The Conversation

Mitochondria can sense bacteria and trigger your immune system to trap them – revealing new ways to treat infections and autoimmunity

Written by Andrew Monteith, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, University of Tennessee

Neutrophils (yellow) eject a NET (green) to ensnare bacteria (purple). Other cells, such as red blood cells (orange), may also get trapped.CHDENK/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Mitochondria have primarily been known as the energy-producing components of cells. But scientists are increasingly discovering that these small organelles do much more than...

More than half of US teens have had at least one cavity, but fluoride programs in schools help prevent them – new research

Written by Christina Scherrer, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Kennesaw State University

The research looked at the results of 31 studies and a total sample of more than 60,000 students.monkeybusinessimages/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Programs delivering fluoride varnish in schools significantly reduce cavities in children. That is a key finding of our recently published study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Fluoride...

Philly psychology students map out local landmarks and hidden destinations where they feel happiest

Written by Eric Zillmer, Professor of Neuropsychology, Drexel University

Rittenhouse Square Park in Center City made it onto the Philly Happiness Map.Matthew Lovette/Jumping Rocks/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

What makes you happy? Perhaps a good night’s sleep, or a wonderful meal with friends?

I am the director of the Happiness Lab at Drexel University, where I also teach a course on happiness. The...

Ceasefires like the one between Iran and Israel often fail – but an agreement with specific conditions is more likely to hold

Written by Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on June 24, 2025, in Washington, less than 12 hours after announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Within hours of President Donald Trump unexpectedly announcing an upcoming ceasefire between Israel and Iran on June 23, 2025, both countries...

Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 − it pushed program underground and spurred Saddam Hussein’s desire for nukes

Written by Jeffrey Fields, Professor of the Practice of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The Osirak nuclear power research station in 1981.Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images

Israel, with the assistance of U.S. military hardware, bombs an adversary’s nuclear facility to set back the perceived pursuit of the ultimate weapon. We have been here before, about 44 years ago.

In 1981, Israeli fighter jets supplied by Washington atta...

Supreme Court rules Trump can rapidly deport immigrants to Libya, South Sudan and other countries they aren’t from

Written by Eleanor Paynter, Assistant Professor of Italian, Migration, and Global Media Studies, University of Oregon

Internally displaced people walk along a street in Juba, South Sudan, on Feb. 13, 2025. Brian Inganga/AP Photos

For the past several months, the Trump administration has been trying to deport immigrants to countries they are not from – despite an April 2025 federal ruling that had blocked the White House from doing so.

A divided Supreme...

How Internet of Things devices affect your privacy – even when they’re not yours

Written by David Sella-Villa, Assistant Professor of Law, University of South Carolina

The Internet of Things, which includes wearables, appliances and cars, is collecting an increasing amount of information about you.lupengyu/Moment via Getty Images

Some unusual witnesses helped convict Alex Murdaugh of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

The first was Bubba, Maggie’s yellow Labrador retriever. Prosecutors used a...

Federal energy office illustrates the perils of fluctuating budgets and priorities

Written by Christelle Khalaf, Associate Director, Government Finance Research Center, University of Illinois Chicago

How much money goes into which pile often changes with the presidency.valiantsin suprunovich/iStock / Getty Images Plus

When new presidential administrations enter the White House, federal agencies often find their funding and priorities shifting, sometimes dramatically.

I’m a scholar who studies how policy and market shifts affect regional...

‘Monkey Biz-ness’: Pop culture helped fan the flames of the Scopes ‘monkey trial’ 100 years ago − and ever since

Written by Ted Olson, Professor of Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies, East Tennessee State University

The star attorneys of the Scopes trial: Clarence Darrow, left, for the defense and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution. Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Ask Americans about the Scopes trial, and they might have heard of it as the “trial of the century,” a showdown over teaching human evolution.

Less well...

3D-printed model of a 500-year-old prosthetic hand hints at life of a Renaissance amputee

Written by Heidi Hausse, Associate Professor of History, Auburn University

Technology is more than just mechanisms and design -- it's ultimately about people. Adriene Simon/College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University, CC BY-SA

To think about an artificial limb is to think about a person. It’s an object of touch and motion made to be used, one that attaches to the body and interacts with its user’s world.

Historic...