The Conversation

Women's activism in Iran continues, despite street protests dying down in face of state repression

Written by Mona Tajali, Associate Professor of International Relations and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Agnes Scott College

An Iranian woman not wearing a mandatory headscarf walks past a group of young women who cover their hair in November 2023. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Large-scale protests that erupted in 2022 across Iran, centering on women’s rights, captured the world’s attention.

Iranians peacefully protested in the streets of...

No, you're not that good at detecting fake videos − 2 misinformation experts explain why and how you can develop the power to resist these deceptions

Written by Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education and (by courtesy) History, Stanford University

Are you sure you know what that emotionally jarring video clip really shows?F.J. Jimenez/Moment via Getty Images

Someone tracking the conflict raging in the Middle East could have seen the following two videos on social media. The first shows a little boy hovering over his father’s dead body, whimpering in Arabic, “Don’t leave...

FDA's latest warnings about eye drop contamination put consumers on edge − a team of infectious disease experts explain the risks

Written by Alexander Sundermann, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh

This is the second FDA alert this year on contaminated eye drops.eternalcreative/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in late October 2023 urging consumers to avoid purchasing and to immediately stop using 26 over-the-counter eye drop products because of risk of eye infection that could result in partial...

'From the river to the sea' – a Palestinian historian explores the meaning and intent of scrutinized slogan

Written by Maha Nassar, Associate Professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona

A pro-Palestinian activist in the U.K.Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images

What does the call “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” mean to Palestinians who say it? And why do they keep using the slogan despite the controversy that surrounds its use?

As both a scholar of Palestinian history and someone from the...

Volcanic Iceland is rumbling again as magma rises − a geologist explains eruptions in the land of fire and ice

Written by Jaime Toro, Professor of Geology, West Virginia University

The same region of Iceland saw an eruption in July 2023.Kristinn Magnusson/AFP via Getty Images

Thousands of earthquakes in recent weeks have shaken the Icelandic fishing town of Grindavík, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of the capital Reykjavik. They have triggered evacuations and warnings that a volcanic eruption may be imminent.

W...

Poor men south of Richmond? Why much of the rural South is in economic crisis

Written by Peter A. Coclanis, Professor of History; Director of the Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

For a brief moment in the summer of 2023, the surprise No. 1 song “Rich Men North of Richmond” focused the country’s attention on a region that often gets overlooked in discussions of the U.S. economy. Although the U.S. media sometimes pays attention to the rural South — often concentrating on guns, religion and opioid...

A TikTok Jesus promises divine blessings and many worldly comforts

Written by Brandon Dean, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Iowa

Jesus images on social media promise divine rewards for today's fast-paced age.TikTok

The TikTok profile Daily Believer (@believerdaily) has 70 videos with computer-generated Jesuses looking directly at the viewer, beseeching them to stop scrolling and watch the next minute’s worth of content.

All these Jesuses are long-haired and bearded,...

As the US begins to build offshore wind farms, scientists say many questions remain about impacts on the oceans and marine life

Written by Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod, Assistant Professor of Earth, Ocean & Environment, University of South Carolina

A row of monopiles that will be the base for offshore wind turbines, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. David L Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

As renewable energy production expands across the U.S., the environmental impacts of these new sources are receiving increased attention. In a recent report, the...

From ancient Greece to Broadway, music has played a critical role in theater

Written by Timothy J. Moore, John and Penelope Biggs Distinguished Professor of Classics, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

The remnants of a Greek theater in Sicily.Fausto Riolo/Getty Images

Though anxiety about the fate of live theater performances still lingers, Broadway is celebrating its third season since reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic, with a lineup dominated once again by musicals.

The new season includes long-running hits like “Hamilton,”...

The universe is expanding faster than theory predicts – physicists are searching for new ideas that might explain the mismatch

Written by Ryan Keeley, Postdoctoral Scholar in Physics, University of California, Merced

The James Webb Space Telescope's deep field image shows a universe full of sparkling galaxies.NASA/STScI

Astronomers have known for decades that the universe is expanding. When they use telescopes to observe faraway galaxies, they see that these galaxies are moving away from Earth.

To astronomers, the wavelength of light a galaxy emits is longer the...