The Conversation

Restart of the Johnson Johnson COVID-19 vaccine: A doctor explains why benefits far outweigh risks

Written by William Petri, Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia

A dose of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is prepared at a vaccination event at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in South Los Angeles on March 11, 2021.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson...

Warp drives: Physicists give chances of faster-than-light space travel a boost

Written by Mario Borunda, Associate Professor of Physics, Oklahoma State University

Faster than light travel is the only way humans could ever get to other stars in a reasonable amount of time. Les Bossinas/NASA/Wikimedia Commons

The closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri. It is about 4.25 light-years away, or about 25 trillion miles (40 trillion km). The fastest ever spacecraft, the now- in-space Parker Solar Probe will reach...

This supermoon has a twist – expect flooding, but a lunar cycle is masking effects of sea level rise

Written by Brian McNoldy, Senior Research Associate, University of Miami

April's super full moon was known as the pink moon because it heralds the arrival of spring flowers.Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Another “super full moon” is coming May 26, 2021, and coastal cities like Miami know that means one thing: a heightened risk of tidal flooding.

Exceptionally high tides...

How Richard Nixon's obsession with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers sowed the seeds for the president's downfall

Written by Christian Appy, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Daniel Ellsberg appears before the press on June 28, 1971.Bettmann via Getty Images

When Richard Nixon picked up the Sunday New York Times on June 13, 1971, he must have lingered on the smiling image of himself escorting Tricia – his “ethereal blond daughter,” as the paper described her – to her wedding in the White...

Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?

Written by Amelia Noor-Oshiro, Ph.D. Candidate, Public Health: Social & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University

Death by suicide is the number one cause of death for young adult Asian Americans. Kelvin Murray/Getty Images

Racially motivated violence looks like the mass shootings that killed Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Chung Park, Hyun Grant and Suncha Kim in Atlanta on March 16, 2021. Racially motivated violence also looks like suicide, which is defined as a...

GPS tracking could help tigers and traffic coexist in Asia

Written by Neil Carter, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of Michigan

A tiger crosses a road in India's Ranthambore National Park.Aditya Singh/AFP via Getty Images

More than 100,000 tigers ranged across Asia a century ago, from the Indian subcontinent to the Russian Far East. Today they are endangered, with only about 4,000 tigers left in the wild. The greatest threats they face are habitat loss and degradation,...

For Vladimir Putin and other autocrats, ruthlessly repressing the opposition is often a winning way to stay in power

Written by Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, University of Dayton Human Rights Center, University of Dayton

Police arrest a protester at a Moscow rally in support of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who fell ill while in prison and is now hospitalized.Alexander Demianchuk\TASS via Getty Images

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most important opposition leader, is emaciated, hospitalized and reportedly nearing death after developing a fever and cough in the...

¿Aumento o pérdida de peso no deseado durante la pandemia? El estrés podría tener la culpa

Written by Lina Begdache, Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Si has experimentado un aumento o una pérdida de peso no deseados durante la pandemia, no estás solo.Karl Tapales/Moment via Getty Images

Si has experimentado un aumento o una pérdida de peso no deseados durante la pandemia, no estás solo. Según una encuesta de la Asociación Americana de Psicología, e...

Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health

Written by Paul K. Halverson, Dean, Fairbanks School of Public Health, IUPUI

Medical workers hold signs during a rally in Central Park in New York City by White Coats for Black Lives after the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.Maria Khrenova/TASS via Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has joined hundreds of cities and counties across the country in declaring racism a public health threat. On...

New US climate pledge: Cut emissions 50% this decade, but can Biden make it happen?

Written by Morgan Bazilian, Professor of Public Policy and Director, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines

U.S. President Joe Biden, with presidential climate envoy John Kerry, opened the Leaders Summit on Climate on April 22, 2021, by announcing new U.S. targets.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Joe Biden announced an ambitious new national climate target at the world leaders’ climate summit on April 22. He pledged to cut U.S. carbon emissions in...