The Conversation

Anthrax-causing bacteria have dwelled in soil for centuries – cycling through people, animals and earth

Written by Hannah Kinzer, Ph.D. Candidate in Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis

Without timely treatment, _Bacillus anthracis_ can cause fatal infection.CDC

The bacteria that cause deadly anthrax disease persist in the earth, a place their ancestors preferred over petri dishes and blood-filled tissues.

The bacteria that cause anthrax are called Bacillus anthracis. In the soil, they hang out and can form communities around plant...

Pittsburgh’s post-steel economy is a success – and a warning for other cities

Written by Christopher Briem, Regional Economist, Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh

Slow and steady growth in higher education and health care led to economic advantages for Pittsburgh.YT412/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Few regions pose as much of an economic conundrum as Pittsburgh.

Is the city and region – once the center of American steelmaking – a paragon of postindustrial transformation, or a left-behind region...

If using ChatGPT is cheating, what about ghostwriting? The old debate behind a new panic

Written by Emily Hodgson Anderson, Professor of English and Dean of Undergraduate Education, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Ghostwriting sits at the nexus of collaboration and deception. EThamPhoto/The Image Bank via Getty Images

In February 2023, a little more than a year after the launch of ChatGPT, Vanderbilt University sent an email to its student body in the wake of a fatal campus shooting at Michigan State.

“The recent Michigan shootings are a tragic reminder...

How far can Iran’s ballistic missiles reach? A defense expert explains how the missiles work, and what Iran can and can’t hit

Written by Iain Boyd, Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives and Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

Iran launched two missiles, possibly modified versions of this Khorramshahr ballistic missile, at the island of Diego Garcia.Iranian Defense Ministry via AP

Iran fired two ballistic missiles on March 20, 2026, at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which hosts a strategically important joint U.S.-U.K. military base, according to U.S., U.K. and...

Growing up during Sri Lanka’s civil war taught me that getting along with people across divides is a virtue we can learn

Written by Eranda Jayawickreme, Professor of Psychology & Senior Research Fellow, Program for Leadership and Character, Wake Forest University

Traditional dancers perform in front of the Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, celebrating the Buddhist festival of Esala Perahera, in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on Aug. 8, 2025.Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images

I grew up in Sri Lanka. Much of my adolescence was spent in Kandy, a city built around a lake, set amid the lush tea plantations of the hill...

What an ancient devotional text means for the women of Nepal

Written by Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz, Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Asian Studies, Penn State

Nepalese women participate in the 'Swasthani Vrata Katha' ritual.Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz, CC BY-SA

I first heard the popular “Swasthani Vrata Katha” – a devotional text – recited in Sankhu, a village on the outskirts of Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, some 25 years ago.

The text tells the story, or “katha,”...

Drones paired with AI could help search-and-rescue teams find missing persons faster

Written by Adeel Khalid, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Kennesaw State University

An AI system can analyze data from a drone to detect people in a forest – and determine what condition they're in.Adeel Khalid

A combination of infrared imaging, thermal imaging and color cameras on an uncrewed drone, along with an AI system to interpret the data, can help emergency responders and search-and-rescue teams locate, identify and...

60 years of fiber optics: How a carrier of light you can’t see underlies much of the modern world

Written by John Ballato, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University

Fiber optics, illustrated here, underpin much of modern communications. Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

Imagine a world without internet, email, streaming services or social media. Imagine having to write letters or call everyone on a rotary dial phone to communicate. Imagine having to drive to a store to buy anything and everything....

‘Vas Madness’ shows the power of messaging on men’s contraceptive decisions

Written by Jenna Vinson, Associate Professor of English, UMass Lowell

Urologists market vasectomies to their clients during March Madness, when they can watch the basketball tournament while recovering from the procedure.Lew Robertson/Stone via Getty Images

Bracket-busting upsets, Cinderella stories, OT buzzer beaters – March Madness is here! Or, as some urologists think of it, vasectomy promotion season.

Since...

Irrational decision or helpful evolutionary adaptation? A philosopher on the rationality wars behind ‘nudge’ policy

Written by Alejandro Hortal-Sánchez, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; University of North Carolina – Greensboro

A classic example of a nudge is making the healthy choices easier to grab in a cafeteria.Maskot via Getty Images

Twelve-year-old Jaysen Carr died in July 2025. While he swam in Lake Murray, a reservoir a few miles from Columbia, South Carolina, Naegleria fowleri – a rare amoeba found in warm fresh water – entered through his nose,...