The Conversation

Organs from genetically engineered pigs may help shorten the transplant wait list

Written by David Kaczorowski, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

Xenotransplantation has made significant strides over the past few decades.BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Demand for life-saving organ transplantation is at an all-time high. In 2021, a record 41,000-plus organ transplants were performed in the U.S., with top numbers for kidney, liver and heart transplants. But a limited supply of...

Guns, not roses – here's the true story of penicillin’s first patient

Written by Bill Sullivan, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine

Penicillin ushered in the antibiotics revolution, with amazing results during war and peace.Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL via Getty Images

Albert Alexander was dying. World War II was raging, and this police officer of the county of Oxford, England, had developed a severe case of sepsis after a cut on his face became badly infected....

Why most teachers who say they plan to leave the profession probably won't do so anytime soon

Written by Christopher Redding, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Florida

Teachers across the U.S. have been under stress throughout the pandemic.Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Every spring, school and district leaders ask teachers about their plans to return to teaching in the fall. They need to know how many teachers to begin recruiting for the next school year.

These career conversations are currently taking place under the...

Endurance captain Frank Worsley, Shackleton's gifted navigator, knew how to stay the course

Written by Daniella McCahey, Assistant Professor of History, Texas Tech University

Navigator Frank Worsley, left, works with scientist Reginald James to take an observation by the stern of the Endurance.Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images

When the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was found nearly 10,000 feet below the surface of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea in March...

Why stagflation is an economic nightmare – and could become a real headache for Biden and the Fed if it emerges in the US

Written by Veronika Dolar, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY Old Westbury

The price of gas is soaring across the U.S.AP Photo/Ashley Landis

Inflation hit a fresh 40-year high in February as the Consumer Price Index surged to 7.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on March 10, 2022. The continuing surge in inflation comes amid growing fears that the recovering U.S. economy might suffer significantly from the...

How a hurricane fueled wildfires in the Florida Panhandle

Written by David Godwin, Director of the Southern Fire Exchange, University of Florida

Satellites captured the tree loss from Hurricane Michael in 2018. This is where fires were burning in 2022.Forwarn/USDA Forest Service

The wildfires that broke out in the Florida Panhandle in early March 2022 were the nightmare fire managers had feared since the day Hurricane Michael flattened millions of trees there in 2018. It might sound odd...

Purim spiels: Skits and satire have brought merriment to an ancient Jewish holiday in America

Written by Zev Eleff, President and Professor of American Jewish History, Gratz College

A theater performance during the Purim holiday in Warszawa, Poland.Photograph by Henryk Kotowski, CC BY

Purim, the springtime Jewish holiday packed with much merriment and humor, recalls the biblical story of Queen Esther.

In this tale, the queen stayed true to her Jewish roots and used her status to sway her husband, King Achashverosh, to defend...

Would Putin use nuclear weapons? An arms control expert explains what has and hasn't changed since the invasion of Ukraine

Written by Miles A. Pomper, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury

This intercontinental ballistic missile was launched as part of Russia's test of its strategic forces in 2020.Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

The prospect of a nuclear exchange between Russia and the United States seemed, until recently, to have ended with the Cold War. Threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use the weapons to...

A wave of grassroots humanitarianism is supporting millions of Ukrainian refugees

Written by Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, Professor of Geography; Director of the Center for Refugee Studies, Indiana University

Women offering Ukrainian refugees a place to stay in Berlin on Mar. 4, 2022. Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images

Along the Poland-Ukraine border, Polish volunteers have been driving Ukrainian refugees to local train stations, or directly to cities like Warsaw.

Other Poles are doing their volunteer work online or at train stations and...

China's balancing act on Russian invasion of Ukraine explained

Written by Joseph Torigian, Assistant Professor of International Service, American University

A friendship far from flagging?Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Russia has few friends in the international community following its invasion of Ukraine. But China, which shares a 2,672-mile (4,300-kilometer) border with Russia, is among the handful of nations that has refused to condemn Vladimir Putin’s actions, while criticizing...