The Conversation

Cytomegalovirus lies dormant in most US adults and is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, but few have heard of it

Written by Laura Gibson, Associate Professor of Medicine and of Pediatrics, UMass Chan Medical School

Cytomegalovirus belongs to the same virus family, _Herpesviridae_, as cold sores and chickenpox.Callista Images/Image Source via Getty Images

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this virus?” is a frequent response I hear from parents upon learning their newborn is infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Although more than half of the...

How the sounds of 'Succession' shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project

Written by Delia Casadei, Assistant Professor of Music, University of California, Berkeley

While the Roy siblings are shielded by their wealth, the show's music chips away at their armor.Macall Polay/HBO

HBO’s “Succession” delivered its grand finale on May 28, 2023 – the climax of four award-packed seasons of searing put-downs, nihilistic humor and desperate power plays.

The show tells the story of ailing media...

Amid fears of Chinese influence, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has grown more powerful

Written by Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Distinguished Professor, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, & Interim Head, Department of Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology

Business deals by foreign countries in the U.S. can be reviewed by the government for national security risks.Jason Leung for Unsplash, CC BY-SA

A Chinese private equity firm, Primavera Capital Group, acquired the well-known test preparation company Princeton Review and an online learning platform, Tutor.com, in May 2023.

The move, like other...

Most super rich couples have breadwinning husbands and stay-at-home wives, contrasting sharply with everyone else

Written by Jill Yavorsky, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina – Charlotte

Uber wealthy couples are rather traditional when it comes to who works and who doesn’t. EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Men are the sole breadwinners in over half of super rich heterosexual couples – defined as those in the top 1% of households...

Atlantic hurricane season 2023: El Niño and extreme Atlantic Ocean heat are about to clash

Written by Christina Patricola, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University

Hurricane Florence, seen from the International Space Station in 2018. Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.NASA

The Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1, and forecasters are keeping a close eye on rising ocean temperatures, and not just in the Atlantic.

Globally, warm sea surface temperatures that can fuel hurricanes have...

Your body naturally produces opioids without causing addiction or overdose – studying how this process works could help reduce the side effects of opioid drugs

Written by John Michael Streicher, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, University of Arizona Health Sciences

Opioid neurotransmitters are located in many areas of the body, including the brain, spine and gut.ALIOUI Mohammed Elamine/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Opioid drugs such as morphine and fentanyl are like the two-faced Roman god Janus: The kindly face delivers pain relief to millions of sufferers, while the grim face drives an opioid abuse and...

'Man, the hunter'? Archaeologists' assumptions about gender roles in past humans ignore an icky but potentially crucial part of original 'paleo diet'

Written by Raven Garvey, Associate Professor of Anthropology; Curator of High Latitude and Western North American Archaeology, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology; Faculty Affiliate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan

What if prehistoric men and women joined forces in hunting parties?gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images Plus

One of the most common stereotypes about the human past is that men did the hunting while women did the gathering. That gendered division of labor, the story goes, would have provided the meat and plant foods people needed to survive.

That...

How can Congress regulate AI? Erect guardrails, ensure accountability and address monopolistic power

Written by Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University

IBM executive Christina Montgomery, cognitive scientist Gary Marcus and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman prepared to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Takeaways:

A new federal agency to regulate AI sounds helpful but could become unduly influenced by the tech industry. Instead, Congress can legislate accountability.
Instead...

COVID-19 clawbacks, spending caps and a cut – what House Republicans got in return for pushing the US to the brink of default

Written by Raymond Scheppach, Professor of Public Policy, University of Virginia

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has billed the deal as a victory for his party. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

House Republicans pushed the U.S. to the edge of a fiscal crisis because they wanted deep cuts in government spending.

So, based on the deal President Joe Biden signed into law on June 3, 2023, how did they do?

In broad strokes, the deal...

After the ALS ice bucket challenge and the rise of MrBeast, stunt philanthropy might be here to stay

Written by Monica Lea, PhD Student in Public Administration, University of Nebraska Omaha

Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, leaned into charity to get a massive following.Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images

Stunt philanthropy is what happens when influencers, other celebrities and people who aren’t famous at all use entertaining videos to encourage support for a charitable cause.

When their stunts go viral, it can lead to massive public...