The Conversation

Most human embryos naturally die after conception – restrictive abortion laws fail to take this embryo loss into account

Written by Kathryn Kavanagh, Associate Professor of Biology, UMass Dartmouth

The majority of fertilized eggs die and are resorbed into the body.ZEISS Microscopy/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Many state legislatures are seriously considering human embryos at the earliest stages of development for legal personhood. Total abortion bans that consider humans to have full rights from the moment of conception have created a confusing legal...

Black girls are 4.19 times more likely to get suspended than white girls – and hiring more teachers of color is only part of the solution

Written by Andrea Joseph-McCatty, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Tennessee

Race, class and gender can not only impact the education that students receive, but also the punishments they receive.Courtney Hale/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Andrea Joseph-McCatty is an assistant professor at the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee. Her research examines disproportional school suspensions and, in...

Trump faces possible obstruction of justice charges for concealing classified government documents – 2 important things to know about what this means

Written by Clark D. Cunningham, W. Lee Burge Chair in Law & Ethics; Director, National Institute for Teaching Ethics & Professionalism, Georgia State University

A Department of Justice photo shows of documents seized during its Mar-a-Lago search. Department of Justice via Associated Press

A court filing by the Justice Department just minutes before midnight on Aug. 30, 2022, was a sharply worded attack on former President Donald Trump’s request for a so-called “special master” – a...

Long COVID: How researchers are zeroing in on the self-targeted immune attacks that may lurk behind it

Written by Matthew Woodruff, Instructor of Human Immunology, Emory University

Approximately 30% of people who get COVID-19 develop long-term symptoms, or long COVID-19.Boy Anupong/Moment via Getty Images

For almost three years, scientists have raced to understand the immune responses in patients who develop severe COVID-19, with an enormous effort aimed at defining where healthy immunity ends and destructive immunity begins.

I...

Mikhail Gorbachev: The contradictory legacy of Soviet leader who attempted 'revolution from above'

Written by Ronald Suny, Professor of History and Political Science, University of Michigan

Liberator, failed reformer or architect of Soviet demise?Bryn Colton/Getty Images

Mikhail Gorbachev was a contradictory figure; his legacy, complex. Hailed in the West as a democrat and liberator of his people – which he genuinely was – he increasingly became despised by many within Russia for destroying the Soviet Union and dismantling...

Making EVs without China's supply chain is hard, but not impossible – 3 supply chain experts outline a strategy

Written by Ho-Yin Mak, Associate Professor in Operations & Information Management, Georgetown University

Automaker GMC shows off its Hummer EVs at a plant in Detroit.Nic Antaya/Getty Images

Two electrifying moves in recent weeks have the potential to ignite electric vehicle demand in the United States. First, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, expanding federal tax rebates for EV purchases. Then California approved rules to ban the sale of...

Serena Williams forced sports journalists to get out of the 'toy box' – and cover tennis as more than a game

Written by Erin Whiteside, Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media, University of Tennessee

Serena Williams serves in her quarterfinal match during the 2019 Australian Open.Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Of the many outstanding components of her game, Serena Williams may best be known for her commanding serve.

Those serves, unleashed over the course of a 27-year professional career, arguably heightened the power and intensity of the...

Unknown Holocaust photos – found in attics and archives – are helping researchers recover lost stories and providing a tool against denial

Written by Wolf Gruner, Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies and Professor of History; Founding Director, USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Jewish deportees march through the German town of Würzburg to the railroad station on April 25, 1942.US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration

The summer of 2022 marked the 80th anniversary of the first Nazi deportation of Jewish families from Germany to Auschwitz.

Although the Nazis deported...

When Russia and Ukraine eventually restart peace talks, involving women – or not – could be a key factor in an agreement actually sticking

Written by Briana Mawby, Program Officer for Women, Peace and Security, University of San Diego

A Ukrainian solider is seen in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Aug. 15, 2022.Metin Aktas/Andalou Agency via Getty Images

Ukraine and Russia launched peace talks just days after Russia invaded in early February, 2022 – but since then, peace negotiations have started and stopped multiple times.

Now, more than six months after the invasion, peace between...

Expanding Alzheimer's research with primates could overcome the problem with treatments that show promise in mice but don't help humans

Written by Agnès Lacreuse, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, UMass Amherst

Rhesus macaques experience an aging process similar to people's.Goddard Photography/E+ via Getty Images

As of 2022, an estimated 6.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, an illness that robs people of their memories, independence and personality, causing suffering to both patients and their families. That number may double by 2060. The...