Empty office spaces can be converted to residential buildings – but it won't be affordable

With many employers switching to remote work, two engineering experts explain the feasibility of converting office buildings to residential spaces.

Leah Mo, Assistant Professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University • conversation
July 14, 2023 ~9 min

Curing America's loneliness epidemic would make us healthier, fitter and less likely to abuse drugs

At least half of surveyed US adults experienced loneliness and social isolation.

Clay Marsh, Chancellor and Executive Dean for Health Sciences, West Virginia University • conversation
July 14, 2023 ~8 min


Tuberculosis on the rise for first time in decades after COVID-19 interrupted public health interventions and increased inequality

Tuberculosis is a preventable and curable disease, yet before the pandemic, it killed more people than any other infectious disease.

Carlos Franco-Paredes, Associate Faculty Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Colorado State University • conversation
July 7, 2023 ~8 min

AI is an existential threat – just not the way you think

From open letters to congressional testimony, some AI leaders have stoked fears that the technology is a direct threat to humanity. The reality is less dramatic but perhaps more insidious.

Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy and Director, Applied Ethics Center, UMass Boston • conversation
July 5, 2023 ~8 min

More than 1.5 million Americans lost Medicaid coverage in the spring of 2023 due to the end of pandemic policies – and paperwork problems

The health coverage program’s enrollment soared during the three years after March 2020 due to temporary policies adopted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maithreyi Gopalan, Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy, Penn State • conversation
June 23, 2023 ~4 min

96.4% of Americans had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood by fall 2022

There’s pretty much no one left in the US who hasn’t been exposed to the coronavirus, whether by vaccination, infection or both.

Derek Cummings, Professor of Biology, the Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida • conversation
June 15, 2023 ~5 min

Annual numbers of excess deaths in the US relative to other developed countries are growing at an alarming rate

New research shows that preventable deaths are increasing in the US at the same time that life expectancy keeps dropping.

Patrick Heuveline, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles • conversation
June 13, 2023 ~6 min

While humans were in strict lockdown, wild mammals roamed further – new research

Researchers tracked 2,300 wild mammals during the strict 2020 lockdowns and found they moved 73% further than in the previous year.

Robert Patchett, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Covid-19 Bio-Logging Initiative, University of St Andrews • conversation
June 8, 2023 ~6 min


Pivotal points in the COVID-19 pandemic – 5 essential reads

With the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, at least for now, we look back on a handful of stories that provided sharp insights at key moments in the pandemic.

Amanda Mascarelli, Senior Health and Medicine Editor • conversation
May 17, 2023 ~9 min

What does ending the emergency status of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US mean in practice? 4 questions answered

The emergency status allowed the federal government to cut through a mountain of red tape, with the goal of responding to the pandemic more efficiently.

Amy Lauren Fairchild, Dean and Professor of Public Health, The Ohio State University • conversation
May 10, 2023 ~11 min

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