Barry Markovsky, University of South Carolina This Feb. 22, the world hits an unprecedented milestone. It’s the date itself: 2/22/22. And this so-called “Twosday” falls on a Tuesday, no less. It’s true the number pattern stands out, impossible to miss. But does it mean anything? Judging by the thousands of commemorative products available for purchase […]
The Conversation
Posted inNews
Why $73 million Sandy Hook settlement is unlikely to unleash a flood of lawsuits against gun-makers
Timothy D. Lytton, Georgia State University Families of the victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School reached a historic US$73 million settlement with gun-maker Remington Arms. The Feb. 15, 2022, deal marks the first time a firearms manufacturer has settled a lawsuit brought by gun violence victims since Congress granted the industry […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Pandemic-related school closings likely to have far-reaching effects on child well-being
Sandra M. Chafouleas, University of Connecticut A global analysis has found that kids whose schools closed to stop the spread of various waves of the coronavirus lost educational progress and are at increased risk of dropping out of school. As a result, the study says, they will earn less money from work over their lifetimes […]
Posted inCOVID-19, News
Heading into the third year of the pandemic, the US blood supply is at a 10-year low
Anna Nagurney, UMass Amherst The blood supply in the U.S. is now at its lowest level in over a decade. Many of the nation’s blood centers currently have only a one-day supply of some blood types in inventory. This is dangerous because blood transfusions are needed for many surgeries. Blood is also used in the […]
Posted inHistory
Has Captain Cook’s ship Endeavour been found? Debate rages, but here’s what’s usually involved in identifying a shipwreck
John McCarthy, Flinders University The Australian National Maritime Museum has announced a shipwreck found in Newport Harbour, off Rhode Island in the United States, has been confirmed as Captain Cook’s ship, HMB Endeavour. There have been very similar announcements made over the years but have they finally made a definitive case? By making its announcement, […]
Posted inWeather
What does climate change have to do with snowstorms?
Michael A. Rawlins, UMass Amherst Bostonians may have grumbled about digging out from almost 2 feet of snow after a historic snowstorm clobbered the Northeast in late January 2022, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. This part of the U.S. has been seeing a lot of storms like this in recent decades. In fact, […]
Posted inWeather
How is snowfall measured? A meteorologist explains how volunteers tally up winter storms
Bill Syrett, Penn State The Blue Hill Observatory, a few miles south of Boston, recorded the deepest snow cover in its 130-year history, an incredible 46 inches, in February 2015. The same month, Bangor, Maine, tied its record for deepest snow at 53 inches. Mountainous locations will sometimes see triple-digit snow depths. Impressive numbers, for […]
Posted inNews, Weather
What is a bomb cyclone? An atmospheric scientist explains
Esther Mullens, University of Florida A bomb cyclone is a large, intense midlatitude storm that has low pressure at its center, weather fronts and an array of associated weather, from blizzards to severe thunderstorms to heavy precipitation. It becomes a bomb when its central pressure decreases very quickly – by at least 24 millibars in […]
Posted inNews
Hurricane Ida: 2 reasons for its record-shattering rainfall in NYC and the Northeast long after the winds weakened
Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University Record downpours from Hurricane Ida overwhelmed cities across the Northeast on Sept. 1, 2021, hitting some with more than 3 inches of rain an hour. Water poured into subway stations in New York City, and streets flooded up to the rooftops of cars in Philadelphia. The storm had already wreaked […]
Posted inCOVID-19
What does full FDA approval of a vaccine do if it’s already authorized for emergency use?
Jennifer Girotto, University of Connecticut Thirty percent of unvaccinated American adults say they’re waiting for the COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized for emergency use to be officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has since granted that approval for those age 16 and older for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Aug. 23, 2021. […]
Posted inNews
How Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts infused one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands with a little jazz
Victor Coelho, Boston University In an era when rock drummers were larger-than-life showmen with big kits and egos to match, Charlie Watts remained the quiet man behind a modest drum set. But Watts wasn’t your typical rock drummer. Part of the Rolling Stones setup from 1963 until his death on Aug. 24, 2021, Watts provided […]
Posted inNews
Hurricane Henri expected to bring dangerous storm surge to Northeast states – but what is storm surge, anyway?
