The Conversation

Obstacles to voting: 6 essential reads on the challenges of election 2020

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor and Politics Editor, The Conversation US

Voting is well underway in many states. Here, an early voting station in Lincoln, R.I., Oct. 13, 2020. Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Plots to kidnap governors. White militias patrolling city streets. Partisan enmity that boils over into bar brawls. Disappearing ballot boxes. A hobbled mail system. Russian trolls. Oh, and a pandemic....

What is originalism? Debunking the myths

Written by Ilan Wurman, Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University

The Supreme Court will soon add another originalist to its ranks if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed.Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

Originalism has featured prominently in each of the last three Supreme Court confirmation battles – those of Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and now Amy Coney Barrett. Each time, misconceptions...

COVID-19 causes some patients' immune systems to attack their own bodies, which may contribute to severe illness

Written by Matthew Woodruff, Instructor, Lowance Center for Human Immunology, Emory University

In autoimmune diseases, circulating antibodies destroy an individual's own tissues.JUAN GAERTNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

Across the world, immunologists who retooled their labs to join the fight against SARS-CoV-2 are furiously trying to explain why some people get so sick while others recover unscathed. The pace is dizzying, but some...

An epidemiologist explains the new CDC guidance on 15 minutes of exposure and what it means for you

Written by Ryan Malosh, Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan

A girl wearing a mask walks down a street in the Corona neighborhood of Queens on April 14, 2020 in New York City. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has new guidance clarifying what exactly “close contact” means when it comes to transmission of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19....

Sick of COVID-19? Here's why you might have pandemic fatigue

Written by Jay Maddock, Professor of Public Health, Texas A&M University

It's tempting to take a break from pandemic precautions.Erin Clark for The Boston Globe via Getty Images

As the pandemic drags on, following COVID-19 prevention guidelines can feel like more and more of a challenge.

This kind of fatigue is not unique to pandemic precautions like sticking with social distancing, masking up and keeping your hands...

A second pathway into cells for SARS-CoV-2: New understanding of the neuropilin-1 protein could speed vaccine research

Written by Rajesh Khanna, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Arizona

The Spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 must bind to proteins on the surface of human cells to trigger an infection.KTSDESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

When it comes to how the coronavirus invades a cell, it takes three to tango. The dance began with the ACE2 receptor, a protein on human cells that allows SARS-CoV-2, the virus that...

In two political battlegrounds, thousands of mail-in ballots are on the verge of being rejected

Written by Michael Herron, William Clinton Story Remsen '43 Professor of Government, Dartmouth College

Boxes of illegal and legal vote-by-mail ballots at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department ahead of Florida's Aug. 18 primary election.AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Tens of millions of Americans have already cast their ballots for the 2020 election by mail, building on a historic shift in voting methods that started with primary elections held during...

Most plastic recycling produces low-value materials – but we've found a way to turn a common plastic into high-value molecules

Written by Susannah Scott, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, University of California Santa Barbara

Bales of plastic waste destined for recycling.Koron/Getty Images

If you thought those flimsy disposable plastic grocery bags represented most of our plastic waste problem, think again. The volume of plastic the world throws away every year could rebuild the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall of China – about 3,700 miles long.

In the six decades...

How to use COVID-19 testing and quarantining to safely travel for the holidays

Written by Claudia Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Michigan State University

For anyone thinking about traveling during the pandemic, COVID-19 testing can be an important, but not all-powerful, tool. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

With the holidays approaching, many people are considering whether to visit relatives or friends in the coming weeks. At the same time, cases of COVID-19 are surging toward the highest levels since the...

COVID-19 has shone a light on the millennia-old balance between public and private worship

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder

Religious services through Zoom: A pastor conducts online services from the basement of her home in Falls Church, Virginia.Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

As religious services went online to protect congregants from the coronavirus, a paradox emerged: Worshipers were connected via the internet to a potentially wide...