The Conversation

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...

Do we have to toss Halloween out the window this year, too? Public health experts give some guidelines

Written by Pamela M. Aaltonen, Professor Emerita; Immediate Past President, APHA, Purdue University

Staying safe this Halloween means following a few simple rules.Anatolii Stozub via Getty Images

Halloween is spookier than ever this year because there is a real threat: COVID-19. With the dangers of infection and the anxiety surrounding the virus looming over the holiday, both parents and children are wondering what to do. And, as public health...

An expert in nonverbal communication watched the Trump-Biden debate with the sound turned down – here's what he saw

Written by Patrick Stewart, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas

Candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump at the final presidential debate.AP/Julio Cortez

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met on Oct. 22 for the final debate in the 2020 election and, like the first debate, it was unusual.

COVID-19 forced social distancing and largely took the studio audience, with their laughter, cheering...

Dios puede ser herido, pero no como afirma Trump, según los teólogos

Written by Sameer Yadav, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Westmont College

Según la Biblia, Dios creó el día y la noche.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

El 6 de agosto el Presidente Donald Trump dijo que si Biden ganara la elección estadounidense “lastimaría a Dios”.

Dijo, específicamente, que Biden “seguirá la agenda de la izquierda radical, te quitará...

Election 2020: 89 articles to teach you about how American elections really work

Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US

How did the U.S. political system get the way it did?jsmith/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Editors’ note: In a world transformed by a pandemic, few of the fundamentals in Americans’ lives – schools, jobs, even how to shop for groceries – have remained the same. The same is true with the election, where the most basic of the...

Pope Francis' support for civil unions is a call to justice – and nothing new

Written by Steven P. Millies, Associate Professor of Public Theology and director of The Bernardin Center, Catholic Theological Union

Pope Francis' comments on same-sex unions underline his commitment to justice for all.Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Pope Francis signaled his support for members of the LGBT community to enter civil unions in a new documentary released on Oct. 21. It wasn’t the first time.

Francis has spoken up for civil unions before, as he reminded the...

How to track your mail-in ballot

Written by Steven Mulroy, Law Professor in Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Election Law, University of Memphis

Make sure you know when your ballot is arriving, and whether it's been accepted for counting back at your election office. erhui1979/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Many voters who want to participate in the election by mail are concerned about when they’ll receive their ballot – and whether it will get back in time to be...