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Duckweed is an incredible, radiation-fighting astronaut food – and by changing how it is grown, we made it better

  • Written by Barbara Demmig-Adams, Professor of Plant Ecology and Molecular Biology, University of Colorado Boulder
imageThe tiny floating duckweed plant is uniquely suited to meet the nutritional needs of astronauts.Dr. Jared J. Stewart, CC BY-ND

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

What’s the big idea?

Current industrialized food systems were optimized for a single goal – growing the maximum amount of food for the least...

Read more: Duckweed is an incredible, radiation-fighting astronaut food – and by changing how it is grown, we...

Why does white always go first in chess?

  • Written by Daaim Shabazz, Associate Professor of International Business, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
imageThe white-moves-first rule became standard in the late 1800s.Nupat Arjkla / EyeEm / Getty Images

Editor’s note: The recent protests over racism have rekindled a longstanding discussion about whether chess promotes white privilege with its rule that the first move always goes to the player with the white pieces. In this Q&A, Daaim Shabazz,...

Read more: Why does white always go first in chess?

An argument for gene drive technology to genetically control insects like mosquitoes and locusts

  • Written by Isobel Ronai, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney
imageSwarms of locusts are seen on a tree in a residential area in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta on June 12, 2020. BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images

The fate of society rests in part on how humans navigate their complicated relationship with insects – trying to save “good” insects and control “bad” ones. Some...

Read more: An argument for gene drive technology to genetically control insects like mosquitoes and locusts

An argument for gene drive technology to genetically control populations of insects like mosquitoes and locusts

  • Written by Isobel Ronai, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney
imageSwarms of locusts are seen on a tree in a residential area in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta on June 12, 2020. BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images

The fate of society rests in part on how humans navigate their complicated relationship with insects – trying to save “good” insects and control “bad” ones. Some...

Read more: An argument for gene drive technology to genetically control populations of insects like...

Why Buddhist monks collect alms and visit households even in times of social distancing

  • Written by Thomas Borchert, Professor of Religion, University of Vermont

Monks socially distancing as they go about their daily alms rounds while dressed in face masks as well as robes have become a common sight during the coronavirus pandemic in Thailand. Pictures in Thai media show the efforts monks and their lay supporters are making in maintaining social distance, as they carry on with the practice nonetheless.

I...

Read more: Why Buddhist monks collect alms and visit households even in times of social distancing

As coronavirus cases spike in the South, Northeast seems to have the pandemic under control - here's what changed

  • Written by Taison Bell, Physician and Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia
imageFace masks and social distancing have become the norm in New York City.Noam Galai/Getty Images

“Hospital Capacity Crosses Tipping Point in U.S. Coronavirus Hot Spots” – Wall Street Journal

This is a headline I hoped to not see again after the number of coronavirus infections had finally started to decline in the Northeast and...

Read more: As coronavirus cases spike in the South, Northeast seems to have the pandemic under control -...

COVID-19 has resurrected single-use plastics – are they back to stay?

  • Written by Jessica Heiges, PhD Candidate in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley
imageVolunteers load plastic bags for a weekly food pantry service in Everett, Mass., May 10, 2020. Everett has some of the highest COVID-19 infections rates in the state.Joseph Prezioso /AFP via Getty Images

COVID-19 is changing how the U.S. disposes of waste. It is also threatening hard-fought victories that restricted or eliminated single-use...

Read more: COVID-19 has resurrected single-use plastics – are they back to stay?

Is bar soap as gross as millennials say? Not really, and we're all covered with microbes anyway

  • Written by Michelle Sconce Massaquoi, Doctoral Candidate in Microbiology, University of Oregon
imageOne thing everyone agrees on: Hand-washing helps prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Getty Images / Isabel Pavia

Mask-wearing has divided the country, but hand-washing – one might think – is something virtually everyone would agree on. Hand-washing, after all, is one of the most critical parts of preventing the spread of infectious...

Read more: Is bar soap as gross as millennials say? Not really, and we're all covered with microbes anyway

Biases in algorithms hurt those looking for information on health

  • Written by Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University
imageFinding valid health care information on social media is harder than it seems.Carl Court/Getty Images

YouTube hosts millions of videos related to health care.

The Health Information National Trends Survey reports that 75% of Americans go to the internet first when looking for information about health or medical topics. YouTube is one of the most popu...

