The Conversation

'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...

Harry Belafonte leveraged stardom for social change, his powerful voice always singing a song for justice

Written by Aram Goudsouzian, Bizot Family Professor of History, University of Memphis

Harry Belafonte died at the age of 96.AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

In May 1963, as civil rights demonstrations rocked the city of Birmingham, Alabama, Harry Belafonte was at a cocktail party in Manhattan, scolding the then-attorney general of the United States.

“You may think you’re doing enough,” he recalled telling Robert F. Kennedy,...

Leprosy-causing bacteria found in armadillo specimens highlight value of museum collections for tracking pathogens

Written by Daniel Romero-Alvarez, Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Kansas

Museum specimens are like time capsules from where and when the organisms and their pathogens lived.Ed Maker/The Denver Post via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Years-old tissue samples from armadillos in museum collections may harbor Mycobacterium leprae, the bacteria that causes...

Arctic sea ice loss and fierce storms leave Kivalina Search and Rescue fighting to protect their island from climate disasters

Written by P. Joshua Griffin, Assistant Professor of Marine and Environmental Affairs and American Indian Studies, University of Washington

Kivalina sits on a narrow barrier island on the Chukchi Sea.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

As winds and waves from Typhoon Merbok devastated communities along the coast of Western Alaska in 2022, Reppi Swan Sr.’s phone began to ring at Kivalina, a barrier island 80 miles above the Arctic Circle.

A neighboring family had lost 3 feet of land to the...

A tweak to the University of Nebraska's logo shows how the once benign 'OK' sign has entered a 'purgatory of meaning'

Written by Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis

Nebraska Cornhuskers mascot Herbie Husker pumps up the crowd during a 2015 football game.Michael Hickey/Getty Images

On April 17, 2023, the Nebraska Cornhuskers unveiled the latest version of their beloved mascot, Herbie Husker.

Herbie’s left hand no longer forms the “OK” symbol. Instead, an index finger is raised to indicate that...

Mifepristone is under scrutiny in the courts, but it has been used safely and effectively around the world for decades

Written by Grace Shih, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington

Mifepristone is used together with another pill, misoprostol, in medication abortions.AP Photo/Allen G. Breed

A flurry of court rulings in April 2023 has left the future of the abortion pill mifepristone in question. For now, a U.S. Supreme Court decision on April 21 allows the drug to remain accessible without additional restrictions as the merits...

Challenging the FDA's authority isn't new – the agency's history shows what's at stake when drug regulation is in limbo

Written by Christine Coughlin, Professor of Law, Wake Forest University

In addition to evaluating new drug applications, the FDA also inspects drug manufacturing facilities.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Flickr

Political pressure is nothing new for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has frequently come under fire for its drug approval decisions, but attacks on its decision-making process and...

The invasion of Iraq defined US' foreign relations – but in popular Iraqi literature, the war is just a piece of the country's complex history

Written by Renee Ragin Randall, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle East Studies, University of Michigan

Iraqis shop in Baghdad's famous book market in July 2022. Sabah Arar/AFP via Getty Images

It’s been just over 20 years since the United States invaded Iraq. Some Americans have largely forgotten about the invasion, despite the fact the Sept. 11 attacks that precipitated it still loom large in U.S. national memory. Even during the heart of the...