The Conversation

COVID-19 means a lot more work for families of children with disabilities, but schools can help

Written by Sandra M. Chafouleas, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut

Mike Keller, a 13-year old boy with autism, uses a keyboard and iPad to communicate with his mother, Lori Mitchell-Keller.Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Children don’t come with how-to manuals. Even if they did, they would all require a manual of their own, tailored to their unique make and model. That’s why...

Will going out in the cold give you a cold?

Written by Libby Richards, Associate Professor of Nursing, Purdue University

Viruses spread easier during the winter than other times of the year, but being outside isn't the main cause of transmission.Christopher Kimmel via Getty Images

Many of us have heard: “Don’t go outside without a coat; you’ll catch a cold.”

That’s not exactly true. As with many things, the reality is more complicated....

Was Jesus really born in Bethlehem? Why the Gospels disagree over the circumstances of Christ's birth

Written by Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Adjunct Assistant Professor of the New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

A doll representing the infant Jesus in St. Catherine's, the Franciscan church in the town of Bethlehem.David Silverman/Getty Images

Every Christmas, a relatively small town in the Palestinian West Bank comes center stage: Bethlehem. Jesus, according to some biblical sources, was born in this town some two millennia ago.

Yet the New Testament...

The coronavirus vaccine: A doctor answers 5 questions

Written by Jason R. McKnight MD, MS, FAAFP, Clinical Assistant Professor, Primary Care and Population Health, Texas A&M University

Workers prepare to ship the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from the company's manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan.Morry Gash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s Note: With the Food and Drug Administration issuing emergency use authorization for a vaccine to limit the spread of coronavirus, you might have questions about what this means for...

Racial stereotypes drive students of color away from STEM, but many still persist

Written by Ebony O. McGee, Assistant Professor of Education, Diversity and Urban Schooling, Vanderbilt University

Many Black and Hispanic STEM students leave the science field because of the 'racial fatigue' of having to deal with stereotypes. Jcomp via iStock/Getty Images Plus

Dominique, a Black electrical engineering doctoral student, found herself in an awkward situation in the lounge of a hotel where she had been attending a conference on science.

A white...

What vaccine distribution planners can learn from Amazon and Walmart

Written by Tinglong Dai, Associate Professor of Operations Management & Business Analytics, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

Efficient shipping and storage could prevent a lot of wasted vaccines. AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool

The initial rollout of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has begun, and vaccines are shipping across the U.S. Demand for COVID-19 vaccines will outpace supply for the foreseeable future. Yet experts have warned that a substantial proportion of these...

Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

Written by Mercedes Burns, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Getting the job done. A female Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) produced a daughter (left) without the assistance of a male. Skip Brown/Smithsonian’s National Zoo

An Asian water dragon hatched from an egg at the Smithsonian National Zoo, and her keepers were shocked. Why? Her mother had never been with a male water dragon. Through...

COVID-19 further exposes inequalities in the global financial system

Written by Ramya Vijaya, Professor of Economics, Stockton University

A grant from the Chinese government will make way for a multimillion-dollar fishing port complex in Accra, Ghana.Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

To stem the economic fallout from COVID-19, developed countries have injected an unprecedented US$9 trillion into their economies.

The International Monetary Fund has recommended sustained fiscal...

Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh fear their medieval churches will be destroyed

Written by Christina Maranci, Professor and Department Chair, Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Professor of Armenian Art and Architecture, Tufts University

The Ghazanchetsots Cathedral was damaged earlier this year during fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

A six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region in the South Caucasus, ended on Nov. 9 after Russia brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Under the deal, several ethnically Armenian...

Ancient Greek desire to resolve civil strife resonates today – but Athenian justice would be a 'bitter pill' in modern America

Written by Joel Christensen, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University

Increasingly, Americans seem to have irreconcilable differences over the pandemic, the economy – even the result of the 2020 election.Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

America’s divisions are old. Politically and socially, they are rooted in grudges and ideological vengeance that goes back generations, to the New Deal e...