The situation in the Middle East has heated up considerably this week. Iranian forces based in Syria launched rockets attacks against Israel; the Israelis responded by sending jets into Syria to take out Iranian targets. Today in The Conversation Canada, Michael Armstrong of Brock University writes about his research into Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system – but also about how bomb shelters are still very effective in saving lives.

It’s been several weeks since the Toronto van attacks, but Roberta K. Timothy of York University looks at another element of this tragic event: would the accused driver of the van been captured alive by police if he had been Black or Indigenous?

Pallavi Banerjee of the University of Calgary explains why Donald Trump’s move to crack down on temporary skilled workers in the U.S. disproportionately harms women and people of colour.

And finally, when you imagine life in another universe, what do you think of? What if something out there is like nothing we’ve ever imagined? Michael P. Oman-Reagan of Memorial University looks at how Artificial Intelligence could help humans search for “alien intelligence in ways we haven’t even thought of yet.”

Regards,