The Conversation

If plastic comes from oil and gas, which come originally from plants, why isn’t it biodegradable?

Written by Yael Vodovotz, Professor of Food Science & Technology, The Ohio State University

Plastic trash accumulates in trees and shrubs along the Los Angeles River.Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

If plastic comes from oil and gas, which...

Race, gender and the ways these identities intersect matter in cancer outcomes

Written by Timothy Pawlik, Professor of Surgery, The Ohio State University

Cancer care research usually focuses on just one of a patient's social identities.Isaac Lane Koval/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Belonging to one or more groups with long-standing social and economic disadvantages increases the risk of cancer diagnoses and death, according...

Arming teachers – an effective security measure or a false sense of security?

Written by Aimee Huff, Associate Professor, Marketing, Oregon State University

Even trained police officers often miss their target during gunfights.RichLegg / Getty Images

In the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, some elected officials are making calls anew for teachers to be armed and trained to use firearms to protect the nation’s schools. To shine light on the matter, The...

The ordination of the first female rabbi 50 years ago has brought many changes – and some challenges

Written by Carole B. Balin, Professor Emerita of Jewish History, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion

Sara Hurwitz, Amy Eilberg, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and Sally J. Priesand, each of whom was the first female rabbi in her branch of Judaism.Courtesy of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives

Fifty years ago, on June 3, 1972, as Sally J. Priesand became the first woman ordained a rabbi by a Jewish seminary, her 35 male classmates...

The 'sonnenrad' used in shooters' manifestos: a spiritual symbol of hate

Written by Helen A. Berger, Affliate Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University

A person visits a makeshift memorial near the scene of the fatal shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on May 19, 2022.AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Just before the supermarket shooting that killed 10 people on May 14, 2022 in Buffalo, New York, the suspected terrorist posted a manifesto online. The top is adorned with a “sonnenrad,”...

Students are often segregated within the same schools, not just by being sent to different ones

Written by Kari Dalane, Ph.D. Candidate in Public Administration and Policy, American University School of Public Affairs

Classmates in grades 3, 4 and 5 are more likely to come from diverse economic backgrounds than their schoolmates in grades 6, 7 and 8.Paul Bersebach, MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Children from low-income households are increasingly being...

Nasal COVID-19 vaccines help the body prepare for infection right where it starts – in your nose and throat

Written by Mayuresh Abhyankar, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia

Seven nasal vaccines for COVID-19 are currently in clinical trials around the world.VSargues/iStock via Getty Images

Imagine inhaling just a few drops of liquid or mist to get protected from COVID-19. That is the idea behind nasal COVID-19 vaccines, and they have been getting a lot of attention recently as a spray or liquid. These nasal vaccines...

Yes, Muslims are portrayed negatively in American media -- 2 political scientists reviewed over 250,000 articles to find conclusive evidence

Written by Erik Bleich, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science, Middlebury

Students with the Muslim Consultative Network's summer youth program gather on the steps of New York's City Hall on Aug. 14, 2013, to speak out against Islamophobia.AP Photo/Richard Drew

The warm welcome Americans and Europeans have given Ukrainians in 2022 contrasts sharply with the uneven – and frequently hostile – policies toward...

Desegregating schools requires more than giving parents free choices – a scholar studies the choices parents of all races make

Written by Chantal Hailey, Assistant Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts

Racial bias may play a role both in the schools that families choose for their children and the experiences their children have.Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Chantal Hailey is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts.Her work focuses on the role of race and racism in how people...

Yes, Muslims are portrayed negatively in American media — 2 political scientists reviewed over 250,000 articles to find conclusive evidence

Written by Erik Bleich, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science, Middlebury

Students with the Muslim Consultative Network's summer youth program gather on the steps of New York's City Hall on Aug. 14, 2013, to speak out against Islamophobia.AP Photo/Richard Drew

The warm welcome Americans and Europeans have given Ukrainians in 2022 contrasts sharply with the uneven — and frequently hostile — policies toward...