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3 innovations helping the homeless in Eugene, Oregon

  • Written by Mohamed Hassan Awad, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, California State University, Los Angeles
Volunteers are building villages of tiny houses for formerly homeless people.Bruce Kelsh/Cottage Village Coalition, CC BY-SA

Even when the economy is booming, the United States has trouble figuring out how to deal with homelessness. Now, with unemployment soaring and millions of Americans unable to pay their rent, solutions are more needed than...

Read more: 3 innovations helping the homeless in Eugene, Oregon

What's lost when we're too afraid to touch the world around us?

  • Written by Chunjie Zhang, Associate Professor of German, University of California, Davis
We touch, therefore we know.Jupiterimages/Getty Images

During one of my daily walks with my toddler, when we passed his favorite playground, I noticed a new sign warning that the coronavirus survives on all kinds of surfaces and that we should no longer use the playground. Since then, I’ve taken great pains to prevent him from touching...

Read more: What's lost when we're too afraid to touch the world around us?

Buildings have their own microbiomes – we're striving to make them healthy places

  • Written by Kevin Van den Wymelenberg, Associate Professor of Architecture and Director, Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon
Sunlight, ventilation and relative humidity all affect the microbiome of indoor spaces.iStock / Getty Images Plus

Architects and building engineers strive to create safe, productive places where humans can live and work. We have developed complex codes, regulations and guidelines to achieve goals such as structural safety, fire safety, adequate...

Read more: Buildings have their own microbiomes – we're striving to make them healthy places

The first Earth Day was a shot heard around the world

  • Written by Maria Ivanova, Associate Professor of Global Governance and Director, Center for Governance and Sustainability, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
The first Earth Day in 1972 spurred other countries to support global environmental action.Callista Images/Getty

The first Earth Day protests, which took place on April 22, 1970 brought 20 million Americans – 10% of the U.S. population at the time – into the streets. Recognizing the power of this growing movement, President Richard...

Read more: The first Earth Day was a shot heard around the world

How to build community while worshipping online

  • Written by Heidi A. Campbell, Professor, Texas A&M University
Social distancing has changed the way people worship. A pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Los Angeles holds a service through his iPhone.AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Calls for social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic have forced churches to cancel weekly gatherings, with many church leaders moving worship online.

To help facilitate...

Read more: How to build community while worshipping online

Making masks at home – what you need to know about how to reduce the transmission of coronavirus

  • Written by Susan L. Sokolowski, Director & Associate Professor of Sports Product Design, University of Oregon
Homemade masks will not filter the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but may prevent transmission of droplets and spray between individuals.Nikola Stojadinovic/Getty Images

The recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to use cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19 has generated numerous how-to articles and videos. As...

Read more: Making masks at home – what you need to know about how to reduce the transmission of coronavirus

Checking blood for coronavirus antibodies – 3 questions answered about serological tests and immunity

  • Written by Aubree Gordon, Professor of Public Health, University of Michigan
Testing blood provides answers about who has been infected.Sean Gallup/Getty Images News via Getty Images

Coronavirus testing in the United States is moving into a new phase as scientists begin looking into people’s blood for signs they’ve been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This technique is called serological...

Read more: Checking blood for coronavirus antibodies – 3 questions answered about serological tests and...

Coastal fish populations didn't crash after the Deepwater Horizon spill – why not?

  • Written by F. Joel Fodrie, Associate Professor of Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Oil sheen in a Louisiana marsh that was heavily affected by the 2010 BP spill, Sept. 27, 2013.AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released 4 to 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, some early projections estimated that the toll on fisheries could reach US$5-10 billion by 2020. Chemicals in crude oil may...

Read more: Coastal fish populations didn't crash after the Deepwater Horizon spill – why not?

How the rich reacted to the bubonic plague has eerie similarities to today's pandemic

  • Written by Kathryn McKinley, Professor of English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Franz Xavier Winterhalter's 'The Decameron' (1837).Heritage Images via Getty Images

The coronavirus can infect anyone, but recent reporting has shown your socioeconomic status can play a big role, with a combination of job security, access to health care and mobility widening the gap in infection and mortality rates between rich and poor.

The...

