The Conversation

Quarantines have tried to keep out disease for thousands of years

Written by Leslie S. Leighton, Visiting Lecturer of History, Georgia State University

Camp beds set up for travelers returning to Germany from China, who will be isolated for two weeks to make sure they don't have coronavirus. YANN SCHREIBER/AFP via Getty Images

The recent global spread of a deadly coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, has led world leaders to invoke an ancient tradition to control the spread of illness:...

Catholic investigations are still shrouded in secrecy

Written by Brian J Clites, Instructor and Associate Director, Case Western Reserve University

The pope can order religious investigations that can allow the Vatican to swiftly take action.Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP

Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Malone resigned in December 2019 after intense public criticism for his handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York.

His departure came three months after the...

Inside Mexico's war on drugs: Conversations with 'el narco'

Written by Karina G.Garcia Reyes, Profesora de la Escuela de Sociología, Política y Relaciones Internacionales y del departamento de Estudios Latinoamericanos, University of Bristol

More than 35,000 people were killed in Mexico in 2019, the deadliest year on record. Violence has spiked as a result of the government's ongoing assault on drug cartels.Leonardo Emiliozzi Ph / Shutterstock

I am from northern Mexico, one of the regions most affected by the global war on drugs.

From 2008 to 2012 my hometown – which I’m...

The Trump administration has made the US less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus

Written by Linda J. Bilmes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Finance, Harvard Kennedy School

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from an infected cell (yellow-green). NIAID, CC BY

As coronavirus continues to spread, the Trump administration has declared a public health emergency and imposed quarantines and travel restrictions. However, over the past three years the administration has...

The Trump administration has made the U.S. less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus

Written by Linda J. Bilmes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Finance, Harvard Kennedy School

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from an infected cell (yellow-green). NIAID, CC BY

Anthrax vs. cancer – researchers harness the deadly toxin to cure dogs and hopefully people

Written by R. Claudio Aguilar, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University

Dogs with terminal bladder cancer improved with this new modified anthrax treatment.Lucky Business/Shutterstock.com

Can the feared anthrax toxin become an ally in the war against cancer? Successful treatment of pet dogs suffering bladder cancer with an anthrax-related treatment suggest so.

Anthrax is a disease caused a by bacterium, known as Bacillus...

France-US skirmish over Amazon digital tax shows why the century-old international tax system is broken

Written by Ruth Mason, Edwin S. Cohen Distinguished Professor of Law and Taxation, University of Virginia

Trump and Macron agreed to a detente in their trade spat. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

France and the U.S. have managed to avoid turning their recent trade skirmish into a war – for now.

The dispute involves France’s decision last summer to unilaterally reach outside the United States-French tax treaty framework to tax U.S. tech companies like...

Why Italian cinema is starting to glamorize the mafia

Written by Dana Renga, Associate Professor of Italian Studies and Film, The Ohio State University

For almost a century, American filmmakers have glamorized the Mafia, depicting their ranks as so charismatic and quick-witted that you might want to invite them over for dinner.

Audiences saw this most recently in “The Irishman,” which reunites a star cast of the usual suspects – Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci – but...

Fracking has led to a 'bust' for Pennsylvania school district finances

Written by Matthew Gardner Kelly, Assistant Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State University

A shale gas well pad in Pennsylvania contains storage tanks.AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

Unconventional natural gas development has transformed American energy over the past decade.

Hydraulic fracturing, often popularly referred to as “fracking,” is a process used in extracting oil or gas resources from underground formations such as shale or...

WHO declares global health emergency over coronavirus: 4 questions answered

Written by Aubree Gordon, Professor of Public Health, University of Michigan

A man wearing a surgical mask makes a child wear one outside a hospital where a student who had been in Wuhan is kept in isolation in Thrissur, Kerala state, India. AP Photo

Editor’s note: The World Health Organization reversed course on Jan. 30 and declared the coronavirus a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.”...