The Conversation

Why farmers are dumping milk down the drain and letting produce rot in fields

Written by Elizabeth Ransom, Associate Professor of International Affairs & Senior Research Associate Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

A Pennsylvania dairy farmer watches 5,500 gallons of milk swirl down the drain.MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Many Americans may be surprised and confused to see farmers dumping milk down the drain or letting vegetables rot in their fields.

Why would they be destroying food at a time when grocery stores and food pantries struggle to...

Why there isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan for states to reopen their economies

Written by Hilary Godwin, Dean, School of Public Health, University of Washington

California is working with Oregon and Washington on coordinated plans for phasing in the reopening of restaurants, stores and other parts of their economies in a way that can keep the coronavirus pandemic at bay.Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: How and when states reopen their economies will look different from one state to the next...

Turkey releasing murderers – but not political opponents – from prison amid coronavirus pandemic

Written by Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University

Released prisoners sit in a bus outside Ankara, Turkey -- while government critics remain behind bars due to Turkey's sweeping terror laws.AP

Turkey has begun to release about 90,000 prison inmates, half of them temporarily and the other half permanently, to prevent COVID-19’s spread and to ease overcrowding.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,...

A smart second skin gets all the power it needs from sweat

Written by Wei Gao, Assistant Professor of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology

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

The big idea

Skin is the largest organ of the human body. It conveys a lot of information, including temperature, pressure, pleasure and pain. Electronic skin (e-skin) mimics the properties of biological skin. Recently developed e-skins are capable of wirelessly monitoring...

Cracks in COVID-19 treatment reveal need to bolster primary care

Written by Tuba Agartan, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, Providence College

Throughout the U.S., hospitals are short on supplies. At UNLV Medicine (University of Nevada at Las Vegas), the staff is running out of COVID-19 test kits. Getty Images / Ethan Miller

Every day the COVID-19 crisis reveals just how unprepared the U.S. health care system was.

But it’s not only the shortage of masks, tests and ventilators, nor...

Can an intelligence test forecast which quarterback draft prospects will have NFL success?

Written by Joshua D. Pitts, Associate Professor of Sport Management and Economics, Kennesaw State University

Former University of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is one of the most hyped prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft.AP Photo/Vasha Hunt

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is slated to be selected with one of the first 10 picks in the NFL Draft.

Like all top prospects, Tagovailoa has been subjected to months of evaluation, with teams’ scouting departments...

Beating coronavirus requires faith leaders to bridge gap between religion and science

Written by Katherine Marshall, Founding Director, World Faiths Development Dialogue; Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University

Some members of New York's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community defied the government's ban on gathering for Passover and other religious occasions, Brooklyn, April 16, 2020. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

While many religious communities have embraced physical distancing measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some still encourage gatherings...

5 ways parents can support their college-age children who've been forced to return home due to COVID-19

Written by Matthew J. Mayhew, William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State University

Stay-at-home orders and job cuts are putting family relationships to the test.Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: With many college students forced to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tensions and arguments are bound to flare up. Here, Matthew Mayhew, an education researcher who co-authored a book about the college experience...

Blood sugar levels may influence vulnerability to coronavirus, and controlling them through conventional means might be protective

Written by Adam M. Brufsky, Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

A woman with diabetes monitors her glycemia on the eighth day of a strict lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images

Can watching your blood sugar help fight COVID-19?

Sugar is not only something that sweetens our food. It is also something that is an essential part of the proteins that make up our...

Teens are wired to resent being stuck with parents and cut off from friends during coronavirus lockdown

Written by Catherine Bagwell, Professor of Psychology, Oxford College, Emory University

The last thing adolescents want is to be trapped at home alone, by order of their parents.Roos Koole/Moment via Getty Images

“Can’t I just go see one friend?”

“I need to hang out with my friends.”

“You are being overprotective and unreasonable!”

Social distancing is both necessary and hard. If my Facebook...