Read more: How the rich reacted to the bubonic plague has eerie similarities to today's pandemic

8 ways veterans are particularly at risk from the coronavirus pandemic

  • Written by Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Cleaners enter the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where a coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 40 veterans.Getty/Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe

From the elderly who are facing deadly outbreaks in nursing homes to communities of color facing higher infection and death rates, different groups face different challenges from...

Read more: 8 ways veterans are particularly at risk from the coronavirus pandemic

More Articles ...

  1. Why Boris Johnson won't have to pay any hospital bills
  2. Leading in wartime: 5 ways CEOs should communicate with their workers during coronavirus
  3. Coronavirus may wane this summer, but don't count on any seasonal variation to end the pandemic
  4. Prisons and jails are coronavirus epicenters – but they were once designed to prevent disease outbreaks
  5. Sanders exit opened door for Obama to endorse Biden – and offer up his rhetorical skills
  6. Researchers seek to repurpose an existing manufacturing platform to produce a COVID-19 vaccine
  7. How to reach young voters when they're stuck at home
  8. What policing during the pandemic can tell us about crime rates and arrests
  9. A philosopher answers everyday moral dilemmas in a time of coronavirus
  10. Screens are keeping us connected now – but they're still disruptive to in-person communication
  11. Lack of data makes predicting COVID-19's spread difficult but models are still vital
  12. No, CBD is not a miracle molecule that can cure coronavirus, just as it won't cure many other maladies its proponents claim
  13. Wildfire smoke worsens coronavirus risk, putting firefighters in extra danger
  14. Students fight pandemic – and get real-world experience – by using 3D printers to make face shields
  15. What we do and do not know about COVID-19's infectivity and viral load
  16. What we do and do not know about COVID-19's infectious dose and viral load
  17. Coronavirus lockdowns are pushing mass transit systems to the brink – and low-income riders will pay the price
  18. Income inequality is getting worse in US urban areas
  19. Why the Supreme Court made Wisconsin vote during the coronavirus crisis
  20. Birthed by HBCU students, this organization offers important lessons for today's student activists
  21. Shuttered by the coronavirus, many gay bars – already struggling – are now on life support
  22. Do people become more selfless as they age?
  23. Ignaz Semmelweis, the doctor who discovered the disease-fighting power of hand-washing in 1847
  24. Bees seeking bacteria: How bees find their microbiome
  25. Cold War-style preparedness could help fight future pandemics
  26. Journalists are recognizing they're writing a rough draft of history -- and can't say definitively that's the way it is
  27. Journalists are recognizing they're writing a rough draft of history – and can't say definitively 'that's the way it is'
  28. COVID-19 may hit rural residents hard, and that spells trouble because of lack of rural health care
  29. Isolating together is challenging – and relationship stresses can affect biological functioning
  30. Want to know how many people have the coronavirus? Test randomly
  31. Will COVID-19 be the death of summer vacation?
  32. 5 ways parents can motivate children at home during the pandemic – without nagging or tantrums
  33. US pharmacists can now test for coronavirus. They could do more if government allowed it
  34. Ancient texts encouraged hope and endurance when they spoke of end times
  35. Scientists have found oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in fishes' livers and on the deep ocean floor
  36. What is the SBA? An unheralded agency faces the unprecedented task of saving America's small businesses
  37. Party on! Why some young people are more concerned about their reputations than catching coronavirus
  38. US pharmacists can now test for coronavirus – they could do more if government allowed it
  39. Making music at a distance – how to come together online to spark your creativity
  40. 3 things to consider before you let your child play chess online
  41. Muslim women who cover their faces find greater acceptance among coronavirus masks – 'Nobody is giving me dirty looks'
  42. Who wants to be a governor now?
  43. Plummeting tax revenues will put governors in tough budget situations
  44. Terrorists, militants and criminal gangs join the fight against the coronavirus
  45. Videoconferencing keeps people connected while the coronavirus keeps them inside – but privacy and security are far from perfect
  46. Study shows pangolins may have passed new coronavirus from bats to humans
  47. Why coronavirus death rates can't be summed up in one simple number
  48. Older Americans are risking coronavirus exposure to get their medications
  49. Colombia hopes for 'humanitarian' ceasefire during coronavirus as violence resurges
  50. Coronavirus will test US's civic health too