The Conversation

What is proof-of-stake? A computer scientist explains a new way to make cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverse transactions

Written by Scott Ruoti, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Tennessee

Blockchain transactions are carried in blocks. The amount of energy it takes to add a new block varies widely depending on how it's done.Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

Proof-of-stake is a mechanism for achieving consensus on a blockchain. Blockchain is a technology that records transactions that can’t be deleted or altered. It’s...

Stop using 'Latinx' if you really want to be inclusive

Written by Melissa K. Ochoa, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Saint Louis University

'Latine' is much more adaptable to the Spanish language.Mario Garza, CC BY-SA

Most of the debates on the usage of “Latinx” – pronounced “la-teen-ex” – have taken place in the U.S. But the word has begun to spread into Spanish-speaking countries – where it hasn’t exactly been embraced.

In July 2022,...

Burning Man highlights the primordial human need for ritual

Written by Dimitris Xygalatas, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut

A wooden effigy of a man is erected each year in Nevada's Black Rock Desert and later burned down.AP Photo/Ron Lewis

At the end of each summer, hordes of people flock to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to erect a makeshift city the size of the Italian town of Pisa. They call it Black Rock City. A few days later, they will burn it to the ground,...

La Crosse virus is the second-most common virus in the US spread by mosquitoes – and can cause severe neurological damage in rare cases

Written by Rebecca Trout Fryxell, Associate Professor of Medical and Veterinary Entomology, University of Tennessee

People catch La Crosse disease primarily from the bite of the eastern tree-hole mosquito – although two other species may also carry the virus.Nipol Plobmuang/EyeEm via Getty Images

For the Laudick family of Greensburg, Indiana, life forever changed on Aug. 5, 2013. That was the day 4-year-old Leah Laudick told her mom, Shelly, that she had a...

How Ukraine is adapting the ancient practice of trophy displays for modern propaganda

Written by Anya Free, Ph.D. Candidate in History, University of California, Davis

A Ukrainian inspects a ruined Russian tank displayed on the streets of Kyiv.Thomas O'Neill/NurPhoto via Getty Images

As Ukraine prepared to celebrate its independence day even while its military forces battled a monthslong Russian invasion, government officials assembled a grandiose, yet gruesome, display on Khreshchatyk, the main street of...

Why are some people mosquito magnets and others unbothered? A medical entomologist points to metabolism, body odor and mindset

Written by Jonathan Day, Emeritus Professor of Medical Entomology, University of Florida

Mosquitoes need to feed on blood in order to reproduce. But how do they choose whom to feed on?boonchai wedmakawand/Moment via GettyImages

It’s rare to attend an outdoor party in warm weather without hearing people complain about mosquitoes. They swat away, sit in campfire smoke, cover up with blankets and eventually just give up and go...

Supreme Court to revisit LGBTQ rights – this time with a wedding website designer, not a baker

Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education in the School of Education and Health Sciences and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton

Same-sex wedding cakes wound up at the Supreme Court – now, it's wedding websites' turn.S_nke Bullerdiek/EyeEm via Getty Images

A simmering, difficult, and timely question returns to the Supreme Court this fall: What happens when freedom of speech and civil rights collide?

The court took up similar questions four years ago in the famous “...

In 1953, 'Queen-crazy' American women looked to Elizabeth II as a source of inspiration – that sentiment never faded

Written by Arianne Chernock, Professor of History, Boston University

Queen Elizabeth II during a 1983 tour of California.George Rose/Getty Images

In the spring of 1953, women from across the United States traveled to Britain – for many, it was their first time abroad.

The impetus for the trip was Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, held in Westminster Abbey on a rainy June 2 of that year. Among those making...

Meditation holds the potential to help treat children suffering from traumas, difficult diagnoses or other stressors – a behavioral neuroscientist explains

Written by Hilary A. Marusak, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University

Meditation and mindfulness techiques are becoming increasingly common in school settings.Alexander Egizarov/EyeEm

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

The big idea

Children actively meditating experience lower activity in parts of the brain involved in rumination, mind-wandering and depression, our team found in the...

Yes, Black patients do want to help with medical research – here are ways to overcome the barriers that keep clinical trials from recruiting diverse populations

Written by Julia Liu, Professor of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine

Creating a safe space for patients to ask questions and provide fully informed consent could help increase clinical trial recruitment.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Clinical trial participants are predominantly white. Despite Black and Hispanic people respectively making up 12% and 16% of the U.S. population in 2011, together they made up only 6% of...