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Civility in politics is harder than you think

  • Written by Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tears up her copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up the text of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in full public view, her supporters saw defiance of both his policies and his earlier refusal to shake her hand. But...

Read more: Civility in politics is harder than you think

Trump's excess and extravagance turned the State of the Union into an action movie

  • Written by Vanessa B. Beasley, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt University
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address at the Capitol on Feb. 4, 2020. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

State of the Union addresses are supposed to be boring speeches.

Actually, they are not required to be speeches at all. The U.S. Constitution requires only that the president “from time to time give to the...

Read more: Trump's excess and extravagance turned the State of the Union into an action movie

A plasma reactor zaps airborne viruses – and could help slow the spread of infectious diseases

  • Written by Herek Clack, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Researchers Tian Xia and Zijie Lin test a plasma prototype for preventing airborne transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus at a Michigan pig farm.Robert Coelius/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing, CC BY-ND

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

The big idea: It’s the...

Read more: A plasma reactor zaps airborne viruses – and could help slow the spread of infectious diseases

Is the coronavirus a pandemic, and does that matter? 4 questions answered

  • Written by Brian Labus, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Flight attendants check temperatures of passengers aboard an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing on Feb. 4, 2020. AP Photo/Andy Wong

Editor’s note: The new coronavirus has now affected more than 20,000 people in China and claimed more lives as of Feb. 4 than the SARS epidemic from 2002 to 2004. Hong Kong has reported its first death....

Read more: Is the coronavirus a pandemic, and does that matter? 4 questions answered

'American Dirt' fiasco exposes publishing industry that's too consolidated, too white and too selective

  • Written by Christine Larson, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Colorado Boulder
Copies of 'American Dirt' sit on a rack at a bookstore in New York.Laura Bonilla CAL/AFP via Getty Images

In an early chapter of “American Dirt,” the much-hyped novel now at the center of a racial controversy, the protagonist, Lydia, fills her Acapulco, Mexico, bookstore with her favorite literary classics. Because these don’t...

Read more: 'American Dirt' fiasco exposes publishing industry that's too consolidated, too white and too...

Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered

  • Written by Vanessa Dennen, Professor of of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies, Florida State University
Online education presents many conveniences but requires serious time management skills.fizkes/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s Note: When U.S. News & World Report released its best online education program rankings this year, many schools that fared well in the rankings were quick to call attention to their success. Here, Vanessa Dennen, a resea...

Read more: Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered

How the US repeatedly failed to support reform movements in Iran

  • Written by Pardis Mahdavi, Director, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University
A demonstrator protesting a disputed election wearing a headband in support of the Green Movement, Tehran, June 15, 2009. Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

After decades of conflict, recently escalated to near-war, it appears there’s little chance that U.S. relations with Iran will ever improve.

For 40 years, the relationship between the U.S. and Iran...

Read more: How the US repeatedly failed to support reform movements in Iran

R0: How scientists quantify the intensity of an outbreak like coronavirus and its pandemic potential

  • Written by Joseph Eisenberg, Professor and Chair of Epidemiology, University of Michigan
To how many others will one infected person spread the infection?Bim/Getty Images

If you saw the 2011 movie “Contagion,” about a worldwide pandemic of a new virus, then you’ve heard the term R0.

Pronounced “R naught,” this isn’t just jargon made up in Hollywood. It represents an important concept in epidemiology...

Read more: R0: How scientists quantify the intensity of an outbreak like coronavirus and its pandemic potential

Iowa caucuses did one thing right: Require paper ballots

  • Written by Herbert Lin, Senior Research Scholar for Cyber Policy and Security, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
Paper ballots – the key to reconstructing what happened in Iowa.AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

As the confusion that was the Iowa caucuses unfolds, there will be a lot of questions about what happened and how to avoid it in the future.

But the results, ultimately, will be clear and undisputed because, amid everything they did wrong, the Iowa...

