The Conversation

Putin's antagonism toward Ukraine was never just about NATO – it's about creating a new Russian empire

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

A protest outside the Russian Embassy on Feb. 22, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Chris McGrath/Getty Images

As some Western observers have feared, Russian President Vladimir Putin has just proved that his aggression toward Ukraine was never really about NATO.

In a speech on Feb. 21, 2022, Putin recognized the occupied territories in Ukraine of Donetsk and...

COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges for students who are homeless

Written by Alexandra E. Pavlakis, Associate Professor of Education Policy & Leadership, Southern Methodist University

Before the pandemic about 1.28 million children were experiencing homelessness.Johnce/E+ via Getty Images

Before the pandemic hit in March 2020, Faith – a single mother with two children, one in third grade and one in fifth grade – worked at a sports stadium in Houston. Her focus at the time was “paying for a room and trying to...

COVID-19 cases on campus could surge after spring break unless students take certain precautions

Written by Naveen K. Vaidya, Associate Professor of Mathematics, San Diego State University

What college students do during and after spring break can affect the number of COVID-19 cases on campus. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, researchers found that breaking up spring break into small breaks instead of the traditional nine-day vacation can help reduce COVID-19 cases...

How AI is shaping the cybersecurity arms race

Written by Sagar Samtani, Assistant Professor of Operations and Decision Technologies, Indiana University

Defending against cyberattacks increasingly means looking for patterns in large amounts of data – a task AI was made for.Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

The average business receives 10,000 alerts every day from the various software tools it uses to monitor for intruders, malware and other threats. Cybersecurity staff often find...

Putin’s public approval is soaring during the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but it's unlikely to last

Written by Arik Burakovsky, Assistant Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into eastern Ukraine on Feb. 21, 2022. The invasion could lead to the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Western leaders warn.

But amid the mounting tensions, public opinion polls in Russia show that support for Putin is rising.

The rally ‘round the flag effect of supporting...

Taxpayers should expect serious delays from the IRS this year – a tax scholar offers tips but says only Congress can fix the underlying problem

Written by Beverly Moran, Professor Emerita of Law, Vanderbilt University

Even the simplest 1040 tax returns are facing delays. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

No one likes tax season. It’s complicated, it’s stressful, and it’s getting worse.

Last year was already the “most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced,” according to the Taxpayer Advocate...

Why the cost of mitigating climate change can't be boiled down to one right number, despite some economists' best attempts

Written by Matthew E. Kahn, Provost Professor of Economics and Spatial Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Renewable energy prices have fallen faster than predicted.ImageBROKER/Lilly

Back in November 2019, before the pandemic began, would you have guessed how important videoconferencing like Zoom would be in people’s lives just a few months later?

That’s the kind of challenge economists face when they try to put a single number on the...

First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California

Written by Roger Bales, Distinguished Professor of Engineering, University of California, Merced

An artist's rendering of a solar canal.Robin Raj, Citizen Group & Solar Aquagrid

Mounting evidence suggests the western United States is now in its worst megadrought in at least 1,200 years. Groundwater supplies are being overpumped in many places, and the dryness, wildfires and shrinking water supplies are making climate change personal for...

How teachers enter the profession affects how long they stay on the job

Written by Sarah Guthery, Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Texas A&M University-Commerce

Teachers with traditional certifications are more likely to continue teaching than those with alternative certifications. Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Two major factors matter when it comes to predicting how long a new teacher will stay on the...

More migrants are dying along the US-Mexico border, but it's hard to say how big the problem actually is

Written by Courtney Riggle-van Schagen, DrPH Student in Prevention and Community Health; Licensed Clinical Social Worker, George Washington University

A Spanish-language sign warns migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border against explsing themselves to the dangerous elements in the desert. David Howells/Corbis via Getty Images

At least 650 migrants died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency that monitors migration....