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Mexico City buried its rivers to prevent disease and unwittingly created a dry, polluted city where COVID-19 now thrives

  • Written by Elena Delavega, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Memphis
imageSituated on a plateau and surrounded by mountains, Mexico City is a bowl that traps smog and dust.AP Photo/Marco Ugarte

Mexico City is a dust bowl, a polluted megalopolis where breathing is hard and newly washed clothes hung out to dry turn stiff by evening. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began clobbering this capital city, residents regularly...

Read more: Mexico City buried its rivers to prevent disease and unwittingly created a dry, polluted city...

Presidents' panel: How COVID-19 will change higher education

  • Written by Walter M. Kimbrough, President of Dillard University, Dillard University
imageCOVID-19 has altered nearly every aspect of higher education.Gerald Herbert/AP

Editor’s note: From time to time, we ask the leaders of our country’s colleges and universities to address some of the most pressing issues in higher education. Here, the presidents of three universities answer six critical questions about the future of...

Read more: Presidents' panel: How COVID-19 will change higher education

Black churches have lagged in moving online during the pandemic – reaching across generational lines could help

  • Written by Erika Gault, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, University of Arizona
imageA multimedia technician wipes down audio equipment at a church in Brooklyn.AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

From online campaigns for justice to popular TikTok challenges, Black young adults are at the forefront of social media trends. But when it comes to the Black Church, the same cannot be said – it has lagged behind in the rush to go digital.

There...

Read more: Black churches have lagged in moving online during the pandemic – reaching across generational...

Why 'I was just being sarcastic' can be such a convenient excuse

  • Written by Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
imageOh come on, you could tell it was sarcasm ... right?AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

After President Donald Trump said during his June 20 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that increased testing was responsible for the surging number of infections, the condemnation of the inaccurate claimwas swift.

Six days later, during a Fox News town hall, Sean Hannity asked Trump...

Read more: Why 'I was just being sarcastic' can be such a convenient excuse

Police with lots of military gear kill civilians more often than less-militarized officers

  • Written by Casey Delehanty, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Gardner-Webb University
imageA police tactical team in Ferguson, Mo., responds to 2014 protests against a white officer's killing of Michael Brown, a young Black man.AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Police departments that get more equipment from the military kill more civilians than departments that get less military gear. That’s the finding from research on a federal program...

Read more: Police with lots of military gear kill civilians more often than less-militarized officers

Do dogs really see in just black and white?

  • Written by Nancy Dreschel, Associate Teaching Professor of Small Animal Science, Pennsylvania State University
imageDon't worry that your dog's world is visually drab.Kevin Short/EyeEm via Getty Imagesimage

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Do dogs really see in just black and white? – Oscar V., age 9, Somerville, Massachusetts

Dogs...

Read more: Do dogs really see in just black and white?

Group testing for coronavirus – called pooled testing – could be the fastest and cheapest way to increase screening nationwide

  • Written by Darius Lakdawalla, Quintiles Professor of Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California
imagePooling samples means one test can screen multiple people. Tetra Images via Getty Images

Hopes for a summertime reprieve from COVID-19 have been dashed as cases surged in June. As infections rise, so does the need for testing.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently announced that health...

Read more: Group testing for coronavirus – called pooled testing – could be the fastest and cheapest way to...

The invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism

  • Written by Michael D. Bailey, Professor of History, Iowa State University
imageWoodcut, circa 1400. A witch, a demon and a warlock fly toward a peasant woman.Hulton Archive /Handout via Getty Images

On a midsummer day in 1438, a young man from the north shore of Lake Geneva presented himself to the local church inquisitor. He had a confession to make. Five years earlier, his father had forced him to join a satanic cult of...

Read more: The invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism

Video: What we can learn from a book documenting the first vaccine, for smallpox

  • Written by Anurag Papolu, Multimedia Editor
imageCaricature of vaccination scene at the Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital at St. Pancras Hospital in London, by James Giray, 1802.Library of Congress

As the world waits anxiously for a COVID-19 vaccine, Sam Lemley, curator of special collections at Carnegie Mellon University, says that the story of the first vaccine is worth revisiting today. As...

Read more: Video: What we can learn from a book documenting the first vaccine, for smallpox

Which drugs and therapies are proven to work, and which ones don't, for COVID-19?

