The Conversation

Competition heats up in the melting Arctic, and the US isn't prepared to counter Russia

Written by Rockford Weitz, Professor of Practice & Director, Fletcher Maritime Studies Program, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Russia has been beefing up its Arctic icebreaker fleet to take advantage of the climate changes.Lev Fedoseyev\TASS via Getty Images

For decades, the frozen Arctic was little more than a footnote in global economic competition, but that’s changing as its ice melts with the warming climate.

Russia is now attempting to claim more of the Arctic...

Has any US president ever served more than eight years?

Written by David Yalof, Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, standing at center and facing left just above the eagle, takes the presidential oath of office for the third time in 1941.FDR Presidential Library and Museum via Flickr, CC BY

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@theconversa...

No, vaccine side effects don't tell you how well your immune system will protect you from COVID-19

Written by Robert Finberg, Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School

It's not a bad sign if you feel fine after your COVID-19 shot.Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images

If someone gets a headache or feels a bit under the weather after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s become common to hear them say something like “Oh, it just means my immune system is really working hard.” On the flip side,...

Forget the debate over public health versus jobs – the same people suffer the most either way

Written by Alicia R. Riley, Postdoctoral Scholar in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco

Throughout the pandemic, millions of Americans wondered: “Is the cure worse than the disease?”

The question implies a trade-off between “the cure,” in the form of economic shutdowns, and “the disease,” COVID-19. This debate dominated headlines in the first months of the pandemic. More than a year later, it...

Are America's schools safe for Asian Americans?

Written by Charissa S. L. Cheah, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Eight out of 10 Asian American youths reported being bullied and harassed during the pandemic.RyanJLane/E+ via Getty Images

The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic has prompted many Asian American parents to enroll their children in remote learning out of concern for their child’s safety at school. Asian American youths are...

Biden administration's $39 billion child care strategy: 5 questions answered

Written by Taryn Morrissey, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University School of Public Affairs

High-quality day care has always been scarce in the U.S.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

States are getting US$39 billion from the federal government to support child care. The money comes from the $1.9 trillion relief package that President Joe Biden signed in March 2021 and is on top of $10 billion for child care included in the $900 million relief...

Being skeptical of sources is a journalist's job – but it doesn't always happen when those sources are the police

Written by Danielle K. Kilgo, John and Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity, and Equality, University of Minnesota

Police body camera video shows Adam Toledo's hands were raised just before he was shot.Chicago Police Department via AP

The death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo might well have made international headlines on March 29, 2021 – the day he was shot and killed by a police officer – had the emerging narrative been different.

Instead, early news...

Sikhs in America: A religious community long misunderstood is mourning deaths in Indianapolis mass shooting

Written by Simran Jeet Singh, Visiting Professor, Union Theological Seminary

Members of the Sikh community in Indianapolis gather after a mass shooting in which eight people, including four Sikhs, died, in Indianapolis, Indiana.Jon Cherry/Getty Images

On April 16, 2021, a gunman opened fire at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis killing eight people and injuring several others before taking his own life. Four members of the...

How many _Tyrannosaurus rex_ walked the Earth?

Written by Ashley Poust, Research Associate in Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley

_Tyrannosaurus rex_ spanned all of ancient North America, and about 20,000 lived at once.1Ado123/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

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

The big idea

During 2.4 million years of existence on Earth, a total of 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex ever lived, and 20,000 individual animals would have been...

Cuba's economic woes may fuel America's next migrant crisis

Written by William M. LeoGrande, Professor of Government, American University School of Public Affairs

Honduran and Cuban migrants cross the Rio Grande River on the U.S.-Mexico border, June 26, 2019.Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Not all of the migrants hoping to claim asylum in the United States are fleeing Central America’s violence-torn “Northern Triangle” of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, contrary to...