The Conversation

Scientists discover five new species of black corals living thousands of feet below the ocean surface near the Great Barrier Reef

Written by Jeremy Horowitz, Post-doctoral Fellow in Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution

Researchers discovered five new species of black corals, including this *Hexapathes bikofskii* growing out of a nautilus shell more than 2,500 feet (760 meters) below the surface.Jeremy Horowitz, CC BY-NC

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

The big idea

Using a remote-controlled submarine, my colleagues and I discovered...

Midterm election results reflect the hodgepodge of US voters, not the endorsement or repudiation of a candidate’s or party’s agenda

Written by Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University

Voters in the midterm elections decided that the GOP would run the House, while the Democrats would run the Senate.Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

The results from the U.S. midterm elections came as a shock to many. The sitting president’s party typically suffers significant losses in House, Senate and gubernatorial races in the first midterm...

Dreaming of beachfront real estate? Much of Florida's coast is at risk of storm erosion that can cause homes to collapse, as Daytona just saw

Written by Zhong-Ren Peng, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Florida

Dozens of homes were left unstable in the Daytona Beach area after Hurricane Nicole's erosion.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Back-to-back hurricanes left an unnerving scene on the Florida coast in November 2022: Several houses, and even swimming pools, were left dangling over the ocean as waves eroded the property beneath them. Dozens of homes and condo...

The World Cup puts the spotlight on Qatar, but also brings attention to its human rights record and politics – 4 things to know

Written by David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass Amherst

Fans watch the World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador on Nov. 20, 2022, in Doha. Clive Brunskili/Getty Images

With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams from 32 countries and tens of thousands of fans have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022”...

Suspect in the Colorado LGBTQ shootings faces hate crimes charges – what exactly are they?

Written by Jeannine Bell, Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago

Club Q co-owners Nic Grzecka, left, and Matthew Haynes listen during a police news conference on Nov. 21, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The 22-year-old suspected shooter at a gay night club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who allegedly killed five and injured dozens faces five counts of murder and hate crimes charges.

Hate...

Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common health problem that can have serious consequences – but doctors often overlook it

Written by Diane Cress, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University

Fatigue can be a sign of a potential B12 deficiency.Maca and Naca/E+ via Getty Images

For several months during the summer of 2022, my dog Scout vomited at 3 a.m. nearly every day. If you have a dog, you know the sound. And each time, she gobbled up her mess before I could get to it, making diagnosis of the cause difficult.

The vet and I eventually...

After COP27, all signs point to world blowing past the 1.5 degrees global warming limit – here's what we can still do about it

Written by Peter Schlosser, Vice President and Vice Provost of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University

Young activists have been pushing to keep a 1.5-Celsius limit, knowing their future is at stake.AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty

The world could still, theoretically, meet its goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level many scientists consider a dangerous threshold. Realistically, that’s unlikely to happen.

Part of the problem...

Student loan cancellation got blocked. Now what? 3 questions answered

Written by William Chittenden, Associate Professor of Finance, Texas State University

Questions remain about whether President Joe Biden has the authority to cancel student loan debt.Paul Morigi via Getty Images

When the Biden administration announced in August 2022 that it was canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower, it said the idea was to provide families with “breathing room as they prepare to start...

Railroad unions and their employers at an impasse: Freight-halting strikes are rare, and this would be the first in 3 decades

Written by Erik Loomis, Professor of History, University of Rhode Island

The federal government sent troops to crush an 1877 rail strike.Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The prospect of a potentially devastating rail workers strike is looming again.

Fears of a strike in September 2022 prompted the Biden administration to pull out all the stops to get a deal between railroads and the largest unions...

4 plays that dramatize the kidnapping of children during wars

Written by Magda Romanska, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dramaturgy, Emerson College

During the Russian occupation of Luhansk Oblast, 15 kids were allegedly taken from this rehabilitation center and moved to Russia.Wojciech Grzedzinski/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Since February 2022, Western and Ukrainian media have reported on the kidnapping and forced adoption of Ukrainian children by Russians.

The exact number of...