The Conversation

Why the Second Amendment protects a 'well-regulated militia' but not a private citizen militia

Written by Eliga Gould, Professor of History, University of New Hampshire

The Second Amendment declares the importance of state-government authorized militias, like these National Guard troops guarding the California State Capitol building.AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

When a federal judge in California struck down the state’s 32-year-old ban on assault weapons in early June 2021, he added a volatile new issue to the...

Property disputes in Israel come with a complicated back story – and tend to end with Palestinian dispossession

Written by Kristen Alff, Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University

Eviction remains a threat for Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah.AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

The bombing of Gaza may have ended, the sirens in Tel Aviv silenced for now. Yet as concern over a planned June 15, 2021 march by right-wing Israeli nationalists underscores, the threat of violence in Israel is never far from the surface. It is sustained...

Electric heat pumps use much less energy than furnaces, and can cool houses too – here's how they work

Written by Robert Brecha, Professor of Sustainability, University of Dayton

Heating or cooling? I do both.FanFan61618/Flickr, CC BY-SA

To help curb climate change, President Biden has set a goal of lowering U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50%-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. Meeting this target will require rapidly converting as many fossil fuel-powered activities to electricity as possible, and then generating that...

8 ways to manage body image anxiety after lockdown

Written by Tracy Tylka, Professor of Psychology, The Ohio State University

Engaging with people who accept and appreciate your body as it is can help you feel more at peace with how you look.Hinterhaus Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Being able to socialize again may bring enthusiasm and a sense of normalcy – but it may also increase anxiety over how your body might have changed.

I am a psychologist who...

Summer reading: 5 books for young people that deal with race

Written by Sarah J. Donovan, Assistant Professor of Secondary English Education, Oklahoma State University

Reading diverse books can help young adults understand conversations around race better. Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision

With a national debate raging about how – or even if – teachers should discuss race in their classrooms, many educators may find themselves uncertain about how to navigate the subject of race.

Parents may also find it...

NASA is returning to Venus to learn how it became a hot poisonous wasteland – and whether the planet was ever habitable in the past

Written by Paul K. Byrne, Associate Professor of Planetary Science, North Carolina State University

Two new NASA missions hope to answer important questions about Venus' past.NASA/JPL/USGS

NASA is finally headed back to Venus. On June 2, 2021, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the agency had selected two winners of its latest Discovery class spacecraft mission competition, and both are headed to the second planet from the Sun.

I’...

Opioid overdoses spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from Pennsylvania show

Written by Brian King, Professor, Department of Geography, Penn State

Since the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 in the United States on Jan. 20, 2020, news about infection rates, deaths and pandemic-driven economic hardships has been part of our daily lives.

But there is a knowledge gap in how COVID-19 has affected a public health crisis that existed before the pandemic: the opioid epidemic. Prior to 2020, an...

New technologies claiming to copy human milk reuse old marketing tactics to sell baby formula and undermine breastfeeding

Written by Cecília Tomori, Associate Professor and Director of Global Public Health and Community Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

Despite claims to the contrary, the real thing cannot be replicated.Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images

New products that claim to replicate mother’s milk have entered the lucrative market for infant formula.

To an anthropologist and public health scholar who studies breastfeeding, these claims appear to be built on old...

Why do cats knead with their paws?

Written by Julia Albright, Associate Professor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee

A behavior from kittenhood persists in many adult cats. Byron Chin/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why do cats like to pat their paws on a soft blanket? – Anonymous

Do you ever see your cat shifting...

What's the G-7? An international economist explains

Written by Emily J. Blanchard, Associate Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College

Two members of the G-7 exchange an elbow bump. Phil Noble, Pool via AP

The Group of 7 is an informal group of seven powerful democracies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The presidents of the European Commission and European Council also attend G-7 meetings because several of Europe’s largest...