Read more: Biases in algorithms hurt those looking for information on health

What US medical supply chain can learn from the fashion industry

  • Written by Tinglong Dai, Associate Professor of Operations Management & Business Analytics, Johns Hopkins University
imageMasks: Where health care and fashion collide.Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images

The shortage of crucial medical supplies, especially personal protective equipment, has crippled the United States’ ability to quell the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least 54,000 nursing home residents and workers have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. as of June 26. This...

Read more: What US medical supply chain can learn from the fashion industry

More Articles ...

  1. Airlines got travelers comfortable about flying again once before – but 9/11 and a virus are a lot different
  2. Mask resistance during a pandemic isn't new – in 1918 many Americans were 'slackers'
  3. 5 ways higher education can be seen as hostile to women of color
  4. Your coping and resilience strategies might need to shift as the COVID-19 crisis continues
  5. Young musicians can perform on virtual stages when schools are closed
  6. How to stay honest when filing taxes in a pandemic year
  7. The UAE's Mars mission seeks to bring Hope to more places than the red planet
  8. When the world changes under a political scientist's feet
  9. Smartphone witnessing becomes synonymous with Black patriotism after George Floyd's death
  10. How deadly is COVID-19? A biostatistician explores the question
  11. Coronavirus's painful side effect is deep budget cuts for state and local government services
  12. Supreme Court upholds American Indian treaty promises, orders Oklahoma to follow federal law
  13. How one woman pulled off the first consumer boycott – and helped inspire the British to abolish slavery
  14. How talking about the coronavirus as an enemy combatant can backfire
  15. In changing urban neighborhoods, new food offerings can set the table for gentrification
  16. Millennials drive for 8% fewer trips than older generations
  17. Suicide of Egyptian activist Sarah Hegazi exposes the 'freedom and violence' of LGBTQ Muslims in exile
  18. Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism
  19. The WHO often has been under fire, but no nation has ever moved to sever ties with it
  20. Trump gets no special protections because he's president and must release financial records, Supreme Court rules
  21. Este sencillo modelo muestra la importancia de las mascarillas y el distanciamiento social
  22. Federal executions to resume, posing a new test for lethal injection
  23. Judge orders Brazil to protect Indigenous people from ravages of COVID-19
  24. Money buys even more happiness than it used to
  25. Vigilantism, again in the news, is an American tradition
  26. With prizes, food, housing and cash, Putin rigged Russia's most recent vote
  27. Cell-like decoys could mop up viruses in humans – including the one that causes COVID-19
  28. When states pass social liberalization laws, they create regional advantages for innovation
  29. Aerosols are a bigger coronavirus threat than WHO guidelines suggest – here's what you need to know
  30. Simply scrapping the SAT won't make colleges more diverse
  31. When Trump pushed hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, hundreds of thousands of prescriptions followed despite little evidence that it worked
  32. The Supreme Court just expanded the 'ministerial exception' shielding religious employers from anti-bias laws
  33. COVID-19 exposes why the Postal Service needs to get back into the banking business
  34. Leaders like Trump fail if they cannot speak the truth and earn trust
  35. Srebrenica, 25 years later: Lessons from the massacre that ended the Bosnian conflict and unmasked a genocide
  36. Sending international students home would sap US influence and hurt the economy
  37. COVID-19 makes clear that bioethics must confront health disparities
  38. Street vendors make cities livelier, safer and fairer – here's why they belong on the post-COVID-19 urban scene
  39. Corporate activism is more than a marketing gimmick
  40. 5 COVID-19 myths politicians have repeated that just aren't true
  41. Synthetic odors created by activating brain cells help neuroscientists understand how smell works
  42. Why are scientists trying to manufacture organs in space?
  43. Brazil's Bolsonaro has COVID-19 – and so do thousands of Indigenous people who live days from the nearest hospital
  44. 3 things 'ZeroZeroZero' gets right about the cocaine trade
  45. It takes a long time to vote
  46. Supreme Court hands victory to school voucher lobby – will religious minorities, nonbelievers and state autonomy lose out?
  47. COVID-19: As offices reopen, here's what to expect if you're worried about getting sick on the job
  48. Should architecturally significant low-income housing be preserved?
  49. Is the COVID-19 pandemic cure really worse than the disease? Here's what our research found
  50. Rare neurological disorder, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, linked to COVID-19