The Conversation

Wearable fitness devices deliver early warning of possible COVID-19 infection

Written by Albert H. Titus, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Fitness information from wearable devices can reveal when the body is fighting an infection.Nico De Pasquale Photography/Stone via Getty Images

The difficulty many people have getting tested for SARS-CoV-2 and delays in receiving test results make early warning of possible COVID-19 infections all the more important, and data from wearable health...

8 simple strategies to fuel your body during a pandemic

Written by Julie Lee, Registered Dietitian, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Food is fuel for the human body. Photo by Merve Aydin for Unsplash

People eat for many reasons – pleasure, emotional release, boredom or to connect with others. And then there is eating during a pandemic. Whether you find yourself working from home, in quarantine or transitioning back to an office, chances are good that COVID-19 has impacted...

What is intolerance fatigue, and how is it fueling Black Lives Matter protests?

Written by Bev-Freda Jackson, Adjunct Professorial Lecturer, American University School of Public Affairs

These people are protesting because they are tired, because they are worn out, because they are exhausted by violence against themselves and their communities.Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images

Protesters remain on the streets demanding equality and justice for Black Americans. What they’re feeling, I believe, is something I call...

Brain scientists haven't been able to find major differences between women's and men's brains, despite over a century of searching

Written by Ari Berkowitz, Presidential Professor of Biology; Director, Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma

Are there innate differences between female and male brains?SebastianKaulitzki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

People have searched for sex differences in human brains since at least the 19th century, when scientist Samuel George Morton poured seeds and lead shot into human skulls to measure their volumes. Gustave Le Bon found men’s...

5 reasons Chinese students may stop studying in the US

Written by Andrew Swindell, Ph.D. Candidate in International Education, University of California, Los Angeles

Chinese universities have risen in prestige.Kevin Frayer / Stringer / Getty Images

Nearly 400,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in 2019 – more than one-third of the country’s international students.

A sharp decline in the number of these students would spell financial trouble for U.S. colleges and...

1864 elections went on during the Civil War – even though Lincoln thought it would be a disaster for himself and the Republican Party

Written by Calvin Schermerhorn, Professor of History, Arizona State University

Soldiers and African American workers standing near caskets and dead bodies covered with cloths during Grant's Overland Campaign. Matthew Brady/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

The outlook was not promising in 1864 for President Abraham Lincoln’s reelection.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans had been killed, wounded or...

Nuclear threats are increasing – here's how the US should prepare for a nuclear event

Written by Cham Dallas, University Professor Department of Health Policy & Management, University of Georgia

A visitor to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum views a photo of the aftermath of the 1945 bombing. Carl Court/Getty Images

On the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some may like to think the threat from nuclear weapons has receded. But there are clear signs of a growing nuclear arms race and that the U.S. is not very...

How the sound of religion has changed in the pandemic

Written by Amy Derogatis, Professor of Religion and American Culture, Michigan State University

The Rev. Philip Dinwiddie sings to a pre-recording of mass at St. James Episcopal Church in Grosse Ile, Michigan.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Things sound different in a lockdown. The silence of usually bustling streets, the two-tone whirr of ambulance sirens and the sudden awareness of birdsong, all formed an aural backdrop to the coronavirus...

As the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling

Written by Austin Sarat, Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty and Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

A 1970 image of prisoners in cell blocks at Rikers Island Prison.Bettmann / Contributor/Bettmann via Getty Images

Across the United States, prisons and jails have become hot spots for COVID-19. Governments at the state and federal level are being pressed to release inmates before the end of their sentence in order to minimize the spread of the...

Twitter posts show that people are profoundly sad – and are visiting parks to cheer up

Written by Joe Roman, Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont

Central Park, New York City, on Memorial Day weekend, May 24, 2020. Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is the deepest and longest period of malaise in a dozen years. Our colleagues at the University of Vermont have concluded this by analyzing posts on Twitter. The Vermont Complex Systems Center studies...