The Conversation

Pregnancy is an engineering challenge − diagnosing and treating preterm birth requires understanding its mechanics

Written by Melissa Skala, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Studying pregnancy from multiple disciplines could provide new insights.Carol Yepes/Moment via Getty Images

Why are babies born prematurely? Researchers still don’t really know.

Obstetricians are very good at managing the process of birth. But when it comes to predicting whether a baby will be born in a timely manner, the science is still...

Messages can trigger the opposite of their desired effect − but you can avoid communication that backfires

Written by Sherry Seethaler, Director of Education Initiatives, School of Physical Sciences, University of California, San Diego

What makes someone do the opposite of what you're suggesting?skynesher/E+ via Getty Images

The best graduation speeches dispense wisdom you find yourself returning to long after the graduation tassels are turned. Take the feel-good life advice in Baz Luhrmann’s song to a class that graduated 25 years ago. Only on a recent relisten did I...

Trump’s lawyers in lawsuits claiming he won in 2020 are getting punished for abusing courts and making unsupported claims and false statements

Written by Elise J. Bean, Director of the Washington Office of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, Wayne State University

A New York disciplinary authority found that Trump campaign attorney Rudy Giuliani 'communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements' and ordered him suspended from practicing law. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Over the past four years, U.S. courts and state bar associations have taken action to protect the integrity of the U.S. judicial...

Forgetting appointments, deadlines and that call to Mom − the phenomenon of prospective memory and how to improve yours

Written by Sarah Raskin, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College

People tend to lose prospective memory as they age.Malte Mueller/fStop via Getty Images

Have you ever walked into a room and then wondered why you went there?

If you’ve experienced this phenomenon, you’ve had a prospective memory lapse.

Memory usually means remembering things that have already happened. But prospective memory is the...

An American flag, a pencil sharpener − and the 10 Commandments: Louisiana’s new bill to mandate biblical displays in classrooms is the latest to push limits of religion in public schools

Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton

Controversy over displays of the Ten Commandments on government property is nothing new, but only one case about schools has reached the Supreme Court.AP Photo/Dave Martin

Louisiana is not a stranger to controversy over religion in schools. In 2023, it joined almost 20 states that require or allow officials in public schools to post the national...

Scrappy, campy and unabashedly queer, public access TV series of the 1980s and 1990s offered a rare glimpse into LGBTQ+ life

Written by Lauren Herold, Visiting Assistant Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies, Kenyon College

The producers of LGBTQ+ public access series viewed them as a blend of entertainment, art and media activism.AlexLMX/iStock via Getty Images

“Hello to all you lovely lesbians out there! My name is Debbie, and I’m here to show you a few things about taking care of your vaginal health.”

So opens the first “Lesbian...

‘The first wave went through hell’ – how the 16th Infantry Regiment’s heroism helped bring victory on D-Day

Written by Joseph Harris Carpenter, Oral Historian, Department of History, University of Texas at Arlington

Members of E Company of the 16th Infantry Regiment approach the Normandy beaches in the first wave of the D-Day invasion.National Park Service

Among the many Allied military units storming the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944, was the 16th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division. Its members faced a particularly daunting...

Mexico elects first female president − but will that improve the lot of country’s women?

Written by Xavier Medina Vidal, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Arlington

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum celebrates historic win.AP Photo/Marco Ugarte

Mexico will have its first woman president following a landmark vote on June 2, 2024.

After an election period marred by violence, ruling Morena party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor, emerged as the victor with about 60% of the vote – a...

Online shoppers behave differently after chatting with staff of the opposite gender, new research shows – here’s why businesses should be paying attention

Written by Yoonseock Son, Assistant Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations, University of Notre Dame

In a digital world where people are mere pixels on a screen, gender bias can show up in unexpected forms. That’s what our research team found in a field experiment published in the Journal of Operations Management.

When people are online, anonymity and physical detachment embolden them to behave in biased ways, previous work has shown. As...

School boards, long locally focused and nonpartisan, get dragged into the national political culture wars

Written by Kathleen Knight Abowitz, Professor of Educational Leadership, Miami University

The Ann Arbor Public Schools board discusses a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on Jan. 17, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich. AP Photo/Joey Cappelletti

In more than 90% of U.S. public school districts, school board elections are nonpartisan and have been for centuries. But that long tradition may well be changing – and...