  • Written by William Petri, Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia
imageWe are slowly figuring out which drugs and therapies are effective against the new coronavirus.Anton Petrus / Getty Images

I am a physician and a scientist at the University of Virginia. I care for patients and conduct research to find better ways to diagnose and treat infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Here I’m sharing what is known...

Read more: Which drugs and therapies are proven to work, and which ones don't, for COVID-19?

More Articles ...

  1. With the help of trained dolphins, our team of researchers is building a specialized drone to help us study dolphins in the wild
  2. From marmots to mole-rats to marmosets – studying many genes in many animals is key to understanding how humans can live longer
  3. COVID-19 and teletherapy may be changing how much you know about your therapist
  4. COVID-19 and telehealth may be changing how much you know about your therapist
  5. A summer of protest, unemployment and presidential politics – welcome to 1932
  6. Fireworks can torment veterans and survivors of gun violence with PTSD – here's how to celebrate with respect for those who served
  7. Monks, experts in social distancing, find strength in isolation
  8. Why companies as diverse as eBay, IKEA and Mars are increasingly supporting US clean energy policies
  9. TikTok teens and the Trump campaign: How social media amplifies political activism and threatens election integrity
  10. Muslim Americans assert solidarity with Black Lives Matter, finding unity within a diverse faith group
  11. Why are so many people lighting off fireworks?
  12. The US isn't in a second wave of coronavirus – the first wave never ended
  13. When France extorted Haiti – the greatest heist in history
  14. Why soldiers can't claim conscientious objection if ordered to suppress protests
  15. As Arizona coronavirus cases surge from early reopening, Indigenous nations suffer not only more COVID-19 but also the blame
  16. How small towns are responding to the global pandemic
  17. COVID-19 messes with Texas: What went wrong, and what other states can learn as younger people get sick
  18. National parks – even Mount Rushmore – show that there's more than one kind of patriotism
  19. How racism in US health system hinders care and costs lives of African Americans
  20. Money talks: Big business, political strategy and corporate involvement in US state politics
  21. As professional sports come back, members of the US women's soccer team are still paid less than the men's
  22. Fast food is comforting, but in low-income areas it crowds out fresher options
  23. In this era of protest over racism, will colleges embrace Black student activists?
  24. Coronavirus and cancer hijack the same parts in human cells to spread – and our team identified existing cancer drugs that could fight COVID-19
  25. The 'domestic terrorist' designation won't stop extremism
  26. 3 moral virtues necessary for an ethical pandemic response and reopening
  27. Northern Ireland's police transformation may hold lessons for the US
  28. Rethinking the K-pop industry's silence during the Black Lives Matter movement
  29. To achieve a new New Deal, Democrats must learn from the old one
  30. Authorities are yanking the legacy of slaveholder John C. Calhoun from public sphere, but his bigotry remains embedded in American society
  31. Should the president pick the attorney general?
  32. This simple model shows the importance of wearing masks and social distancing
  33. Rethinking what research means during a global pandemic
  34. A massive Saharan dust plume is moving into the southeast US, bringing technicolor sunsets and suppressing tropical storms
  35. 100 degrees in Siberia? 5 ways the extreme Arctic heat wave follows a disturbing pattern
  36. Developing resilience is an important tool to help you deal with coronavirus and the surge in cases
  37. How deforestation helps deadly viruses jump from animals to humans
  38. Gene therapy and CRISPR strategies for curing blindness (Yes, you read that right)
  39. Days with both extreme heat and extreme air pollution are becoming more common – which can't be a good thing for global health
  40. Hip-hop is the soundtrack to Black Lives Matter protests, continuing a tradition that dates back to the blues
  41. New York opens traffic-clogged streets to people during pandemic, the city's latest redesign in times of dramatic change
  42. Most white parents don't talk about racism with their kids
  43. Coronavirus responses highlight how humans are hardwired to dismiss facts that don't fit their worldview
  44. Prisoners in US suffering dementia may hit 200,000 within the next decade – many won't even know why they are behind bars
  45. Economic policies can induce people to quarantine safely during the pandemic
  46. A selective retreat from trade with China makes sense for the United States
  47. 5 things you should do right now to fight the rising number of COVID-19 cases
  48. What doctors know about lingering symptoms of coronavirus
  49. Why safely reopening high school sports is going to be a lot harder than opening college and pro ball
  50. How fake accounts constantly manipulate what you see on social media – and what you can do about it