The Conversation

Being outdoors doesn’t mean you're safe from COVID-19 – a White House event showed what not to do

Written by Thomas A. Russo, Professor and Chief, Infectious Disease, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, hugging another guest, along with Kellyanne Conway (left) and Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins (right) tested positive for COVID-19.The Washington Post via Getty Images

If you think you’re safe from the coronavirus just because you’re outdoors, think again.

While the wind and the...

There's nothing unusual about early voting – it's been done since the founding of the republic

Written by Terri Bimes, Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

An early voter waits in line outside the Athens County Board of Elections Office on Oct. 6, 2020 in Athens, Ohio. Ty Wright/Getty Images

With voting in key states having begun more than six weeks before Election Day, early voting has emerged as a contentious issue. Observing that the country now has more of an election season than an election day,...

Celebrating Sister Ardeth Platte, anti-nuclear activist and 'peacemaker in a hostile world'

Written by Carole Sargent, Faculty Director, Office of Scholarly Publications, Georgetown University

Sister Ardeth Platte, wearing black to honor the international Women in Black movement, being hugged by a supporter ahead of being sentenced in 2003.AP Photo/David Zalubowski

To Sister Ardeth Platte, who died on Sept. 30 at 84, antinuclear activism was a form of public worship.

Explaining to a federal judge in 2002 how she – alongside protest...

Experiencing physical pain can cause you to overspend

Written by Eugene Y. Chan, Associate Professor, Purdue University

Spending money can seem a bit easier when you're in physical pain.Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash, CC BY-SA

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

The big idea

Suffering from pain causes consumers to spend more money than they otherwise would – perhaps 20% more – according to new research I conducted. This is based on...

Trump and McConnell's mostly white male judges buck 30-year trend of increasing diversity on the courts

Written by Rorie Solberg, Associate Professor of Political Science, Oregon State University

Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, is one of relatively few women appointed to the federal judiciary by the current administration. Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images

In nominating Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump fulfilled his pledge to put another woman on the U.S. Supreme...

Do sports teams’ sustainability efforts matter to fans?

Written by Brian P. McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management and Director of the Sport Ecology Laboratory, Texas A&M University

Several sports events have been disrupted by extreme weather events, such as wildfires in 2020.AP Photo/Tony Avelar

While the sport sector’s environmental impact is not fully understood, it has a social platform and reach to influence a significant number of people worldwide to choose more sustainable behaviors. Brian McCullough, associate...

Harris and Pence dodge tough questions in VP debate – experts react

Written by Cynthia A. Young, Department Head and Associate Professor of African American Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence face off in a debate on Oct. 7, 2020. AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool

Vice presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Mike Pence sat far apart and separated by plexiglass for the only 2020 vice presidential debate, held in Utah on Oct. 7. Their exchanges were more civil than the presidential debate a week...

Nobel Prize for chemistry honors exquisitely precise gene-editing technique, CRISPR – a gene engineer explains how it works

Written by Piyush K. Jain, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida

American biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna, left, and French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier were awarded this year's Nobel Prize for chemistry.Alexander Heinl/picture alliance via Getty Images

Researchers have been able to manipulate large chunks of genetic code for almost 50 years. But it is only within the past decade that they have been able...

Nobel Prize for CRISPR honors two great scientists – and leaves out many others

Written by Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College

CRISPR enables editing DNA with unprecedented precision.wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images

The gene-editing technique CRISPR earned the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Recognition of this amazing breakthrough technology is well deserved.

But each Nobel Prize can be awarded to no more than three people, and that’s where this year’s prize...

La migración de las mariposas monarca está en riesgo, pero hay un plan para salvarla

Written by D. André Green II, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan

Mariposas monarch en el Santuario El Rosario en Michoacán, Mexico.Charlie Marchant/Flickr, CC BY

Uno de los eventos épicos de la naturaleza está en marcha: la migración otoñal de las mariposas monarca. Partiendo de todo Estados Unidos y Canadá, las mariposas viajan hasta 4.000 kilómetros para...