The Conversation

18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic – a retrospective in 7 charts

Written by Katelyn Jetelina, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

September 11, 2021 marks the 18 month anniversary of the WHO declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemicsummerphotos/Stock via Getty Images Plus

A year and a half into what the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, it’s an understatement to say that Americans are exhausted.

I’m an epidemiologist and...

Firebrands and protecting homes from wildfires: What everyone needs to know about flaming windblown debris

Written by David Blunck, Associate Professor School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University

A photographer stands in a rain of flaming embers during a fire in California in 2019.Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

As firefighters tried to protect homes near Lake Tahoe from one of California’s largest fires on record, they battled, windblown embers that kept sparking new small fires, some well away from the fire line.

Those embers, also...

Massive numbers of new COVID–19 infections, not vaccines, are the main driver of new coronavirus variants

Written by Vaughn Cooper, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh

The rise of coronavirus variants has highlighted the huge influence evolutionary biology has on daily life. But how mutations, random chance and natural selection produce variants is a complicated process, and there has been a lot of confusion about how and why new variants emerge.

Until recently, the most famous example of rapid evolution was the...

For engineers, asking for help at work is influenced by gender

Written by Cristina Poleacovschi, Assistant Professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University

Female engineers were more likely to ask for help from their female than male colleagues.alvarez/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

In a study published in the Journal of Management in Engineering, we analyzed whether knowledge accessibility – defined as the time and effort that...

Minerals, drugs and China: How the Taliban might finance their new Afghan government

Written by Hanif Sufizada, Education and Outreach Program Coordinator, University of Nebraska Omaha

Afghanistan relies on informal money changers more than banks. AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini

Now that the Taliban have reportedly taken full control of Afghanistan and begun forming a government, a looming challenge awaits: How will they keep their country and economy afloat financially?

For the past 20 years, the U.S. government and other countries hav...

How social media – aided by bots – amplifies Islamophobia online

Written by Saif Shahin, Assistant Professor in School of Communication and Faculty Affiliate with Antiracist Research and Policy Center, American University

Islamophobia has changed in the 20 years since Sept. 11. Now, much of it plays out on social media.Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

In August 2021, a Facebook ad campaign criticizing Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the United States’ first Muslim congresswomen, came under intense scrutiny. Critics charged that the ads linked the...

Buying groceries isn't a problem just for the poor – middle-class millennials like me with student debt have trouble too

Written by Cassandra M. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Foods, Texas State University

When people can't afford what they want to eat, they have to make a lot of calculations at the supermarket.oonal/E+ via Getty Images

When I teach undergraduate and graduate students about food insecurity, I sometimes mention that my perspective is based not only on professional expertise but also on my personal experience.

Food insecurity might...

How to design a public play space where kids practice reading and STEM skills

Written by Brenna Hassinger-Das, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Pace University

A spinning wall puzzle helps kids develop spatial skills and understand how different objects relate to one another.Sahar Coston-Hardy Photography, CC BY-NC-ND

A park bench can be so much more than just a place to sit and wait. Perhaps it has a puzzle built into it, or weights that allow children to make measurements.

As researchers who study the...

On 50th anniversary of Attica uprising, 4 essential reads on prisoners' rights today

Written by Matt Williams, Breaking News Editor

Some of the demands by prisoners in 1971's Attica rebellion still resonate today.

On Sept. 9, 1971, nearly 1,300 incarcerated men at Attica Correctional Facility in New York state took control of the facility, prompting a multiday standoff with authorities that ended in a massacre.

The incident resulted in the deaths of 43 people, many of them...

¿Por qué se fortaleció la tormenta Ida en el Noreste tan rápido después de haberse debilitado?

Written by Russ Schumacher, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science and Colorado State Climatologist, Colorado State University

El vecindario de Manayunk en Philadelphia fue inundado por los restos del huracán Ida.AP Images/Matt Rourke

Las lluvias históricas ocasionadas por el huracán Ida desbordaron ciudades en el Noreste del país la semana pasada, golpeando algunas con más de 7,62 centímetros de lluvia por hora. El agua...