Why vaccines are not the cause of coronavirus variants

Minerals, drugs and China: How the Taliban might finance their new Afghan government

Hanif Sufizada, University of Nebraska Omaha

The Taliban have at least five significant potential sources of revenue as they begin to govern Afghanistan again.

For engineers, asking for help at work is influenced by gender

Cristina Poleacovschi, Iowa State University; Amy N. Javernick-Will, University of Colorado Boulder; Sheng Wang, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Tony W. Tong, University of Colorado Boulder

In the male-dominated engineering industry, where women represent only about 11% of the workforce, gender influences whom individuals turn to for answers to questions.

Buying groceries isn’t a problem just for the poor – middle-class millennials like me with student debt have trouble too

Cassandra M. Johnson, Texas State University

A scholar of nutrition opens up with a personal take on food insecurity in America.

On 50th anniversary of Attica uprising, 4 essential reads on prisoners’ rights today

Matt Williams, The Conversation

The Attica uprising marked a milestone in the prisoners’ rights movement. Many of the grievances aired in 1971 are still relevant to today’s incarcerated population.

How social media – aided by bots – amplifies Islamophobia online

Saif Shahin, American University

Concern about Islamophobia has been near-constant for years. But how it plays out is changing – especially online.

Government and charitable actions likely kept millions of Americans out of food insecurity during the pandemic

Craig Gundersen, Baylor University

While the food insecurity rate held steady in 2020, the racial hunger gap increased.

How to design a public play space where kids practice reading and STEM skills

Brenna Hassinger-Das, Pace University ; Jennifer M. Zosh, Penn State; Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University

Scientists and local communities can work together to design interactive play spaces that build math and literacy skills.

Haiti’s history of political fragility makes its recovery from disaster even harder

Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Daniel Merino, The Conversation

Plus, new research chronicling the experiences of Japanese Americans interned by the US government during the second world war. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot raises serious concerns – but probably not the ones you think

Andrew Maynard, Arizona State University

If you see the Tesla Bot as a joke or a harbinger of a dystopian future, you could be missing the real threat, which has more to do with Elon Musk’s power than robots run amok.

An entire generation of Americans has no idea how easy air travel used to be

Janet Bednarek, University of Dayton

Since 9/11, billions have been spent beefing up airport security. Was it worth it?

The next attack on the Affordable Care Act may cost you free preventive health care

Paul Shafer, Boston University; Alex Hoagland, Boston University

The Affordable Care Act has allowed many preventive health services, including cancer screenings and vaccines, to be free of charge. But legal challenges may lead to costly repercussions for patients.

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