The Conversation

The exercise pill: How exercise keeps your brain healthy and protects it against depression and anxiety

Written by Arash Javanbakht, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

The author, Arash Javanbakht, at his gym. Javanbakht did not like to exercise until he found an activity he enjoyed. Arash Javanbakht, CC BY-SA

As with many other physicians, recommending physical activity to patients was just a doctor chore for me – until a few years ago. That was because I myself was not very active. Over the years, as I...

Many Black Americans aren’t rushing to get the COVID-19 vaccine – a long history of medical abuse suggests why

Written by Esther Jones, Associate Professor of English, affiliate with Africana Studies and Women's & Gender Studies, Clark University

Black patients can be wary of the medical establishment.Maskot via Getty Images

Black Americans have been the least inclined of any racial or ethnic group to say they’d get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The proportion of Black people who said they’ll probably or definitely take the shot has risen over time – but even by...

What's behind $15,000 electricity bills in Texas?

Written by Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and International Affairs, Penn State

Power to the people, but it will cost you.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Texans who made it through February’s extreme cold weather without losing power or natural gas must have felt lucky.

But for some, keeping their electricity through the blackout may turn out to be more traumatic than losing it. An undetermined number of homeowners have...

In Texas, price gouging during disasters is illegal – it is also on very shaky ethical ground

Written by Elizabeth Brake, Professor of Philosophy, Rice University

Price gouging during disasters further shuts out those living in poverty.AP Photo/Eric Gay

In Houston, as millions suffered power and water outages, food shortages and subfreezing temperatures, another problem confronted families: price hikes.

Steep increases in the price of food, gas and fuel have been reported across Texas. And as millions of...

AI is killing choice and chance – which means changing what it means to be human

Written by Nir Eisikovits, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director, Applied Ethics Center, University of Massachusetts Boston

AI promises to make life easier, but what will humans lose in the bargain?AP Photo/Frank Augstein

The history of humans’ use of technology has always been a history of coevolution. Philosophers from Rousseau to Heidegger to Carl Schmitt have argued that technology is never a neutral tool for achieving human ends. Technological innovations...

Engineered viruses can fight the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Written by Kevin Doxzen, Hoffmann Postdoctoral Fellow, Arizona State University

Bacteriophage (yellow) are viruses that infect and destroy bacteria (blue). Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library,Getty Images

As the world fights the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, another group of dangerous pathogens looms in the background. The threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been growing for years and appears to...

Relief or stimulus: What's the difference, and what it means for Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus package

Written by William Hauk, Associate Professor of Economics, University of South Carolina

Biden made passing his $1.9 trillion bill one of his top priorities. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

The Biden administration and Congress are fast-tracking a US$1.9 trillion coronavirus package that includes aid for states, cities, individuals, the unemployed, schools and much else. It could become law within weeks.

But is it stimulus or relief?

If...

Black biomedical scientists still lag in research funding – here's why that matters to all Americans

Written by Omolola Eniola-Adefeso, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan Medical School

Black biomedical researchers receive less funding than their white counterparts.hyejin kang/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The statistics tell the story. People of color are more likely to be infected, hospitalized and killed by COVID-19 than white, non-Hispanic people. This grim reality is just one more illustration of an unacceptable truth: Science...

From 'aliens' to 'noncitizens' – the Biden administration is proposing to change a legal term to recognize the humanity of non-Americans

Written by Kevin Johnson, Dean and Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Davis

If a proposed law passes, this group of immigrants apprehended at the U.S. border near Mission, Texas, would be called 'noncitizens,' not 'aliens.'Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images

A profound change has been proposed by the Biden administration for U.S. immigration law. Following up on candidate Joe Biden’s promise of...

How New York's 19th-century Jews turned Purim into an American party

Written by Zev Eleff, Associate Professor of Jewish History, Touro College

The Jewish Museum's Purim Ball at the Park Avenue Armory in 2015 in New York City.Andrew Toth/Getty Images

Purim, which falls this year on Feb. 26, ranks among Judaism’s most joyous holidays.

In synagogues, Jews read the Scroll of Esther, a book in the Hebrew Bible that explains how Purim came to be. Jewish people dress up in costumes and...