The Conversation

How do mRNA vaccines work – and why do you need a second dose? 5 essential reads

Written by Daniel Merino, Assistant Editor: Science, Health, Environment; Co-Host: The Conversation Weekly Podcast

New mRNA vaccines use genes from the coronavirus to produce immunity. Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

Tens of millions of people across the U.S. have received a coronavirus vaccine. So far, the majority of doses have been either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, both of which use mRNA to generate an immune response. These gene-based...

The African roots of Swiss design

Written by Audrey G. Bennett, Program Director and Professor, Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan

The golden ratio, which has been a key tenet of modernist design, may have origins in Africa.tatadonets via Getty Images

Design remains a largely white profession, with Black people still vastly underrepresented – making up just 3% of the design industry, according to a 2019 survey.

This dilemma isn’t new. For decades, the field’s...

Ancient leaves preserved under a mile of Greenland's ice – and lost in a freezer for years – hold lessons about climate change

Written by Andrew Christ, Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Geology, University of Vermont

Remnants of ancient Greenland tundra were preserved in soil beneath the ice sheet.Andrew Christ and Dorothy Peteet, CC BY-ND

In 1963, inside a covert U.S. military base in northern Greenland, a team of scientists began drilling down through the Greenland ice sheet. Piece by piece, they extracted an ice core 4 inches across and nearly a mile long....

US could save tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars with 3 weeks of strict COVID-19 measures

Written by Anna Scherbina, Associate Professor of Finance, Brandeis University

Texas recently eased all coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing. AP Photo/LM Otero

President Joe Biden commemorated the COVID-19 pandemic’s one-year anniversary by giving Americans an ambitious goal: Return to a semblance of normalcy by the Fourth of July.

“But to get there we can’t let our guard down,” he added.

Un...

After the insurrection, America's far-right groups get more extreme

Written by Matthew Valasik, Associate Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State University

The U.S. Capitol remains on lockdown, defended by the National Guard.Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

As the U.S. grapples with domestic extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, warnings about more violence are coming from the FBI Director Chris Wray and others. The Conversation asked Matthew Valasik, a sociologist...

Is ballot collection, or 'ballot harvesting,' good for democracy? We asked 5 experts

Written by Nancy Martorano Miller, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Dayton

Rivko Knox, a volunteer with the League of Women Voters in Phoenix, and other voters sued Arizona over a law that bans the third-party collection of early mail-in ballots. The issue is now before the Supreme Court.AP Photo/Anita Snow

A 2016 Arizona state law makes the collection of ballots by third parties a felony.

The Democratic National...

Resistance to military regime in Myanmar mounts as nurses, bankers join protests – despite bloody crackdown

Written by Tharaphi Than, Associate Professor, Department of World Cultures and Languages, Northern Illinois University

Nurses in Myanmar have been striking since February to protest the military coup. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Young people were the first in Myanmar to peacefully protest the country’s new military regime. Then came labor unions. In the weeks since a Feb. 1 military coup, Mynamar’s resistance movement has expanded dramatically to include...

Federal support has shored up nonprofits during the coronavirus pandemic, but many groups are still struggling

Written by Dyana Mason, Associate Professor of Planning, Public Policy and Management, University of Oregon

A woman visits New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art in September.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

More than 60% of nonprofit social services, arts and culture organizations obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These very low-interest loans for small businesses and nonprofits turn into...

Why would anyone buy crypto art – let alone spend millions on what's essentially a link to a JPEG file?

Written by Aaron Hertzmann, Affiliate Faculty of Computer Science, University of Washington

Since so much our social lives are lived online, maybe it makes sense for our art collections to reside online, too.Ihor Melnyk via Getty Images

As an academic researcher, developer of artistic technology and amateur artist, I was quite skeptical about crypto art when I first read about it several years ago.

However, I follow a community of artists...

El Salvador's abortion ban jails women for miscarriages and stillbirths – now one woman's family seeks international justice

Written by Juliet S. Sorensen, Clinical Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Northwestern University

Members of a Salvadoran feminist group watch a virtual hearing March 10 on El Salvador's abortion laws by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images

El Salvador outlaws abortion completely, even in circumstances of rape or incest, with penalties ranging from two to 50 years. The abortion ban is so broadly enforced...