The Conversation

Breathing wildfire smoke can affect the brain and sperm, as well as the lungs

Written by Luke Montrose, Assistant Professor of Community and Environmental Health, Boise State University

A runner wears a respirator on a smoky day in Portland, Oregon, in 2020.Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Wildfires burning in the western U.S. are sending smoke into communities far from the fires themselves, creating hazardous air for days or weeks at a time. A lot of people are wondering: What does breathing all that smoke do to our bodies?

Wildfire...

Drink less, exercise more and take in the air – sage advice on pandemic living from a long-forgotten, and very long, 18th-century poem

Written by Melissa Schoenberger, Associate Professor of English, College of the Holy Cross

Disease and public health confusion were common in 18th-century England.adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images

A respiratory disease has spread far and wide. Conflicts at home and abroad pose dire challenges. The public is overwhelmed by questions of what to read and whom to trust as it confronts an ever more complicated world.

I am describing mid-18th...

What is Wicca? An expert on modern witchcraft explains.

Written by Helen A. Berger, Resident Scholar, Brandeis University

Most Wiccans in the U.S. practice alone, though they congregate in large gatherings to conduct rituals and learn from one another.Sarah Swinford/EyeEm via Getty Images

Wicca and witchcraft are popping up in pop culture these days, from teenage witches on TikTok to a Marvel comic superhero called Wiccan. It has even led The New York Times to ask:...

Data privacy laws in the US protect profit but prevent sharing data for public good – people want the opposite

Written by Cason Schmit, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Texas A&M University

People produce mountains of data every day, but not all data is treated the same under the law.Orbon Alija/E+ via Getty Images

In 2021, an investigation revealed that home loan algorithms systematically discriminate against qualified minority applicants. Unfortunately, stories of dubious profit-driven data uses like this are all too common.

Meanwhile...

Is it a crime to forge a vaccine card? And what’s the penalty for using a fake?

Written by Christopher Robertson, Professor of Law, Boston University

A nurse displays a real COVID-19 vaccination card.AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Schools, businesses, the military and local governments are requiring proof of vaccination. Yet, unlike the European Union and Australia, which have secure digital proof of vaccination, the United States has not created a systematic way to track vaccinations around the nation....

Why is it so difficult to fight domestic terrorism? 6 experts share their thoughts

Written by Mikkel Dack, Assistant Professor of History, Research Director of Rowan Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, Rowan University

Domestic extremists were involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.AP Photo/John Minchillo

The United States’ first-ever national strategy for countering domestic terrorism calls for better information-sharing among law enforcement agencies and efforts to prevent extremist groups from recruiting online. Published in...

Hurricane Ida: 4 essential reads about New Orleans' high hurricane risk and what climate change has to do with the storms

Written by Stacy Morford, Environment + Climate Editor

Hurricane Ida's winds tore off roofs, including in New Orleans' French Quarter.AP Photo/Eric Gay

Hurricane Ida hit the Louisiana coast with 150 mph winds on Aug. 29, 2021, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans on nearly the same path.

Ida was one of the most intense tropical storms on record in the state. Its storm...

The Taliban reportedly have control of US biometric devices – a lesson in life-and-death consequences of data privacy

Written by Margaret Hu, Professor of Law and of International Affairs, Penn State

A U.S. Army soldier scans the irises of an Afghan civilian in 2012 as part of an effort by the military to collect biometric information from much of the Afghan population.Jose Cabezas/AFP via GettyImages

In the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and the ouster of the Afghan national government, alarming reports indicate that the...

CDC eviction ban ended by Supreme Court: 4 questions about its impact answered by a housing law expert

Written by Katy Ramsey Mason, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, University of Memphis

The Supreme Court lifted the CDC's eviction ban.AP Photo/Elise Amendola

The Supreme Court on Aug. 26, 2021, ended the Biden administration’s ban on evictions, putting millions at risk of losing their homes. The ruling, by a divided court, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority in continuing a moratorium on...

Poison ivy can work itchy evil on your skin – here's how

Written by Arthur Samia, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Dermatology, University of Florida

Be on the lookout for poison ivy's three leaves on a reddish stem.raksybH/iStock via Getty Images Plus

A patient recently came in to our dermatology clinic with a rash and a story similar to so many others. He had been out camping with friends a few days earlier and helped carry some logs to stoke the fire. Little did he know he was going to pay for...