The Conversation

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...

You're not imagining it – 3 ways COVID-19 has been extra hard on American parents

Written by Steven Greene, Professor of Political Science, North Carolina State University

For parents during the pandemic, juggling hasn't been an option: It's both work and family, all the time.damircudic/E+ via Getty Images

For over a year, Americans have been struggling with the challenges imposed on them by the global coronavirus pandemic. While all Americans have struggled, the pandemic has imposed three distinctive sets of burdens...

Fatal police violence may be linked to preterm births in neighborhoods nearby

Written by Dana Goin, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, San Francisco

A demonstration in New York City in June 2020 denounces systemic racism and the police killings of African Americans. Scott Heins via Getty Images

Building on generations of work by activists and organizers, there is currently a national reckoning with the impacts of police violence on Black communities underway in the United States. It’s...

America goes back to school – 5 essential reads on parenting in the pandemic

Written by Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Education Editor, The Conversation

Parents may find it challenging to get their children comfortable going back out into the world.Paul Bersebach/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Beyond safety and survival, a paramount question throughout the pandemic has been: When will things get “back to normal”? But as the nation gradually gets vaccinated against COVID-19 and...

I’m a pediatrician who cares for transgender kids – here’s what you need to know about social support, puberty blockers and other medical options that improve lives of transgender youth

Written by Mandy Coles, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and co-director of the Child and Adolescent Trans/Gender Center for Health, Boston University

Transgender medicine uses a multidisciplinary approach to help trans youth live happier lives. Sudowoodo/iStock via Getty Images Plus

When Charlie, a 10-year-old boy, came in for his first visit, he didn’t look at me or my colleague. Angry and crying, he insisted to us that he was cisgender – that he was a boy and had been born male.

A...

6 ways recent college graduates can enhance their online job search

Written by Jason Eckert, Executive Director of Career Services, University of Dayton

Very few job applications get a positive response.Maskot/Getty Images

When recent or soon-to-be college graduates begin to seek employment, many inevitably turn to job-search and networking platforms on the internet.

The platforms include some that are college-based – such as Handshake, Symplicity GradLeaders and 12twenty – as well as...

80% of fatal e-scooter crashes involve cars – new study reveals where and why most collisions occur

Written by Christopher R. Cherry, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee

Electric scooters have become a popular way to get around since their introduction to U.S. cities about three years ago. But fatalities are mounting. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

About 30 people in the United States have been killed riding electric scooters since 2018. Most – 80% – were hit by drivers of cars.

Publicly...

As extreme fires transform Alaska's boreal forest, deciduous trees put a brake on carbon loss and how fast the forest burns

Written by Jill Johnstone, Adjunct Professor of Biology, University of Saskatchewan

A helicopter drops water on a forest fire in Alaska.Michael Risinger/U.S. Army National Guard, CC BY

Fire is a hot topic these days, particularly when it comes to the boreal forest, the vast expanse of trees that stretches across Alaska, Canada and other cold northern regions. Large fires have been burning more frequently and severely in these...