The Conversation

Black Americans, crucial workers in crises, emerge worse off – not better

Written by Calvin Schermerhorn, Professor of History, Arizona State University

A group of sharecroppers, evicted from their land in the Great Depression, stand beside a Missouri road in January 1939.GHI/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

On June 19, 1865 – 155 years ago – black Americans celebrating the day of Jubilee, later known as Juneteenth, may have expected a shot at real opportunity. Freedom from slaver...

Quarantine bubbles – when done right – limit coronavirus risk and help fight loneliness

Written by Melissa Hawkins, Professor of Public Health, Director of Public Health Scholars Program, American University

Quaranteams offer a way to limit the risk of infection while also maintaining social contacts and mental health. Oqvector / iStock Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

After three months of lockdowns, many people in the U.S. and around the world are turning to quarantine bubbles, pandemic pods or quaranteams in an effort to balance the risks of the...

Supreme Court to decide the future of the Electoral College

Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

On Dec. 19, 2016, Colorado elector Micheal Baca, in T-shirt second from left, cast his electoral ballot for John Kasich, though Hillary Clinton had won his state's popular vote.AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

Many Americans are surprised to learn that in U.S. presidential elections, the members of the Electoral College do not necessarily have to pick the...

Pandemic, privacy rules add to worries over 2020 census accuracy

Written by Qian Cai, Research Director of Demographics Research Group, University of Virginia

The pandemic has stretched out the amount of time the census is being conducted, contributing to worries over accuracy. Kena Benakur/AFP via Getty Images

For the Census Bureau, the timing of national shutdowns due to the pandemic could not have been much worse.

Stay-at-home orders in March coincided with the period when millions of Americans...

Can Asia end its uncontrolled consumption of wildlife? Here's how North America did it a century ago

Written by Roland Kays, Research Associate Professor of Wildlife and Scientist at NC Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina State University

Burning confiscated elephant ivory and animal horns in Myanmar's first public display of action against the illegal wildlife trade, Oct. 4, 2018.Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images

It was a dark time for animals. Poaching was rampant. Wild birds and mammals were being slaughtered by the thousands. An out-of-control wildlife trade was making...

I study coronavirus in a highly secured biosafety lab – here's why I feel safer here than in the world outside

Written by Troy Sutton, Assistant Professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University

Troy Sutton works with potentially deadly pathogens but the right precautions greatly reduce the risks.Penn State, CC BY-ND

It’s quiet in the laboratory, almost peaceful. But I’m holding live SARS-CoV-2 in my hands and this virus is not to be taken lightly.

As I dilute the coronavirus to infect cultured cells, I hear the reassuring sound...

How 'vaccine nationalism' could block vulnerable populations' access to COVID-19 vaccines

Written by Ana Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis University

Is the U.S. trying to jump the queue to get vaccines first?Sono Creative / Getty Images

Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. The way emerging vaccines will be distributed to those who need them is not yet clear. The United States has now twice indicated that it would like to secure priority access to doses of...

How the coronavirus escapes an evolutionary trade-off that helps keep other pathogens in check

Written by Athena Aktipis, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University

An artistic rendering of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness.Getty Images / s-cphoto

Viruses walk a fine line between severity and transmissibility. If they are too virulent, they kill or incapacitate their hosts; this limits their ability to infect new hosts. Conversely, viruses that cause little harm may not be generating...

Black religious leaders are up front and central in US protests – as they have been for the last 200 years

Written by Lawrence Burnley, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Dayton

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II addresses protesters gathered at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C.Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

When the Rev. Al Sharpton implored white America to “get your knee off our necks” at the memorial of George Floyd, his words were carried by news outlets across the globe....

What the Supreme Court's decision on LGBT employment discrimination will mean for transgender Americans

Written by Christopher Carpenter, E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Economics and Director of the Vanderbilt LGBT Policy Lab, Vanderbilt University

Transgender activist Aimee Stephens sat outside the Supreme Court as the court held oral arguments dealing with workplace discrimination.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that gay men, lesbian women, bisexual individuals and transgender people – individuals whose sex assigned at...