The Conversation

Cracks in COVID-19 treatment reveal need to bolster primary care

Written by Tuba Agartan, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, Providence College

Throughout the U.S., hospitals are short on supplies. At UNLV Medicine (University of Nevada at Las Vegas), the staff is running out of COVID-19 test kits. Getty Images / Ethan Miller

Every day the COVID-19 crisis reveals just how unprepared the U.S. health care system was.

But it’s not only the shortage of masks, tests and ventilators, nor...

Can an intelligence test forecast which quarterback draft prospects will have NFL success?

Written by Joshua D. Pitts, Associate Professor of Sport Management and Economics, Kennesaw State University

Former University of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is one of the most hyped prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft.AP Photo/Vasha Hunt

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is slated to be selected with one of the first 10 picks in the NFL Draft.

Like all top prospects, Tagovailoa has been subjected to months of evaluation, with teams’ scouting departments...

Beating coronavirus requires faith leaders to bridge gap between religion and science

Written by Katherine Marshall, Founding Director, World Faiths Development Dialogue; Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University

Some members of New York's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community defied the government's ban on gathering for Passover and other religious occasions, Brooklyn, April 16, 2020. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

While many religious communities have embraced physical distancing measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some still encourage gatherings...

5 ways parents can support their college-age children who've been forced to return home due to COVID-19

Written by Matthew J. Mayhew, William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State University

Stay-at-home orders and job cuts are putting family relationships to the test.Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: With many college students forced to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tensions and arguments are bound to flare up. Here, Matthew Mayhew, an education researcher who co-authored a book about the college experience...

Blood sugar levels may influence vulnerability to coronavirus, and controlling them through conventional means might be protective

Written by Adam M. Brufsky, Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

A woman with diabetes monitors her glycemia on the eighth day of a strict lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images

Can watching your blood sugar help fight COVID-19?

Sugar is not only something that sweetens our food. It is also something that is an essential part of the proteins that make up our...

Teens are wired to resent being stuck with parents and cut off from friends during coronavirus lockdown

Written by Catherine Bagwell, Professor of Psychology, Oxford College, Emory University

The last thing adolescents want is to be trapped at home alone, by order of their parents.Roos Koole/Moment via Getty Images

“Can’t I just go see one friend?”

“I need to hang out with my friends.”

“You are being overprotective and unreasonable!”

Social distancing is both necessary and hard. If my Facebook...

Robots are playing many roles in the coronavirus crisis – and offering lessons for future disasters

Written by Robin R. Murphy, Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering; Vice-President Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (nfp), Texas A&M University

A nurse (left) operates a robot used to interact remotely with coronavirus patients while a physician looks on.MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images

A cylindrical robot rolls into a treatment room to allow health care workers to remotely take temperatures and measure blood pressure and oxygen saturation from patients hooked up to a ventilator. Another...

Taking advantage of unpaid leave can increase the chances that workers will face economic hardship

Written by Pamela Joshi, Senior Scientist, Brandeis University

Many severe COVID-19 symptoms last for weeks.AP Photo/Elise Amendola

The United States has more COVID-19 cases than any other country. But the American workforce may be hard-pressed to take much time off if they or their loved ones get the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

One big reason for that, I’ve learned by studying U.S. family and...

Chronic conditions worsen coronavirus risk – here's how to manage them amid the pandemic

Written by Laurie Archbald-Pannone, Associate Professor Medicine, Geriatrics, University of Virginia

To avoid the high risk COVID-19 poses to older adults with chronic illnesses, many doctors have shifted appointments to telemedicine. BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Amid the stress and confusion of coronavirus shutdowns and social distancing orders, it can seem to older patients as though everything is on pause. Clinics have postponed...

To protect people in the Great Lakes region from climate extremes, weatherize their homes

Written by Nicholas Rajkovich, Assistant Professor of Architecture, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Air conditioning cools city residents during heat waves, but also strains the power grid and fuels climate change.Joanna Poe/Flickr, CC BY-SA

This story is part of the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative.

Summer temperatures in Chicago normally peak in the low 80s, but in mid-July 1995 they topped 100 F with...