Read more: Iowa caucuses did one thing right: Require paper ballots

US could learn how to improve election protection from other nations

  • Written by Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University
Are these people's votes accurately recorded and properly counted?Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Hacking into voting machines remains far too easy.

It is too soon to say for sure what role cybersecurity played in the 2020 Iowa caucuses, but the problems, which are still unfolding and being investigated, show how easily systemic failures can lead to delays...

Read more: US could learn how to improve election protection from other nations

More Articles ...

  1. Learn to trust immigrants by role-playing in their shoes
  2. Is hiring more black officers the key to reducing police violence?
  3. The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion
  4. A clue to stopping coronavirus: Knowing how viruses adapt from animals to humans
  5. Cancer deaths decline in US, with advances in prevention, detection and treatment
  6. At-risk colleges should do what's best for students, alumni, donors, employees – and local communities
  7. 100 years ago, Congress threw out results of the census
  8. US workplaces are nowhere near ready to contain a coronavirus outbreak
  9. What do kids think of the president?
  10. Do authors really put deeper meaning into poems and stories – or do readers make it up?
  11. Quarantines have tried to keep out disease for thousands of years
  12. Catholic investigations are still shrouded in secrecy
  13. Inside Mexico's war on drugs: Conversations with 'el narco'
  14. The Trump administration has made the US less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus
  15. The Trump administration has made the U.S. less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus
  16. Anthrax vs. cancer – researchers harness the deadly toxin to cure dogs and hopefully people
  17. France-US skirmish over Amazon digital tax shows why the century-old international tax system is broken
  18. Why Italian cinema is starting to glamorize the mafia
  19. Fracking has led to a 'bust' for Pennsylvania school district finances
  20. WHO declares global health emergency over coronavirus: 4 questions answered
  21. Coronavirus grown in lab outside China for first time, aiding the search for vaccine
  22. The Kobe legacy: Should the NBA let high school players skip college?
  23. Why losing Kobe Bryant felt like losing a relative or friend
  24. Iowa caucuses: It's not just candidates who face uncertainty – it's their campaign workers, too
  25. As Democratic primaries near, educators can teach hope to a polarized citizenry
  26. Humans are hardwired to dismiss facts that don't fit their worldview
  27. How do woodpeckers avoid brain injury?
  28. The Senate has actually tied in an impeachment trial – twice
  29. Supreme Court allows public charge clause that kept Nazi-era refugees from the US
  30. Why we knock on wood
  31. Has Trump proposed a Middle East peace plan – or terms of surrender for the Palestinians?
  32. Limiting Senate inquiry ignores Founders' intent for impeachment
  33. Britain's Brexit divorce is here – but the bickering over alimony payments and who gets the house is only beginning
  34. The US economy produced about $21.7 trillion in goods and services in 2019 - but what does GDP really mean?
  35. The US economy produced about $21.7 trillion in goods and services in 2019 – but what does GDP really mean?
  36. Is the coronavirus outbreak as bad as SARS or the 2009 influenza pandemic? A biologist explains the clues
  37. What is a super spreader? An infectious disease expert explains
  38. Harvey Weinstein's 'false memory' defense is not backed by science
  39. How do I know if I might have coronavirus? 5 questions answered
  40. Modern tomatoes are very different from their wild ancestors – and we found missing links in their evolution
  41. Union gunboats didn't just attack rebel military sites – they went after civilian property, too
  42. 4 myths the Trump team promoted about Andrew Johnson
  43. Preventing genocide in Myanmar: Court order tries to protect Rohingya Muslims where politics has failed
  44. Brain organoids help neuroscientists understand brain development, but aren't perfect matches for real brains
  45. I track murder cases that use the 'gay panic defense,' a controversial practice banned in 9 states
  46. Britain is about to leave the EU – what's next?
  47. Islamophobia in the US did not start with Trump, but his tweets perpetuate a long history of equating Muslims with terrorism
  48. The meme endorsement you might have missed – and why it matters for 2020
  49. Hidden by a pleasant scent: The health consequences of flavor in e-cigarettes
  50. Beware the brokered convention that breaks up the party