The Conversation

25-year-long study of Black women links frequent use of lye-based hair relaxers to a higher risk of breast cancer

Written by Kimberly Bertrand, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University

Research suggests Black women may want to be cautious about heavy use of lye-based chemical hair relaxers.ljubaphoto/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Frequent and long-term use of lye-based hair straightening products, or relaxers, may increase the risk of breast cancer among Black...

Delta variant makes it even more important to get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if you've already had the coronavirus

Written by Jennifer T. Grier, Clinical Assistant Professor of Immunology, University of South Carolina

Infection from the coronavirus can produce weaker immunity than vaccination. Wenmei Zhou/ DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

As someone who studies immune responses to respiratory infections, I’ve watched news of the emerging coronavirus variants with concern. I wondered whether vaccination or previous infection would provide protection...

John Glenn’s fan mail shows many girls dreamed of the stars – but sexism in the early space program thwarted their ambitions

Written by Roshanna P. Sylvester, Associate Professor of Critical Media Practices and Digital Humanities, University of Colorado Boulder

Glenn, in the NASA mailroom, received letters from fans of all ages.John Glenn Archives, The Ohio State University, CC BY-ND

Pioneering spacefarer John Herschel Glenn Jr. would have turned 100 on July 18, 2021.

When Glenn died in 2016, the famed astronaut was lauded as “the last genuine American hero.” NASA, the U.S. Marine Corps, Presid...

63% of workers who file an EEOC discrimination complaint lose their jobs

Written by Donald T. Tomaskovic-Devey, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Employment Equity, University of Massachusetts Amherst

EEOC complaints often result in retaliation. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski

CC BY-NC-ND

People who experience sex discrimination, race discrimination and other forms of discrimination at work aren’t getting much protection from the laws designed to shield them from it.

That’s our main finding after analyzing the outcomes of 683,419...

Who's running Haiti after president's assassination? 5 questions answered

Written by Patrick D Bellegarde-Smith, Professor Emeritus of Africology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Haitians seeking asylum gather July 10, 2021, at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti after the president's assassination plunged the country further into chaos,VALERIE BAERISWYL/AFP via Getty Images

Two men are vying to control Haiti after President Jovenel Moïse’s July 7 assassination, creating more turmoil for a nation in crisis. Here, scholar...

Ancient shark teeth lost in Antarctica millions of years ago recorded Earth's climate history

Written by Sora Kim, Assistant Professor of Paleoecology, University of California, Merced

Sharks' teeth carry clues about the oceans they swam in.Christina Spence Morgan

Tens of million years ago, sand tiger sharks hunted in the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula, gliding over a thriving marine ecosystem on the seafloor below.

All that remains of them today is their sharp pointed teeth, but those teeth tell a story.

They’re helping...

Sharks that hunted near Antarctica millions of years ago recorded Earth's climate history in their teeth

Written by Sora Kim, Assistant Professor of Paleoecology, University of California, Merced

Sharks' teeth carry clues about the oceans they swam in.Christina Spence Morgan

Tens of million years ago, sand tiger sharks hunted in the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula, gliding over a thriving marine ecosystem on the seafloor below.

All that remains of them today is their sharp pointed teeth, but those teeth tell a story.

They’re helping...

Poverty in 2021 looks different than in 1964 – but the US hasn't changed how it measures who's poor since LBJ began his war

Written by Mark Robert Rank, Professor of Social Welfare, Washington University in St Louis

Poverty in America has changed since the 1960s.Morton Broffman/Getty Images

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson famously declared war on poverty.

“The richest nation on Earth can afford to win it,” he told Congress in his first State of the Union address. “We cannot afford to lose it.”

Yet as the administration was to learn...

How Latin America's protest superheroes fight injustice and climate change – and sometimes crime, too

Written by Vinodh Venkatesh, Professor of Hispanic Studies, Virginia Tech

An Argentine justice crusader who calls himself Menganno has been patrolling the streets of the city of Lanus since 2010. Netflix has now picked up his character.Netflix Latinoamérica (screenshot)

Not all heroes wear capes. In Latin America, some real-life icons wear Mexican wrestling masks or arm themselves with shields and herbicide to...

New wave of anti-protest laws may infringe on religious freedoms for Indigenous people

Written by Rosalyn R. LaPier, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, The University of Montana

More than 30 U.S. states have passed laws intended to stop protests like the one against the Line 3 pipeline.Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images

Over four days in June 2021, thousands of protesters attended the Treaty People Gathering in opposition to Line 3, a crude oil pipeline slated to be built across traditional homelands of the Ojibwe peoples in...