Origins of Russia's oligarchs + a DIY air filtration system | Top 5

+ restraining Russian nukes US Edition - Today's top story: Meet Russia’s oligarchs, a group of men who won't be toppling Putin anytime soon [View in browser]( US Edition | 13 March 2022 [The Conversation]( Welcome to Sunday! The top five stories on our website this week are displayed below. Friday marked the two-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of the coronavirus. I remember sitting in a crowded cafe near Boston University two months earlier while editing one of the first articles we published on the topic. I was struggling with unfamiliar terms like “novel coronavirus” and double-checking the spelling of “Wuhan.” Even then, the story felt important and a little frightening, yet few could have predicted the power the virus that causes COVID-19 would have to change the world over the next 24 months. Our team learned along with our readers as we worked with experts to explain emerging science related to the virus and related topics like [mRNA technology](, [Zoom fatigue](, the [fragility of global supply chains]( and the [importance of grief]( and [joy](. In the past two years, The Conversation’s global network has [produced 11,523 articles about the coronavirus](. Of those, 1,599 originated with our U.S. newsroom of about 15 editors. Picking just one piece from that ocean of content is impossible, but I would like to share one of our early pieces – published just two weeks after the discovery of COVID-19 and five weeks before that WHO pandemic declaration. In it, Maciej F. Boni, a Penn State biologist, clearly [assesses the scant evidence available that that early stage]( and poses questions that are still with us today, like: “How much effort should public health officials put into containment, quarantine and isolation activities?” Emily Costello Managing Editor Putin has kept most oligarchs at a distance – literally and figuratively. Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images [Meet Russia’s oligarchs, a group of men who won’t be toppling Putin anytime soon]( Stanislav Markus, University of South Carolina An expert on oligarchs explains how they came to be Russia’s richest and most powerful people and scrutinizes their relationship with Putin. Memorial tanks at the Ukrainian Motherland Monument in Kyiv. Madeleine Kelly/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images [Why did Russia invade Ukraine?]( Kathryn David, Vanderbilt University Who are the Ukrainians and when were they part of the same empire as Russia? A scholar answers basic questions on war in Ukraine. - [Would Putin use nuclear weapons? An arms control expert explains what has and hasn’t changed since the invasion of Ukraine]( Miles A. Pomper, Middlebury Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats have the world on edge, but so far, long-standing arms control measures have helped keep the situation from getting out of control. - [Your chances of getting rid of student loan debt depend on who you are]( Kelsey Lynne Hess, Florida International University; Andrea C. F. Wolfs, Plymouth State University; Deborah Goldfarb, Florida International University; Jacqueline R. Evans, Florida International University When researchers examined the outcomes for cases to discharge student loan debt, they found that judges are often biased against people based on their gender and other factors. - [How a nondescript box has been saving lives during the pandemic – and revealing the power of grassroots innovation]( Douglas Hannah, Boston University 3D printers got a lot of attention when DIYers leapt to action to address equipment shortages early in the pandemic, but some everyday items found in hardware stores played a big role, too. Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails: [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( Enjoy reading The Conversation? Share us with your three closest friends: [Click here to share](mailto:Insert%20your%20friends%27%20emails?subject=Check%20out%20The%20Conversation&body=I%27ve%20been%20reading%20this%20fact-based%20news%20source,%20and%20definitely%20think%20you’d%20find%20it%20interesting%20as%20well.%20It%20has%20academic%20experts%20writing%20understandably%20about%20stories%20in%20the%20news,%20based%20on%20their%20research.%20I%20learn%20something%20new%20every%20time%20I%20read%20it.%0D%0DYou%20can%20check%20it%20out%20here:%20%0D About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](