The Conversation

Rising authoritarianism and worsening climate change share a fossil-fueled secret

Written by Eve Darian-Smith, Professor of Global and International Studies, University of California, Irvine

Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump threw their weight behind industries that are driving climate change.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Around the world, many countries are becoming less democratic. This backsliding on democracy and “creeping authoritarianism,” as the U.S. State Department puts it, is often...

Lo que las grandes petroleras sabían sobre el cambio climático, en sus propias palabras

Written by Benjamin Franta, Ph.D. Candidate in History, Stanford University

Las empresas petroleras conocían el riesgo mucho antes que la mayoría del resto del mundo.Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images

Hace cuatro años, viajé por América, visitando archivos históricos. Estaba buscando documentos que pudieran revelar la historia oculta del cambio climático y, en...

Disease-causing parasites can hitch a ride on plastics and potentially spread through the sea, new research suggests

Written by Karen Shapiro, Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis

The sticky biofilms that form on microplastics can harbor disease-causing pathogens and help them spread.Tunatura/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Typically when people hear about plastic pollution, they might envision seabirds with bellies full of trash or sea turtles with plastic straws in their noses. However, plastic pollution poses another threat...

Going underground: Ukraine's subterranean fighters highlight the benefit -- and long history -- of tunnels in warfare

Written by Paul J. Springer, Professor of Comparative Military Studies, Air University

Ukrainian fighters entering a tunnel.Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

Faced with the prospect of sending Russian troops into subterranean combat, Vladimir Putin demurred. “There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground,” he told his defense minister on April 21, 2022, ordering him to cancel a planned storming...

Linking protected areas from Yellowstone to the Yukon shows the value of conserving large landscapes, not just isolated parks and preserves

Written by Charles C. Chester, Lecturer in Environmental Studies, Brandeis University

Fresh grizzly bear tracks in Yellowstone National Park.Jacob W. Frank, NPS/Flickr

As human development spreads ever farther around the world, very few large ecosystems remain relatively intact and uninterrupted by highways, cities or other human-constructed obstacles. One of the largest exceptions is the Yellowstone to Yukon region, or Y2Y, which...

How Robert Langer, a pioneer in delivering mRNA into the body, failed repeatedly but kept going: 'They said I should give up, but I don't like to give up'

Written by Robert Langer, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Robert LangerPat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The mRNA vaccines developed against COVID-19 owe a lot to the work of Robert Langer, a pioneer in the delivery of mRNA. Langer, who is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology David H. Koch Institute Professor and director of the Langer Lab, helped lay the foundation for the underlying...

Even once female Ukrainian refugees reach safety, they face new burdens as single heads of household

Written by Dilek Cindoglu, Professor of Sociology, Fulbright Fellow, Georgetown University

A Ukrainian family crosses into Slovakia on Feb. 25, 2022. PETER LAZAR/AFP via Getty Images

Russia’s war on Ukraine is, in many ways, a war on women. The fact that most women do not fight on the battlefield does not mean that their war experiences are less traumatic than male soldiers’ realities.

Most of the 5 million Ukrainian refugees...

The dietary supplement you're taking could be tainted with prescription medications and dangerous hidden ingredients, according to a new study

Written by C. Michael White, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut

Tainted dietary supplements could lead to harmful drug interactions. Smileus/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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

The big idea

Many over-the-counter dietary supplement products – particularly those used for sexual enhancement and weight loss – are tainted with undisclosed...

Elon Musk won't have a board to watch him when he takes Twitter private – does that matter?

Written by Michael Withers, Associate Professor of Business, Texas A&M University

Twitter will soon be without the benefits – and problems – of a public board of directors.A-Digit/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

It appears Twitter’s board of directors finally warmed to Elon Musk’s hostile bid and agreed to a sale – but not before it took a severe beating from the Tesla and SpaceX...

Elon Musk's plans for Twitter could make its misinformation problems worse

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

Elon Musk's moment of triumph is a moment of uncertainty for the future of one of the world's leading social media platforms.AP Photo/John Raoux

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, acquired Twitter in a US$44 billion deal on April 25, 2022, 11 days after announcing his bid for the company. Twitter announced that the public company will...