The Conversation

We work with dangerous pathogens in a downtown Boston biocontainment lab – here's why you can feel safe about our research

Written by Ronald Corley, Director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories and Chair of Microbiology, Boston University

Security precautions, thoughtful facilities design, careful training and safe lab practices help keep pathogens isolated.Boston University Photography, CC BY-ND

Microbiologist Ronald Corley has gone to work every day throughout the pandemic as director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories. Within this secure lab facility in...

Don't hike so close to me: How the presence of humans can disturb wildlife up to half a mile away

Written by Jeremy Dertien, PhD Candidate in Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University

What are you looking at?Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr, CC BY

Millions of Americans are traveling this summer as pandemic restrictions wind down. Rental bookings and crowds in national parks show that many people are headed for the great outdoors.

Seeing animals and birds is one of the main draws of spending time in nature. But as researchers who study conse...

From the labor struggles of the 1930s to the racial reckoning of the 2020s, the Highlander school has sought to make America more equitable

Written by Jelani M. Favors, Associate Professor of History, Clayton State University

Highlander founder Myles Horton (right) with civil rights leader Rosa Parks and labor leader Ralph Helstein in 1957.Nashville Banner Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library, CC BY-SA

During this period of racial reckoning, many Americans are seeking to make the United States more equitable and just. Many new organizations...

Mixed-ancestry genetic research shows a bit of Native American DNA could reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease

Written by Diane Xue, Public Health Genetics PhD student and Research Assistant in Medical Genetics, University of Washington

Alzheimer's, like many diseases, has a genetic component. Tek Images/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Since the human genome was first mapped, scientists have discovered hundreds of genes influencing illnesses like breast cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, Black people, Indigenous people and other people of...

California is planning floating wind farms offshore to boost its power supply – here's how they work

Written by Matthew Lackner, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Equinor's Hywind Scotland became the world's first floating wind farm in 2017.Øyvind Gravås/Woldcam via Equinor

Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind...

What is child care insecurity? 2 social scientists explain

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

Child care insecurity can increase stress and anxiety and decrease quality of life. Damir Cudic/E+ Collection via Getty Images

Child care insecurity is a term we’ve come up with to describe limited or uncertain access to adequate child care.

It factors into many Americans’ decisions whether to even have a child. Parents – mothers...

World hunger surged in 2020, with 1 in 10 people on Earth undernourished

Written by Jessica Eise, Assistant Professor of Social and Environmental Challenges, The University of Texas at San Antonio

Yemeni children, who live in a hunger hot spot, wait to get food in June 2021. Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

CC BY-ND

Nearly 10% of everyone on Earth – an estimated 768 million of us – were undernourished in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies, job markets and supply chains and inflated food prices. According to the latest...

Happy 50th birthday to Chez Panisse, the Berkeley restaurant that launched farm-to-fork eating

Written by Paul Freedman, Chester D. Tripp Professor of History, Yale University

The entrance to Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California.Calton/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

When a small restaurant called Chez Panisse opened its doors 50 years ago in Berkeley, California, it wasn’t obvious that it would change how Americans thought about eating. The first menu on Aug. 28, 1971, was pâté baked in pastry, duck with olives,...

Cuba protests: 4 essential reads on dissent in the post-Castro era

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US

A rare unauthorized public gathering in Havana on July 11, 2021. Some demonstrators on the streets that day chanted 'Down with the dictatorship.' Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images

Street protests erupted across Cuba on July 11, 2021, with crowds of Cubans demonstrating against food scarcity, medicine shortages and economic misery in their island...

Biden targets noncompete agreements, which restrict the job opportunities of millions of low-wage workers

Written by Raymond Hogler, Professor of Management, Colorado State University

It's estimated that over one-third of all private companies require their employees to sign noncompete clauses. wera Rodsawang/Moment via Getty Images

Most American workers are hired “at will”: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the...