The Conversation

Rethinking what research means during a global pandemic

Written by Ann M. Cheney, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Medicine Population and Public Health, University of California, Riverside

Farmworkers are essential workers who must decide every morning whether they will leave their home to work the fields to provide for their families and the nation.John Moore/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Conversation is running a series of dispatches from clinicians and researchers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic....

A massive Saharan dust plume is moving into the southeast US, bringing technicolor sunsets and suppressing tropical storms

Written by Scott Denning, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

A vast plume of Saharan dust blankets Havana, Cuba, June 24, 2020.Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images

A hot desert wind is carrying a massive cloud of Saharan dust into the southern United States this week. Dust plumes from the Sahara routinely blow westward across the Atlantic at this time of year, but this event is a doozy – by some measures,...

100 degrees in Siberia? 5 ways the extreme Arctic heat wave follows a disturbing pattern

Written by Mark Serreze, Research Professor of Geography and Director, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Boulder

This Arctic heat wave has been unusually long-lived. The darkest reds on this map of the Arctic are areas that were more than 14 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in the spring of 2020 compared to the recent 15-year average.Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory

The Arctic heat wave that sent Siberian temperatures soaring to around 100 degrees Fahrenheit on...

Developing resilience is an important tool to help you deal with coronavirus and the surge in cases

Written by Keith M. Bellizzi, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut

COVID-19, says the author, has had a significant impact on the mental health of millions of Americans.Getty Images / Jules Ingall

We’re all exhausted and pushed to the limit by months of social distancing, and the recent news that cases are climbing in many states is especially scary.

While you may feel like ripping off your mask and heading...

How deforestation helps deadly viruses jump from animals to humans

Written by Amy Y. Vittor, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Florida

Pangolins have been found with covonaviruses that are genetically similar to the one afflicting humans today.Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images

The coronavirus pandemic, suspected of originating in bats and pangolins, has brought the risk of viruses that jump from wildlife to humans into stark focus.

These leaps often happen at the edges of the...

Gene therapy and CRISPR strategies for curing blindness (Yes, you read that right)

Written by Hemant Khanna, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Researchers are now testing treatments for several kinds of visual impairment. BRIAN MITCHELL / Getty Images

In recent months, even as our attention has been focused on the coronavirus outbreak, there have been a slew of scientific breakthroughs in treating diseases that cause blindness.

Researchers at U.S.-based Editas Medicine and Ireland-based...

Days with both extreme heat and extreme air pollution are becoming more common – which can't be a good thing for global health

Written by Yangyang Xu, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University

Much of India experiences both extreme heat and extreme air pollution, as seen in this photo of the Akshardham Hindu temple. Days with both are going to increase. Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Days of extreme high heat and extreme air pollution are both increasing...

Hip-hop is the soundtrack to Black Lives Matter protests, continuing a tradition that dates back to the blues

Written by Tyina Steptoe, Associate Professor of History, University of Arizona

Rapper YG, center in white, at a June 7 protest over the death of George Floyd.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

The sound of Public Enemy’s 1989 song “Fight the Power” blared as face-masked protesters in Washington, D.C. broke into a spontaneous rendition of the electric slide dance near the White House.

It was the morning of June 14,...

New York opens traffic-clogged streets to people during pandemic, the city's latest redesign in times of dramatic change

Written by Amy D. Finstein, Assistant Professor of Architectural History, College of the Holy Cross

Harvest Kitchen restaurant, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, making use of New York City's new policy of opening streets to walking, biking and dining.Ron Adar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

On some normally congested New York City streets, cars are gone, replaced by diners tentatively returning to restaurants – though only outside...

Most white parents don't talk about racism with their kids

Written by David Chae, Human Sciences Associate Professor & Director, Society, Health, and Racial Equity Lab, Auburn University

Talking about race is important, but not every family does it – or does it well.MStudioImages/Getty Images

Though race and racism are at the top of Americans’ public discussion, most white parents don’t talk about those issues with their kids.

Research on how white parents discuss race with their children is sparse. However, past...