The Conversation

The 21st Century Cures Act requires that patients receive medical results immediately – and new research shows patients prefer it that way

Written by Bryan Steitz, Instructor in Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University

The 21st Century Cures Act requires that test results be released to patients even before their health care provider has reviewed them. Natalia Gdovskaia/Moment via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Patients overwhelmingly prefer to see their medical test results online immediately, even if...

What's on the agenda as Biden heads to NATO summit: 5 essential reads as Western alliance talks expansion, Ukraine

Written by Matt Williams, Senior International Editor

A flagging alliance? Far from it.Yves Herman/AFP via Getty Images)

Leaders of the nations comprising NATO will meet for a two-day summit beginning on July 11, 2023.

The gathering in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, comes at a pivotal moment for the Western security alliance – it is seeking to expand membership and confront challenges ranging...

Tuberculosis on the rise for first time in decades after COVID-19 interrupted public health interventions and increased inequality

Written by Carlos Franco-Paredes, Associate Faculty Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Colorado State University

Tuberculosis is a dangerous bacterial infection of the lungs.Moyo Studio/E+ via Getty Images

Before SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread across the world in 2020, tuberculosis was responsible for more deaths globally than any other infectious disease. But thanks to targeted public health efforts in the U.S. and globally, tuberculosis...

Kakhovka Dam breach in Ukraine caused economic, agricultural and ecological devastation that will last for years

Written by Susanne Wengle, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame

A well in Afanasyeva village, Mykolaiv region, damaged by flooding after the Kakhovka Dam breach. Anatolii Stepanov /AFP via Getty Images

When an explosion breached the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine on June 6, 2023, much analysis focused on near-term impacts, including the flooding of the city of Kherson, threats to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant...

Why putting off college math can be a good idea

Written by Forrest Lane, Associate Dean and Professor of Educational Research, Sam Houston State University

Research shows that at least 17% of the population experiences high levels of math anxiety. Emilija Manevska/Moment via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Putting off college math could improve the likelihood that students remain in college. But that may only be true as long as students...

China's ties to Cuba and growing presence in Latin America raise security concerns in Washington, even as leaders try to ease tensions

Written by Leland Lazarus, Associate Director of National Security, Florida International University

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, on July 6, 2023. Pedro Pardo/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

There is a push by leaders in Washington and Beijing to get U.S.-China relations back on track. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with President Xi Jinping in China in June 2023 to...

Science activism is surging – which marks a culture shift among scientists

Written by Scott Frickel, Professor of Sociology and Environment and Society, Brown University

The March for Science is one example of scientists advocating for political change. AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz

Hundreds of scientists protested government efforts to restrict educational access to Western science theories, including Darwin’s theory of evolution, in June 2023 in India. Similarly, scientists in Mexico participated in a research...

Aging is complicated – a biologist explains why no two people or cells age the same way, and what this means for anti-aging interventions

Written by Ellen Quarles, Assistant Professor in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan

While some people may be older in chronological age, their biological age might be much younger.FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images

You likely know someone who seems to age slowly, appearing years younger than their birth date suggests. And you likely have seen the opposite – someone whose body and mind seem much more ravaged by time than others....

Police treatment in black and white – report on Minneapolis policing is the latest reminder of systemic racial disparities

Written by Rashad Shabazz, Associate Professor at the School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

People in the Brooklyn borough of New York City protest police violence against Black women on Sept. 5, 2020.Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The latest reminder that police officers around the country routinely deny Black people their constitutional rights comes from the Justice Department. This time, it’s about Minneapolis, the...

_E. coli_ is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science and medicine

Written by Megan Keller, Ph.D. Candidate in Microbiology, Cornell University

_E. coli_ as a model organism helped researchers better understand how DNA works.Ed Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images

In 1857, a young pediatrician named Theodor Escherich discovered what may very well be the most well-studied organism today. The rod-shaped bacterium named Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli, is a very...