The Conversation

A virtual Passover may be the first for many, but Judaism has a long history of ritual innovation

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder

As workers make matzo for Passover, many families will not be able to get together this year.Guy Prives/Getty Images)

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the globe, it is affecting how families celebrate important religious events such as Easter, Passover and Ramadan, which would normally involve the gathering of families.

For example, in...

With Boris Johnson in intensive care, who runs the UK?

Written by Luke Reader, Teaching Fellow, History Department, Case Western Reserve University

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in mid-March, before he tested positive for the coronavirus.Ray Tang/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Boris Johnson – who was admitted to intensive care on April 6 with worsening symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus – is not the first British prime minister to experience a...

¿Qué tipo de vacunas están desarrollando los laboratorios contra el coronavirus?

Written by Jean Peccoud, Professor, Abell Chair in Synthetic Biology, Colorado State University

There are many ways to make a vaccine. In a time of crisis, the more paths towards success the betterAdriana Duduleanu / EyeEm via Getty Images

El coronavirus paralizó todas las actividades sociales, económicas y educativas a nivel mundial. Por ahora, los profesionales de la salud se basan en medidas como el distanciamiento social...

Beyond sanitizing and social distancing – a healthy circadian rhythm may keep you sane and increase resilience to fight COVID-19

Written by Satchin Panda, Professor of Regulatory Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Adjunct Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at UCSD, University of California San Diego

Try to get outside during daylight to set your circadian rhythms.LordRunar /Getty Images

Social distancing and washing hands have become the frontline in the fight against COVID-19, but there is another powerfully protective resource immediately available to all: your circadian rhythm.

Every cell in your body has a sense of time.wildpixel / Getty...

What does 'recovered from coronavirus' mean? 4 questions answered about how some survive and what happens next

Written by Tom Duszynski, Director Epidemiology Education, IUPUI

Recovery is the result for most coronavirus patientsAP Photo/Tony Dejak

The coronavirus is certainly scary, but despite the constant reporting on total cases and a climbing death toll, the reality is that the vast majority of people who come down with COVID-19 survive it. Just as the number of cases grows, so does another number: those who have...

Hoarding during the coronavirus isn't just unnecessary, it's ethically wrong

Written by Jaime Ahlberg, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Florida

Long lines at a grocery store in Spring, Texas, as people rush to stockpile.AP Photo/David J. Phillip

As people rush to stockpile provisions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, stores have placed restrictions on the purchase of basic goods and medicines.

When supply chains are vulnerable to spikes in demand, one person’s stockpiling can...

Striking Amazon, Instacart employees reveal how a basic economic principle could derail our ability to combat the coronavirus

Written by Leigh Osofsky, Professor of Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Samuel Diaz, a delivery worker for Amazon Prime, loads his vehicle with groceries from Whole Foods in Miami.AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

A series of recent protests by the workers preparing and delivering our essential foods and other goods highlights a key risk to our ability to combat the coronavirus.

Some employees at an Amazon warehouse and Instacart...

6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you're forced to learn online at home

Written by Ryan Korstange, Assistant Professor of University Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

Breaking down big projects into smaller tasks helps.PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini/Getty Images

Even in normal circumstances, it can be hard to get motivated to do your schoolwork. But these are not normal circumstances.

The switch to remote instruction caused by COVID-19 has been unsettling. Patterns have changed. Habits have been disrupted. Remote...

A world without sports

Written by Lars Dzikus, Associate Professor in Sport Studies, University of Tennessee

The Capital One Arena, home of the Washington Capitals, sits empty. AP Photo/Nick Wass

Baseball’s opening day came and went. The Olympics have been postponed. Football in the fall? Don’t count on it.

With COVID-19 infections and deaths rising each day, the cancellation of live sporting events might seem like an afterthought. But in the...

Crops could face double trouble from insects and a warming climate

Written by Gregg Howe, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University

In the heat, tomato plants can't fight off the hungry tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. From www.shutterstock.com

For millennia, insects and the plants they feed on have been engaged in a co-evolutionary battle: to eat or not be eaten. Until recently, the two antagonistic sides have maintained a stalemate of sorts. With climate change, however,...