The Conversation

Trump-endorsed candidates would generally win even without his support – and that's usually the case with all political endorsements

Written by Ian Anson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Ohio GOP Senate candidate J.D. Vance won his primary after Trump endorsed him. AP Photo/Joe Maiorana

Over the past few months, many journalists and pundits have credited the power of Donald Trump’s endorsements with determining the winners of Republican primaries.

Trump has made 203 candidate endorsements in the 2022 election cycle so far,...

International courts prosecuting leaders like Putin for war crimes have a mixed record – but offer clues on how to get a conviction

Written by Victor Peskin, Associate professor of politics and global studies, Arizona State University

A sign reading 'Putin, murderer' is shown during a protest in Krakow, Poland, on May 8, 2022. Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

There have been mounting calls from Ukrainian and other activists and political leaders to prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine, including authorizing attacks on civilians. There has...

Social stress can speed up immune system aging – new research

Written by Eric Klopack, Postdoctoral Researcher in Gerontology, University of Southern California

Immunosenescence, or immune aging, can lead to less effective responses to vaccines and greater vulnerability to invading pathogens.Kudryavtsev Pavel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

As people age, their immune systems naturally begin to decline. This aging of the immune system, called immunosenescence, may be an important part of such age-related healt...

Trouble paying bills can take a heavy toll on fathers' mental health, leading to family conflict

Written by Joyce Y. Lee, Assistant Professor of Social Work, The Ohio State University

Most research on poverty has focused on the effects on mothers, but a new study shows the importance of turning increased attention to fathers' mental health.kieferpix/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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

The big idea

For families on low incomes, difficulty paying utility bills, rent,...

How we describe the metaverse makes a difference – today's words could shape tomorrow's reality and who benefits from it

Written by Tom Boellstorff, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine

The metaverse might be a work in progress, but a key prototype – the virtual world – has been around for several decades.Screen capture from Second Life by Tom Boellstorff, CC BY-ND

Quick, define the word “metaverse.”

Coined in 1992 by science fiction author Neal Stephenson, the relatively obscure term exploded in popularity...

The James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to do science – and it’s seeing the universe more clearly than even its own engineers hoped for

Written by Marcia Rieke, Regents Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona

The mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope is fully aligned and producing incredibly sharp images, like this test image of a star.NASA/STScI via Flickr

NASA is scheduled to release the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope on July 12, 2022. They’ll mark the beginning of the next era in astronomy as Webb – the largest...

Privacy isn't in the Constitution – but it's everywhere in constitutional law

Written by Scott Skinner-Thompson, Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Boulder

Who's allowed to watch what you do and say?Shannon Fagan/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Almost all American adults – including parents, medical patients and people who are sexually active – regularly exercise their right to privacy, even if they don’t know it.

Privacy is not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. But for...

Legal fights persist over policies that require teachers to refer to trans students by their chosen pronouns

Written by Genny Beemyn, Director, Stonewall Center, UMass Amherst

Trans student rights often hang in the balance.Maskot/Getty Images

In Tennessee, a proposed law would let public school teachers refuse to call transgender students by the pronouns they use for themselves.

At Shawnee State University – a public university in Ohio – a professor got paid US$400,000 to settle a lawsuit that he filed against...

5 things to know about the Fed's biggest interest rate increase since 1994 and how it will affect you

Written by D. Brian Blank, Assistant Professor of Finance, Mississippi State University

Wall Street is following Fed rate hike news with rapt attention.AP Photo/Seth Wenig

The Federal Reserve on June 15, 2022, lifted interest rates by 0.75 percentage point, the third hike this year and the largest since 1994. The move is aimed at countering the fastest pace of inflation in over 40 years.

Wall Street had been expecting a half-point...

Woodward and Bernstein didn't bring down a president in Watergate – but the myth that they did lives on

Written by W. Joseph Campbell, Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication

U.S. President Richard Nixon at a White House lectern reading a farewell speech to his staff following his resignation on Aug. 9, 1974. George Tames/New York Times Co./Getty Images

In their dogged reporting of the Watergate scandal, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the crimes that forced Richard Nixon to resign...