The Conversation

Ransomware can interfere with elections and fuel disinformation – basic cybersecurity precautions are key to minimizing the damage

Written by Richard Forno, Senior Lecturer, Cybersecurity & internet researcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Ransomware attacks often strike local government computer systems, which poses a challenge for protecting elections.PRImageFactory/iStock via Getty Images

Government computer systems in Hall County, Georgia, including a voter signature database, were hit by a ransomware attack earlier this fall in the first known ransomware attack on election...

The US economy's record swings: 4 essential reads

Written by Bryan Keogh, Senior Editor, Economy + Business

Back in the swing of things.AP Photo/Michael Probst

The U.S. economy rebounded from its unprecedented coronavirus plunge in the spring with a record surge over the summer, giving the president some good news just days before Election Day.

Gross domestic product climbed 33% in the third quarter, from July through September, according to the Commerce...

Want to teach kids about nature? Insects can help

Written by Akito Y. Kawahara, Associate Professor and Curator of Insects, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida

Insects are an inexpensive and effective way to teach children about science. Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images Plus

Insects are everywhere – in backyards, balconies and the park down the street.

In fact, numerically speaking, insects dominate the Earth with more than 5.5 million species. An estimated 10 quintillion – or...

Rumors of Chris Pratt's being a 'MAGA Bro' show how Twitter's trending function can go haywire

Written by Aaron Duncan, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Without uttering a word, actor Chris Pratt found himself at the center of a Twitter firestorm.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images

When actor Chris Pratt found himself trending on Twitter on Oct. 17, it wasn’t because of his new film or the birth of his first child.

Instead, Twitter users were clamoring for Pratt to be canceled beca...

Why Americans are so enamored with election polls

Written by W. Joseph Campbell, Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication

Supporters on election night 2016 at a Hillary Clinton party, when it became clear poll-based forecasts had been off target.Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The Republican pollster Frank Luntz warned on Twitter and elsewhere the other day that if preelection polls in this year’s presidential race are embarrassingly wrong...

To save threatened plants and animals, restore habitat on farms, ranches and other working lands

Written by Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi, Professor and Director, Institute for Research in Natural Resources, Agroecology and Rural Development, Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro

Planting strips of native prairie grasses on a farm in Iowa provides habitat for pollinators and protects soil and water.Omar de Kok-Mercado/Iowa State University, CC BY-ND

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Restoring native habitats to at least 20% of the world’s land currently being used by...

How 'strategic' bias keeps Americans from voting for women and candidates of color

Written by Regina Bateson, Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Public & International Affairs and the Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Women like congressional candidate Cori Bush from Missouri face greater obstacles than white men when trying to reach political office.Getty Images for Supermajority

When Americans vote this fall, the candidates on their ballots will not reflect the diversity of the United States.

Despite recent gains, women and people of color still do not run...

Will Russia influence the American vote?

Written by Scott Jasper, Lecturer in National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School

As American voters cast their ballots, they are also being targeted with foreign disinformation.Mark Makela/Getty Images

The idea that someone recently tried to influence Americans to vote for a particular candidate by sending them threatening emails may sound outlandish – as might federal officials’ allegation that the Iranian...

American suburbs radically changed over the decades – and so have their politics

Written by Jan Nijman, Distinguished Professor of Urban Studies and Geosciences, Georgia State University

Editor’s note: Suburban voters in a number of areas are considered critical swing voters. The growing political stakes reflect the dramatic changes that have happened in American suburbia in recent years, says Dr. Jan Nijman, director and distinguished university professor at the Urban Studies Institute, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies...

Gig worker employment fights like those in California pit flexibility against a livable wage – but 'platform cooperatives' could ensure workers get both

Written by Juliet B. Schor, Professor of Sociology, Boston College

California's Proposition 22 would reverse a new law that made Uber and Lyft drivers employees. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Voters in California will decide in November whether Uber drivers and other gig economy workers should be considered employees or contractors – a question that’s been debated and litigated for many years...