The Conversation

As Bangladesh hosts over a million Rohingya refugees, a scholar explains what motivated the country to open up its borders

Written by Tazreena Sajjad, Senior Professorial Lecturer, American University School of International Service

Rohingya refugees wait during distribution of food items in 2017 in Bangladesh.AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File

Over 1.1 million Rohingyas continue to remain stranded in crowded camps in Bangladesh while the international community fails to provide a resolution to the crisis.

When in 2017 this lower-middle-income, majority Muslim country opened its borders...

Shopping online to stay safe during the pandemic? Here are 10 tips for avoiding scams

Written by H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Mississippi State University

A little digging can help you avoid those too-good-to-be-true traps when shopping online.martin-dm/E+ via Getty Images

The holiday season is already a booming time for online shopping. The COVID-19 pandemic only increases the likelihood that when people shop this holiday season, they will choose online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores....

When COVID-19 superspreaders are talking, where you sit in the room matters

Written by Suresh Dhaniyala, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Clarkson University

Classroom experiments show how the coronavirus can spread and who's at greatest risk. Tom Werner via Getty Images

It doesn’t take long for airborne coronavirus particles to make their way through a room. At first, only people sitting near an infected speaker are at high risk, but as the meeting or class goes on, the tiny aerosols can spread.

T...

A researcher reflects on progress fighting hepatitis C – and a path forward

Written by Anna Suk-Fong Lok, Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan

The hepatitis C virus was discovered in 1989 – research that's now earned a Nobel Prize.BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

When I began my medical career in Hong Kong in the early 1980s, I chose to focus on hepatitis B, in part because it was very common and because the hepatitis C virus had not yet been discovered. I witnessed the...

Why is it so hard for atheists to get voted in to Congress?

Written by Phil Zuckerman, Professor of Sociology and Secular Studies, Pitzer College

Above it, only skies? In it, only believers? Imagine that!Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Every election cycle has its “firsts.”

This year, the selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate presented the U.S. with its first politician of Indian heritage – and the first Black woman – to be on a...

Neuronlike circuits bring brainlike computers a step closer

Written by R. Stanley Williams, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University

Brainlike computer chips promise powerful computers that use little energy.D3Damon/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

For the first time, my colleagues and I have built a single electronic device that is capable of copying the functions of neuron cells in a brain. We then connected 20...

Some bees are born curious while others are more single-minded – new research hints at how the hive picks which flowers to feast on

Written by Chelsea Cook, Assistant Professor in Biology, Marquette University

Working together to figure out where to eat.Cheyenne Montgomery/Moment via Getty Images

When you try to pick a restaurant with a group of friends, how do you decide? Your curious friend wants to try the new place, while your focused friend wants to go to the old faithful. One friend is insistent, while the other is more quiet. Ultimately, the...

Shrinking glaciers have created a new normal for Greenland's ice sheet – consistent ice loss for the foreseeable future

Written by Michalea King, Postdoctoral Climate Science Researcher, The Ohio State University

As Greenland's glaciers retreat, they are losing ice at a faster and faster rate. Michalea King, CC BY-ND

Greenland is the largest island on Earth, and about 80% of it is covered by a giant sheet of ice. Slowly flowing glaciers connect this massive frozen reservoir of fresh water to the ocean, but because of climate change, these glaciers are...

A proposed mine threatens Minnesota's Boundary Waters, the most popular wilderness in the US

Written by Char Miller, W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History, Pomona College

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness draws thousands of visitors yearly.Andy Witchger/Flickr, CC BY

President Trump has worked aggressively to dismantle the environmental legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama since taking office in 2017. The latest example is a mining project that could affect the most heavily visited wilderness area in the...

Women risk losing decades of workplace progress due to COVID-19 – here's how companies can prevent that

Written by Stephanie M.H. Moore, Lecturer, Indiana University

Mothers are more likely to take care of the kids while fathers get to do their jobs.miodrag ignjatovic/E+ via Getty Images

American women have made strides in the workplace over the past half-century in terms of earnings, employment and careers – in no small part thanks to the efforts of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The COVID-19...