The Conversation

Russia's rigged elections look nothing like the US election – they have immediate, unquestioned results there

Written by Regina Smyth, Professor of Political Science, Indiana University

Not in Russia: An election observer takes notes as Gwinnett County workers process ballots in Lawrenceville, Georgia, Nov. 6.Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

The 2020 election, in which Joe Biden is the projected winner, is not what a rigged election looks like.

Rigged elections are organized. Vote counts certainly don’t play out in front of the...

Why we didn't get a vaccine by Election Day – but why we may get one soon

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

Pfizer stock surged higher on Nov. 9 after the company announced its vaccine is "90% effective" against COVID-19 infections. KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

A COVID-19 vaccine was not ready before the general election, as many people, including the president, had hoped. But there are promising signs that one may be available soon.

A sparse press...

Who are patron saints and why do Catholics venerate them?

Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis during his beatification ceremony in Assisi, Italy.AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

On Oct. 10, 2020, Carlo Acutis, a computer enthusiast, was beatified and given the title of “Blessed,” in the town of Assisi in Italy. Already, Catholics are calling this 15-year-old video gamer and computer programmer the...

Flaws emerge in modeling human genetic diseases in animals

Written by Gage Crump, Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Southern California

This confocal microscope image shows the face of a week-old zebrafish.Peter Fabian and Gage Crump, CC BY-NC

My lab, based at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, uses zebrafish to model human birth defects affecting the face. When I tell people this, they are often skeptical that fish biology has any relevance to human...

What the California vote to keep the ban on affirmative action means for higher education

Written by Vinay Harpalani, Associate Professor of Law and Henry Weihofen Professor, University of New Mexico

Public universities in California cannot consider race in admissions.Mark Ralston / Getty

Editor’s note: On Nov. 3, California voters rejected Proposition 16, a proposed amendment to the California Constitution which would have reinstated affirmative action in the state’s public institutions. Here, Vinay Harpalani, an expert on...

Choosing health insurance is so complicated, 23% of workers with only two choices picked the worse one

Written by Trevor Collier, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Dayton

Even a binary choice can be hard.rhyman007/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Almost a quarter of employees faced with the choice of two employer-sponsored health care plans picked the one that left them worse off financially, even though they offered the same non-cost benefits,...

How children with lethal cancers and other incurable illnesses have benefited from the Affordable Care Act – and why they'll suffer if the Supreme Court overturns it

Written by Lisa C. Lindley, Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Tennessee

Rachel Goldman and a child with cancer participate in a fundraiser for childhood cancer research on Nov. 17, 2019 in New York City. Children with cancer face many challenges even when they are not in hospice care.Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Runway Heroes

The Affordable Care Act once again is headed for a date with the Supreme Court, with...

Before Kamala Harris, many Black women aimed for the White House

Written by Sharon Austin, Professor of Political Science, University of Florida

Harris isn't actually the first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States.Photo Illustration by Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The vice president-elect of the United States is the American daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants.

With Joe Biden’s projected presidential win over Donald Trump, Sen....

Exoplanets are still out there -- a new model tells astronomers where to look for more using 4 simple variables

Written by Daniel Apai, Associate Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona

A starchart by Alexander Jamieson from 1822 showing the constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. Cetus is located in the region of the sky known as the Water, along with other watery constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus.Buyenlarge/Getty Images

Only 12 light years from Earth, Tau Ceti is the closest single star similar to the Sun and an...

Conservatives value personal stories more than liberals do when evaluating scientific evidence

Written by Randy Stein, Assistant Professor of Marketing, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

When science and anecdote share a podium, you must decide how to value each.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Conservatives tend to see expert evidence and personal experience as more equally legitimate than liberals, who put a lot more weight on the scientific...