The Conversation

¿Harto del COVID-19? Aquí te decimos por qué podrías tener fatiga pandémica

Written by Jay Maddock, Professor of Public Health, Texas A&M University

Es tentador tomar un descanso de tantas precauciones.Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

A medida que la pandemia se prolonga, seguir las pautas de prevención de COVID-19 puede parecer un desafío cada vez mayor.

Este tipo de fatiga no es exclusivo de las precauciones contra una pandemia, como mantener el distanciamiento...

Feeling scared about how your kids can enjoy Halloween this year? Have no fear – healthy snacks are here

Written by Michael Goran, Professor of Pediatrics, Center for the Changing Family & Children's Hospital Los Angeles, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A monster face made of guacamole and vegetables, left, and owls and spiders made from sesame seeds are great fun for kids and healthy, too.Emily Ventura, CC BY-SA

Halloween is extra tricky this year thanks to COVID-19. But beyond the possible exposure to the virus from trick-or-treating or Halloween parties, there’s the issue of excess sugar...

Are 50 Cent, Ice Cube and young Black men the supporters who will enable Trump's return to the White House? Not exactly

Written by Sam Fulwood III, Fellow, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University

Neither 50 Cent, left, nor Ice Cube, right, herald a previously undetected Black male movement to reelect President Donald Trump. AP Photo

To judge by the brief, but furious, flurry of recent news and social media reports about the 2020 presidential campaign, the fate of the election may very well be decided by a previously undetected groundswell...

Chile abolishes its dictatorship-era constitution in groundbreaking vote for a more inclusive democracy

Written by Jennifer M. Piscopo, Associate Professor of Politics, Occidental College

Chileans celebrate victory after the referendum, in Santiago, Chile, Oct. 25, 2020.Felipe Vargas Figueroa/NurPhoto via Getty Images

One year ago, Chileans took their anger over inequality and injustice to the streets, insisting that redressing the nation’s deep structural problems would require more than reform. They said Chile would need a...

In rural America, resentment over COVID-19 shutdowns is colliding with rising case numbers

Written by Lauren Hughes, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Business restrictions early in the pandemic, when rural towns had few cases, triggered a backlash that haunts them now.Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

As COVID-19 spreads through rural America, new infection numbers are rising to peaks not seen during this pandemic and pushing hospitals to their limits. Many towns are experiencing their first...

Why mixed messaging can erode trust in institutions

Written by Deborah Perron Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis

The CDC has put out several conflicting messages of late, giving rise to concerns about trust.Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revised its guidance to acknowledge that COVID-19 can be spread through tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols. It had earlier removed a similar guidance...

The spooky and dangerous side of black licorice

Written by Bill Sullivan, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology; author of Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces That Make Us Who We Are, Indiana University

Black licorice gets its distinctive flavor from licorice root.PicturePartners/Getty Images

Black licorice may look and taste like an innocent treat, but this candy has a dark side. On Sept. 23, 2020, it was reported that black licorice was the culprit in the death of a 54-year-old man in Massachusetts. How could this be? Overdosing on licorice...

Your dog's nose knows no bounds – and neither does its love for you

Written by Ellen Furlong, Associate Professor of Psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University

Dogs have been constant companions to many during the COVID-19 pandemic.NickyLloyd/E+ via Getty Images

I have discovered one positive amid the pandemic: I love working with two dogs at my feet.

As someone who studies dog cognition, I often wonder: What is Charlie learning when he stops to sniff the crisp fall air? What is Cleo thinking when she...

Rats help clear minefields in Cambodia – and suspicion of the military

Written by Darcie DeAngelo, Postdoctoral fellow, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Rats that can sniff out land mines are changing the perception of the military in Cambodia.Darcie DeAngelo, CC BY-ND

Editor’s note: Dr. Darcie DeAngelo is a medical anthropologist at the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP) at Binghamton University, State University of New York. In this interview, she explains the...

Severed families, raided workplaces and a climate of fear: Assessing Trump's immigration crackdown

Written by Miranda Cady Hallett, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Human Rights Center Research Fellow, University of Dayton

An undocumented immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 28 years shows a picture of her grandchild and son, who was deported under Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy in 2017.John Moore/Getty Images

Donald Trump was on the defensive about his immigration policies in the final presidential debate, with a question about 545 migrant children taken by the...