The Conversation

Prenatal supplements largely lack the recommended amount of omega-3 fatty acids to help prevent preterm birth − new research

Written by Mary Scourboutakos, Family Medicine Resident and Nutrition Expert, Eastern Virginia Medical School

Few women of childbearing age consume adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.Caroline Purser/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Most prenatal supplements lack the amount of omega-3 fatty acids that could help prevent preterm birth, meaning delivery before 37 weeks’ gestation. This is a key finding of a new study, published by my team, in the...

Supreme Court could narrow the scope of federal environmental reviews, with less consideration of how projects would contribute to climate change

Written by J.B. Ruhl, Professor of Law, Director, Program on Law and Innovation, and Co-director, Energy, Environment and Land Use Program, Vanderbilt University

NEPA reviews are a tool for informing the public about how major federal actions could affect the environment.May Lim / 500px via Getty Images

In the 1993 movie “Jurassic Park,” Dr. Ian Malcolm, a fictional math genius specializing in chaos theory, explains the “butterfly effect,” which holds that tiny actions can lead to...

Water fluoridation helps prevent tooth decay – how growing opposition threatens a 70-year-old health practice

Written by Amal Noureldin, Clinical Professor of Cariology, Prevention and Restorative Dentistry, Texas A&M University

Fluoride is a mineral found in water that strengthens teeth and helps prevent cavities.vitapix/E+ via Getty Images

Driving through downtown Dallas, you might see a striking banner hanging at the U-turn bridge, near the Walnut Hill exit on Central Expressway (US 75): “Stop Fluoridation!” Below it, other banners demand action and warn of...

Notre Dame reopens in Paris 5 years after fire – its reconstruction preserves the past and illuminates France’s modern ambitions

Written by Irit Kleiman, Associate Professor of Romance Studies, Boston University

Onlookers watch Notre Dame Cathedral burn on April 14, 2019.Photo by Eric BOUVET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Parisians navigating the narrow streets of the 4th arrondissement in recent days may have heard a familiar, yet nearly forgotten, sound. The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral have been ringing again after nearly five years, in preparation for...

America’s counties are less purple than they used to be

Written by Robert J. Vanderbei, Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, Princeton University

Looking at county election results shows the geography of America's partisan divide.Robert Vanderbei

The United States isn’t mostly red or mostly blue. It’s mostly purple. That’s what I’ve learned from a quarter-century of making maps based on the results of presidential elections.

The country is, however, becoming more...

AI Jesus might ‘listen’ to your confession, but it can’t absolve your sins − a scholar of Catholicism explains

Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

Visitors were invited to pose questions to the AI Jesus, viewed on a monitor behind a latticework screen.Courtesy of the Catholic Church of the City of Lucerne, CC BY

This autumn, a Swiss Catholic church installed an AI Jesus in a confessional to interact with visitors.

The installation was a two-month project in religion, technology and art titled...

One’s a Hugh Grant thriller, one’s a hot-mess reality show – and both center on stereotypes about Mormon women

Written by Rebecca Janzen, Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

Two missionaries' visit to a potential convert's home goes awry in 'Heretic.' A24 via IMDB

I don’t often watch movies in a theater, let alone horror films. But a few weeks ago, I found myself watching “Heretic,” which intrigued me for personal and professional reasons.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s I watched many romantic...

Is masculine anxiety spurring support for Trump among Gen Z?

Written by Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor

For the past few years, right-wing media have argued that the U.S. is plagued by a masculinity crisis, whether it’s former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson warning of collapsing testosterone levels in his 2022 documentary “The End of Men” or Sen. Josh Hawley decrying what he called the left’s project to...

How right-wing media is like improv theater

Written by Danielle Lee Tomson, Research Manager, Center for an Informed Public, University of Washington

Podcaster Theo Von, left, President-elect Donald Trump and podcaster Joe Rogan, right, are improv players in right-wing media.AP Photo

If you’ve ever wondered how the right-wing media ecosystem operates and why it’s effective, try viewing it as a form of improvisational theater or improv.

In the wake of the 2024 U.S. elections, everyday...

What South Korea’s short-lived martial law says about nation’s democracy and the autocratic tendencies of President Yoon

Written by Myunghee Lee, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University

A man holds the South Korean flag outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 4, 2024, after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law.Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

During a whirlwind few hours in South Korean politics, President Yoon Suk Yeol placed the country under martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, only to lift it just a short...