefire takes hold, Israeli forces turn to Jenin – a regular target seen as a center of Palestinian resistance

Written by Maha Nassar, Associate Professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona

Just two days after a shaky ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel on Jan. 21, 2025, launched a large-scale incursion of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Soldiers raided hundreds of homes in the West Bank city in what the Israeli military called a “counterterrorism” operation, aiming to reassert control there. Many...

What is seditious conspiracy, which is among the most serious crimes Trump pardoned?

Written by Amy Cooter, Director of Research, Academic Development and Innovation at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, Middlebury

The Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol was the result of a planned conspiracy to disrupt the government, prosecutors alleged.AP Photo/John Minchillo

Several of the highest-profile figures in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection were charged with, and convicted of, the crime of seditious conspiracy, which is defined as the act of getting together with...

Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs may lower risk of 42 health conditions, but also pose risks

Written by Ziyad Al-Aly, Clinical Epidemiologist, Washington University in St. Louis

The research shows the health effects of these drugs are significant and wide-ranging.Mario Tama via Getty Images News

Several years ago, a little-known drug named Ozempic – previously used only to treat diabetes – emerged as a promising new drug for weight management.

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Ozempic in 2021...

Warning of ‘oligarchy,’ Biden channels Andrew Jackson

Written by Daniel Feller, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Tennessee

In some circumstances, a president’s official Farewell Address to the Nation may be an occasion for sunny reflection. President Joe Biden’s, delivered five days before he left office, began that way, with a celebration of America’s promise and of its progress under his tenure.

But midway through, Biden’s tone shifted...