The Conversation

Human activities in Asia have reduced elephant habitat by nearly two-thirds since 1700, dividing what remains into ever-smaller patches

Written by Shermin de Silva, Assistant Professor of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, University of California, San Diego

Habitat loss has driven Asian elephants, like these foraging at a garbage dump in Sri Lanka, into human areas.Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP via Getty Images

Despite their iconic status and long association with humans, Asian elephants are one of the most endangered large mammals. Believed to number between 45,000 and 50,000 individuals worldwide, they...

US-South Korea nuclear weapons deal – what you need to know

Written by Sung-Yoon Lee, Professor in Korean Studies, Tufts University

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol is only the second leader to travel to the U.S. for a state visit during the Biden administration.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

The United States and South Korea have unveiled an agreement under which leaders in Seoul will be handed an enhanced role in planning any nuclear response to a strike in the region by North Korea.

Announced...

Biden's coronation no-show is no snub – more telling is whom he sends to King Charles' big day

Written by Arianne Chernock, Professor of History, Boston University

Scranton Joe meets Buckingham Chaz.Jane Barlow/Pool Photo via AP

The fact that first lady Jill Biden, but not her husband, President Joe Biden, will be attending King Charles III’s coronation on May 6, 2023, has not gone down too well with sections of the U.K. press. A “royal snub,” screamed headlines, while commentators grumbled...

Saving broadcasting's past for the future -- archivists are working to capture not just tapes of TV and radio but the experience of tuning in together

Written by Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism, University of Maine

How will we preserve technologies so deeply embedded in daily life? BrAt_PiKaChU/Istock via Getty Images

We’ve lived with broadcasting for more than a century. Starting with radio in the 1920s, then television in the 1950s, Americans by the millions began purchasing boxes designed to receive electromagnetic signals transmitted from nearby...

Latino youth struggle with sense of belonging in school

Written by Sophia Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of Urban Education and Policy, University of Maryland

Feelings of isolation can affect academic outcomes.SDI Productions via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Latino youth in middle and high school have a lower sense of belonging at school and in the community overall when compared with white peers. That is a key finding from my analysis, which...

Historic flooding in Fort Lauderdale was a sign of things to come – a look at who is most at risk and how to prepare

Written by Smitha Rao, Assistant Professor of Social Work, The Ohio State University

The hardest-hit homes in Florida's mid-April flooding were in modest neighborhoods in low-lying areas.Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

When a powerful storm flooded neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in April with what preliminary reports show was 25 inches of rain in 24 hours, few people were prepared. Even hurricanes rarely drop that...

Why Kurt Vonnegut's advice to college graduates still matters today

Written by Susan Farrell, Professor of English, College of Charleston

A generation told not to trust anyone over 30 nevertheless adored Vonnegut.Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

Kurt Vonnegut didn’t deliver the famous “Wear Sunscreen” graduation speech published in the Chicago Tribune that was often mistakenly attributed to the celebrated author. But he could have.

Over his lifetime, he gave dozens of...

'Got polio?' messaging underscores a vaccine campaign's success but creates false sense of security as memories of the disease fade in US

Written by Katherine A. Foss, Professor of Media Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

For much of the 20th century, Americans were used to seeing people bearing the signs of past polio infection.Genevieve Naylor/Corbis via Getty Images

“Got Polio? Me neither. Thanks, Science.”

Messages like this are used in memes, posters, T-shirts and even some billboards to promote routine vaccinations. As this catchy statement reminds...

AI is exciting – and an ethical minefield: 4 essential reads on the risks and concerns about this technology

Written by Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor

Who's in control?John Lund/Stone via Getty Images

If you’re like me, you’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to figure out what this AI thing is all about. Large-language models, generative AI, algorithmic bias – it’s a lot for the less tech-savvy of us to sort out, trying to make sense of the myriad...

Cognitive flexibility is essential to navigating a changing world – new research in mice shows how your brain learns new rules

Written by Vikaas Sohal, Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

A class of inhibitory neurons can make long-distance connections across both hemispheres of the brain.akinbostanci/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Being flexible and learning to adapt when the world changes is something you practice every day. Whether you run into a new construction site and have to reroute your commute or download a new streaming app...