Anthony C. Didlake Jr., Penn State Forecasters warned about the potential for dangerous storm surge as Henri strengthened into a hurricane on a path expected to take its eye over or near New York’s Long Island and into New England on Aug. 22, 2021. The storm was expected to reach the coast at full moon, […]
Posted inCOVID-19
COVID-19 recession: One of America’s deepest downturns was also its shortest after bailout-driven bounceback
Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University Thanks to a roaring economy, plunging joblessness and a consumer spending spree, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the COVID-19 recession is officially over. We didn’t know this, formally, however, until July 19, 2021, when a group of America’s top economists determined that the pandemic recession ended two […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Benjamin Franklin’s fight against a deadly virus: Colonial America was divided over smallpox inoculation, but he championed science to skeptics
Mark Canada, Indiana University Kokomo and Christian Chauret, Indiana University Kokomo Exactly 300 years ago, in 1721, Benjamin Franklin and his fellow American colonists faced a deadly smallpox outbreak. Their varying responses constitute an eerily prescient object lesson for today’s world, similarly devastated by a virus and divided over vaccination three centuries later. As a […]
Posted inNews
Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1 – here’s what forecasters are watching right now
Kristopher Karnauskas, University of Colorado Boulder As summer in the Northern Hemisphere approaches, forecasters begin watching every bout of rainy weather between the Gulf of Mexico and Africa. Each counterclockwise swirl of wind or burst of puffy clouds there has the potential to organize into a life-threatening tropical storm. About half of the tropical storms […]
Posted inCity & Government
How America’s partisan divide over pandemic responses played out in the states
Julie VanDusky-Allen, Boise State University and Olga Shvetsova, Binghamton University, State University of New York Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a partisan divide has existed over the appropriate government response to the public health crisis. Democrats have been more likely to favor stricter policies such as prolonged economic shutdowns, limits on gathering in groups and mask […]
Posted inNews
US approves its first big offshore wind farm, near Martha’s Vineyard – it’s a breakthrough for the industry
Erin Baker, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Matthew Lackner, University of Massachusetts Amherst The United States’ offshore wind industry is tiny, with just seven wind turbines operating off Rhode Island and Virginia. The few attempts to build large-scale wind farms like Europe’s have run into long delays, but that may be about to change. On […]
Posted inNews
Police academies dedicate 3.21% of training hours to ethics and other public service topics – new research
Galia Cohen, Tarleton State University Police academies provide little training in the kinds of skills necessary to meet officers’ growing public service role, according to my research. Highly publicized cases of police violence – such as the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri – often […]
Posted inNews
Johnson & Johnson vaccine suspension – a doctor explains what this means for you
William Petri, University of Virginia The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on April 13, 2021 halted use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that has been given to 6.8 million people in the U.S. The pause is due to reports of blood clotting in six people […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday
Brent Landau, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts The date of Easter, when the resurrection of Jesus is said to have taken place, changes from year to year. The reason for this variation is that Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. […]
Posted inNews
The US just set ambitious offshore wind power targets – what will it take to meet them?
Erin Baker, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Matthew Lackner, University of Massachusetts Amherst The United States’ offshore wind industry is tiny, with just seven wind turbines operating off Rhode Island and Virginia. The few attempts to build large-scale wind farms like Europe’s have run into long delays, but that may be about to change. The […]
Posted inArts & Culture
This Passover, as in the past, will be a time to recognize tragedies and offer hope for the future
Samuel L. Boyd, University of Colorado Boulder Jewish families will gather for Passover this year in circumstances that will, like the celebration itself, reflect on dark times while holding out for better to come. The holiday lasts from the evening of March 27 to the evening of April 4 in 2021. The first two nights […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The truth about St. Patrick’s Day
James Farrelly, University of Dayton In 1997, my students and I traveled to Croagh Patrick, a mountain in County Mayo, as part of a study abroad program course on Irish literature I was teaching for the University of Dayton. I wanted my students to visit the place where, each July, thousands of pilgrims pay homage […]
Posted inNews
January warm spells, March freezes: How plants manage the shift from winter to spring
Richard B. Primack, Boston University Weather patterns across the U.S. have felt like a roller coaster ride for the past several months. December and January were significantly warmer than average in many locations, followed by February’s intense cold wave and a dramatic warmup. If you’ve ever seen lilac bushes crushed by snowdrifts, then budding on […]
Posted inNews
Why ocean pollution is a clear danger to human health
Jacqueline McGlade, UCL and Philip Landrigan, Boston College Ocean pollution is widespread, worsening, and poses a clear and present danger to human health and wellbeing. But the extent of this danger has not been widely comprehended – until now. Our recent study provides the first comprehensive assessment of the impacts of ocean pollution on human […]