The Conversation

19 children, 2 adults killed in Texas elementary school shooting – 3 essential reads on America's relentless gun violence

Written by Matt Williams, Breaking News Editor

Friends and families gather outside the civic center after the mass school shooting on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images

At least 19 children and two adults were killed when a teenage gunman shot them at a Texas elementary school on May 24, 2022 – the latest mass shooting in a country in which such incidents...

How a sustainability index can keep Exxon but drop Tesla – and 3 ways to fix ESG ratings to meet investors' expectations

Written by Tom Lyon, Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce and Business Economics, University of Michigan

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, shown at an electric vehicle factory, called ESG ratings 'a scam' after an index dropped Tesla. Maja Hitij/Getty Images

A major stock index that tracks sustainable investments dropped electric vehicle-maker Tesla from its list in May 2022 – but it kept oil giant ExxonMobil. That move by the S&P 500 ESG Index has set...

Biden on Taiwan: Did he really commit US forces to stopping any invasion by China? An expert explains why, on balance, probably not

Written by Meredith Oyen, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Pondering a shift in strategy on Taiwan? Possibly not.Nicolas Datiche/Getty Images

The White House has been left scrambling a little after President Joe Biden suggested on May 23, 2022, that the U.S. would intervene militarily should China attempt an invasion of Taiwan.

The comment, which Biden made during a trip to Japan, was taken by some...

Protestants and the pill: How US Christians helped make birth control mainstream

Written by Samira Mehta, Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies & Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Protestant Christians have been debating -- and more often than not, supporting -- modern contraceptives since they first appeared.Bettmann/Bettman via Getty Images

Since May 3, 2022, when Politico reported that the Supreme Court was planning to strike down Roe v. Wade, many Christians have celebrated the prospect of an America where abortion is...

Scientists at Work: How pharmacists and community health workers build trust with Cambodian genocide survivors

Written by Christina Polomoff, Assistant Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut

Community health workers assist patients as they gather their medications and supplements to discuss them during remote visits with pharmacists.Photo courtesy of Khmer Health Associates

Wartime trauma paired with starting over in a new country make getting health care particularly challenging for immigrant refugees. Talking to a doctor or getting...

What is a medication, or medical, abortion? 5 questions answered by 3 doctors

Written by Lauren Owens, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

The mifepristone pill is one option for medication abortion that can be purchased online and used at home.Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Abortion access is in the headlines after Politico released a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. advising the overturn of Roe v. Wade. On May 4, 2022, SciLine, a nonprofit,...

The Catholic Church's views on exorcism have changed – a religious studies scholar explains why

Written by Joseph P. Laycock, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University

A 19th-century engraving shows a cleric doing an exorcism against an evil spirit.Ipsumpix/Corbis via Getty Images

In September 2021, a 3-year-old was killed during an exorcism in a small Pentecostal church in San Jose, California. The child’s throat was allegedly squeezed and her head held down during the ceremony, which likely asphyxiated...

The big exodus of Ukrainian refugees isn't an accident – it's part of Putin's plan to destabilize Europe

Written by Mark A. Grey, Professor of Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa

Ukrainians fleeing the war walk toward a train in Krakow to bring them to Berlin on March 15, 2022. Omar Marques/Getty Images

More than 6.3 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia first invaded in late February 2022.

The European Union has welcomed Ukrainian refugees, allowing them to enter its 27 member countries without visas and...

Yorkicystis, the 500 million-year-old relative of starfish that lost its skeleton

Written by Samuel Zamora, Científico Titular (Paleontólogo), Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME - CSIC)

Reconstruction of the prehistoric *Yorkicystis haefneri* adapted from fossil evidence, created by Hugo Salais (Metazoa Studio).Samuel Zamora, CC BY-ND

After four years of digging for fossils in a churchyard in York, Pennsylvania, amateur paleontologist Chris Haefner made an intriguing find. “I knew it was worth keeping,” he said. He...

Nuclear isomers were discovered 100 years ago, and physicists are still unraveling their mysteries

Written by Artemis Spyrou, Professor of Nuclear Physics, Michigan State University

Protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus can be arranged in different configurations, creating nuclear isomers. KTSdesign/SciencePhotoLibrary via Getty Images

Nobel laureate Otto Hahn is credited with the discovery of nuclear fission. Fission is one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century, yet Hahn considered something else to be his...