The Conversation

The raging competition for medical supplies is not a game, but game theory can help

Written by Anna Nagurney, John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst

In Colorado, where there is a shortage of PPE, workers prepare to enter an N95 mask-cleaning machine. AP Images / David Zalubowski

The world continues to reel from the pandemic and, among many other things, the shortage of medical supplies that has resulted. Yes, the world has experienced natural disasters, but they are typically limited in time...

75 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vatican is providing moral guidance on nuclear weapons

Written by Drew Christiansen, Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Human Development, Georgetown University

Pope Francis observes a minute of silence for the victims of Hiroshima at the city's Peace Memorial Park.Carl Court/Getty Images

Ahead of the 75th anniversary year of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Pope Francis visited both cities.

At a solemn event at the Hiroshima Peace Park in November 2019, Francis declared the use of atomic...

Political conventions today are for partying and pageantry, not picking nominees

Written by Barbara Norrander, Professor, School of Government & Public Policy, University of Arizona

Delegates after Donald Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday, July 21, 2016. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/via Getty

In August the Democratic and Republican national conventions will take on new, uncharted formats. Due to COVID-19 concerns, gone are the mass gatherings in large...

Marijuana fueled Colombian drug trade before cocaine was king

Written by Lina Britto, Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University

A marijuana trafficker practicing his aim in the Guajira, epicenter of Colombia's first drug boom, in 1979.Romano Cagnoni/Getty Images

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

The big idea

Long before Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel got rich supplying Americans with cocaine in the 1980s, Colombia was already...

Making the most of a tree epidemic

Written by Sasa Zivkovic, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Cornell University

Emerald ash borer larvae is removed from an ash tree in Saugerties, N.Y.AP Photo/Mike Groll

A large portion of North America’s 8.7 billion ash trees are now infested by a beetle called the emerald ash borer.

Since its discovery in the U.S. in 2002, the emerald ash borer has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees, drastically transforming...

Deciding how and whether to reopen schools is complex -- here's how rocket scientists would develop a plan

Written by Robert Bordley, Professor and Program Director, Systems Engineering and Design, University of Michigan

The US has taken on grand challenges that required complex coordination before, including Project Apollo. NASA

Dealing with the social and economic upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic will require the skills and talents of many types of professions – medical personnel, public health experts, parents, students, educators, legislators,...

¿Qué medicamentos y tratamientos se ha demostrado que funcionan y cuáles no para la COVID-19?

Written by William Petri, Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia

Poco a poco vamos descubriendo qué medicamentos y tratamientos son efectivos contra el nuevo coronavirus.Anton Petrus / Getty Images

Soy médico y científico en la Universidad de Virginia. Me preocupo por los pacientes y realizo investigaciones para encontrar formas mejores de diagnosticar y tratar las enfermedades infecciosas,...

What literature can tell us about people's struggle with their faith during a pandemic

Written by Agnes Mueller, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

A scene from Giovanni Boccaccio's 'The Decameron' – sales of which have reportedly risen during the pandemic.John Waterhouse/Lady Lever Art Gallery

A recent Pew Research poll found that religious faith had deepened for a quarter of Americans because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some might indeed take solace in religion at a time of...

3 ways to promote social skills in homebound kids

Written by Elizabeth Englander, Professor of Psychology, and the Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC), Bridgewater State University

Too much time screen time can lead to lower self-esteem.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

With the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse in most of the country, a growing number of school districts from San Francisco to Atlanta have determined that a return to daily in-person instruction isn’t yet safe or viable. They aim to to...

Millions of America's working poor may lose out on key anti-poverty tax credit because of the pandemic

Written by Rebecca Hasdell, Postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University

Demand for food aid has soared during the pandemic.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The pandemic is driving American families to the edge, with tens of millions at risk of losing their homes and over 1 in 10 U.S. adults reporting their households didn’t have enough to eat in the previous week.

While Congress debates extending unemployment benefits that...