The Conversation

The chickadee in the snowbank: A 'canary in the coal mine' for climate change in the Sierra Nevada mountains

Written by Benjamin Sonnenberg, Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno

Mountain chickadees struggle with snow extremes.Benjamin Sonnenberg

Wet snow pelts my face and pulls against my skis as I climb above 8,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada of eastern California, tugging a sled loaded with batteries, bolts, wire and 40 pounds of sunflower seeds critical to our mountain chickadee research.

As we reach the remote research...

Pundits: Central to democracy, or partisan spewers of opinion who destroy trust

Written by Mike McDevitt, Professor of journalism and media studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Two pundits – Jonah Goldberg, left, and Paul Begala, second from right – discus politics with journalists Kristen Holmes and Jake Tapper.The Conversation, CC BY-SA

Walter Lippmann, who lived from 1889 to 1974, was an early and prime example of the public intellectual as pundit commenting on news of the day.

Lippmann, a Pulitzer Prize...

School board members could soon be blocked from blocking people − and deleting their comments − on social media

Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton

A California couple sued two school board members who blocked them on Facebook after they made critical remarks.OsakaWayne Studios via Getty Images

If a school board member has a social media account, would it be wrong for them to block someone and delete their comments? That’s a question the Supreme Court has decided to take up after public...

Seeing the human in every patient − from biblical texts to 21st century relational medicine

Written by Jonathan Weinkle, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Part-Time Instructor of Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Making patients feel seen and heard -- not just "treated."Tom Werner/Digital Vision via Getty Images

Patients frequently describe the U.S. health care system as impersonal, corporate and fragmented. One study even called the care delivered to many vulnerable patients “inhumane.” Seismic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic –...

Drugs of the future will be easier and faster to make, thanks to mRNA – after researchers work out a few remaining kinks

Written by Li Li, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School

Two hurdles mRNA drugs face are a short half-life and impurities that trigger immune responses.BlackJack3D/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Vaccines have been reliably and affordably protecting people from diseases worldwide for centuries. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, however, vaccine development was still a long and idiosyncratic process....

Focus on right now, not the distant future, to stay motivated and on track to your long-term health goals

Written by Kaitlin Woolley, Associate Professor of Marketing, Cornell University

The fresh flavors taste good now – a here-and-now reward that's more motivating than potentially avoiding health problems in the future.kajakiki/E+ via Getty Images

It’s a familiar start-of-the-year scene. You’ve committed to a healthier lifestyle and are determined that this time is going to be different. Your refrigerator is...

Stories about war, violence and hate crime can cause anxiety, anger and depression in kids -- here's how to discuss bad news with your children

Written by Robin Gurwitch, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University

For younger children in particular, checking in on what they're seeing on social media is critical.Tassii/E+ via Getty Images

Violent photos and videos – whether from conflicts abroad or shootings near home – are commonplace, even ubiquitous, on television and social media today. The impact on children can be debilitating.

SciLine...

We used AI and satellite imagery to map ocean activities that take place out of sight, including fishing, shipping and energy development

Written by Jennifer Raynor, Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Many commercial fishing boats do not report their positions at sea or are not required to do so.Alex Walker via Getty Images

Humans are racing to harness the ocean’s vast potential to power global economic growth. Worldwide, ocean-based industries such as fishing, shipping and energy production generate at least US$1.5 trillion in economic...

Workers in their teens and early 20s are more likely to get hurt than older employees

Written by Diane Rohlman, Associate Dean for Research, Professor and Endowed Chair of Rural Safety and Health, University of Iowa

Some teens get tendinitis from scooping ice cream.Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

Think about your first job. Maybe it was delivering pizza, bagging groceries, busing tables or doing landscaping work. Did you get enough training to avoid potential injuries? Chances are, you didn’t – and your boss or...

Radiation therapy takes advantage of cancer's poor DNA repair abilities – an oncologist and physicist explain how

Written by Behzad Ebrahimi, Assistant Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, University of Chicago

Advances in radiotherapy involve combining new technologies with clinical expertise. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Nearly half of all cancer patients undergo radiation therapy as part of their care. Ionizing radiation, or the emission of high-energy waves or particles, works as a therapy by damaging a cancer cell’s DNA....