The Conversation

America's summer of floods: What cities can learn from today's climate crises to prepare for tomorrow's

Written by Richard B. (Ricky) Rood, Professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Flash flooding made a mess in Dallas in August 2022.AP Photo/LM Otero

Powerful storms across the South, following flash floods in Dallas, Death Valley, St. Louis, Yellowstone and Appalachia, have left cities across the U.S. questioning their own security in a warming climate.

Dallas was hit with nearly 15 inches of rain that turned roads into rivers...

Chautauqua, where Salman Rushdie was attacked, has a long history of promoting free speech and learning for the public good

Written by Charlotte M. Canning, Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor in Drama, University of Texas at Austin

Chautauqua's lectures and performances drew hundreds of people with their promise of self-transformation.L.E. Walker/New York Public Library

On Aug. 20, 2022, a large crowd gathered in front of the New York Public Library to hear prominent authors such as Kiran Desai, Gay Talese and Colum McCann read from novelist Salman Rushdie’s works. The...

New restrictions on abortion care will have psychological harms -- here's what research shows will happen in post-Roe America

Written by Rachel Diamond, Clinical Training DIrector and Assistant Professor of Couple and Family Therapy, Adler University

Without full access to reproductive health care, traumatic birth experiences will undoubtedly rise.urbazon/E+ via Getty Images

“I’m struggling a bit this morning,” a client of mine stated at the start of our session the morning of June 24, 2022. “I just heard on the news about the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. There was...

Conviction of two Michigan kidnap plotters highlights danger of violent conspiracies to US democracy

Written by Amy Cooter, Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, Middlebury

Barry Croft Jr., left, and Adam Fox were found guilty by a federal jury on charges related to a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer.Kent County Sheriff's Office via AP

Two of the six men facing federal charges in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 were found guilty by a federal jury on Aug. 23, 2022.

The verdict...

Human nature can steer people away from new things – and that can blind them to novel threats

Written by Sam Hunter, Professor of Organizational Psychology, University of Nebraska Omaha

When you don't know what you're looking for, it's easier to miss it.U.S. Navy via Getty Images News

There’s a military aphorism that generals are always fighting the last war. It’s a natural human tendency to focus on the kinds of threats you’re used to while playing down the likelihood or importance of some new sort of attack.

Of...

Misinformation is a common thread between the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics – with deadly consequences

Written by Cristian Apetrei, Professor of Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

Disinformation can derail public health measures vital to controlling the spread of infectious disease.AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Since health officials confirmed the first COVID-19 cases, misinformation has spread just as quickly as the virus. Social media may have made the amount, variety and speed of misinformation seem unprecedented, but COVID-19...

Diet can influence mood, behavior and more – a neuroscientist explains

Written by Monica Dus, Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan

What we eat matters, and having just the right amount of essential nutrients is key to our overall health.Niusha Shodja and Saina Heshmati, Storylab, CC BY-NC-ND

During the long seafaring voyages of the 15th and 16th centuries, a period known as the Age of Discovery, sailors reported experiencing visions of sublime foods and verdant fields. The...

Conservatives and liberals are equally likely to fund local causes, but liberals are more apt to also donate to national and global groups – new research

Written by Gianluca Grimalda, Researcher of Experimental Economics, Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Saying you feel a strong national allegiance doesn't mean you will act accordingly.mikiell/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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

The big idea

Conservatives were less generous overall than liberals during an experiment in which people could give some money to COVID-19 relief charities....

Ukraine celebrates Independence Day, with a new level of meaning as it fights back against Russia

Written by Emily Channell-Justice, Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program, Harvard University

Russian tanks and military systems are exhibited in Kyiv on Aug. 22, 2022. Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

I stood on Kyiv’s main boulevard, Khreshchatyk, one year ago, on Aug. 24, 2021, celebrating along with thousands of Ukrainians who were watching the Independence Day parade.

The parade featured newly obtained weapons such as...

A new US data privacy bill aims to give you more control over information collected about you – and make businesses change how they handle data

Written by Anne Toomey McKenna, Visiting Professor of Law, University of Richmond

The U.S. could soon catch up to the European Union in protecting people's data privacy.Teera Konakan/Moment via Getty Images

Data privacy in the U.S. is, in many ways, a legal void. While there are limited protections for health and financial data, the cradle of the world’s largest tech companies, like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta...