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Separate water fountains for Black people still stand in the South – thinly veiled monuments to the long, strange, dehumanizing history of segregation

  • Written by Rodney Coates, Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Miami University
imageIn this 1938 image, a Black boy uses a fountain marked 'colored' at a North Carolina county courthouse.Getty Images

No one knows for certain when public facilities like bathrooms and drinking fountains were separated by race.

But starting in the 1890s, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized “separate but equal” in P...

Read more: Separate water fountains for Black people still stand in the South – thinly veiled monuments to...

How politicians can draw fairer election districts − the same way parents make kids fairly split a piece of cake

  • Written by Benjamin Schneer, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
imageUnchecked, politicians are likely to try to grab as much electoral power as they can.Fabrice LEROUGE/ONOKY via Getty Images

Redistricting – the process of determining the boundaries of election districts in which people vote – is a key element of politics that has more of an effect than people might realize. One Republican political...

Read more: How politicians can draw fairer election districts − the same way parents make kids fairly split a...

Nikki Haley insists she can lose South Carolina and still get the nomination – but that would defy history

  • Written by Charles R. Hunt, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boise State University
imageNikki Haley greets supporters at a campaign stop in Aiken, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2024.Allison Joyce /AFP via Getty Images

Former South Carolina governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, a Republican, has lost the first four presidential primary contests, but has vowed to stay in the race for the foreseeable future. Haley seems to be counting...

Read more: Nikki Haley insists she can lose South Carolina and still get the nomination – but that would defy...

How Lula’s big-tent pragmatism won over Brazil again – with a little help from a backlash to Bolsonaro

  • Written by Anthony Pereira, Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University
imageBrazilian President Lula greets journalists, in Brasilia, one year after rioters stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court buildings.AP Photo/Eraldo Peres

A year is a long time in Brazilian politics.

When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva assumed office in Brazil for a third time in January 2023, many observers were pessimistic about...

Read more: How Lula’s big-tent pragmatism won over Brazil again – with a little help from a backlash to...

Nearly 2 million Americans are using kratom yearly, but it is banned in multiple states: A pharmacologist explains the controversy

  • Written by C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut
imageKratom products are sold online and at smoke shops and gas stations, like this one in Lone Tree, Colo.Amanda Mascarelli

The herbal substance kratom, derived from the leaves of a Southeast Asian tree, is used by nearly 2 million people in the United States annually. It can be easily purchased at gas stations and convenience stores, smoke shops and...

Read more: Nearly 2 million Americans are using kratom yearly, but it is banned in multiple states: A...

FAFSA website meltdown: How to avoid additional frustration with financial aid applications

  • Written by Dawn Medley, Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management, Drexel University
imageSome colleges are extending the traditional May 1 deadline for students to accept offers.valentinrussanov via Getty Images

When Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020, it was touted as making it easier for more families to access the government funding they need to send their children to college. But as recent events have shown, it...

Read more: FAFSA website meltdown: How to avoid additional frustration with financial aid applications

Why does a leap year have 366 days?

  • Written by Bhagya Subrayan, PhD Student in Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University
imageLeap Day is coming.Marvin Samuel Tolentino Pineda/iStock, via Getty imagesimage

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why does a leap year have 366 days? Does the Earth move slower every four years? – Aarush, age 8, Milpitas,...

Read more: Why does a leap year have 366 days?

Is Russia looking to put nukes in space? Doing so would undermine global stability and ignite an anti-satellite arms race

  • Written by Spenser A. Warren, Postdoctoral Fellow in Technology and International Security, University of California, San Diego

Fresh U.S. intelligence circulating in Congress reportedly indicates that Russia is developing an anti-satellite weapon in space with a nuclear component.

News reports speculating about what the weapon could be abounded after Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, released a cryptic but alarming statement on Feb. 14,...

Read more: Is Russia looking to put nukes in space? Doing so would undermine global stability and ignite an...

Navalny dies in prison − but his blueprint for anti-Putin activism will live on

  • Written by Regina Smyth, Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
imageThe legacy of Alexei Navalny lives on.Ian Langsdon/AFP via Getty Images

Long lines of Russians endured subzero temperatures in January 2024 to demand that anti-Ukraine war candidate Boris Nadezhdin be allowed to run in the forthcoming presidential election. It was protest by petition – a tactic that reflects the legacy of Alexei Navalny, the...

Read more: Navalny dies in prison − but his blueprint for anti-Putin activism will live on

How tax breaks strangle American schools − billions of dollars that could help students vanish from budgets, especially hurting districts that serve poor students

  • Written by Christine Wen, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, Texas A&M University

At James Elementary in Kansas City, Missouri, principal Marjorie Mayes escorts a visitor to a classroom with exposed brick walls and pipes. Bubbling paint mars some walls, evidence of leaks spreading inside the aging building.

“It’s living history,” Mayes said. “Not the kind of living history we want.”

The district...

Read more: How tax breaks strangle American schools − billions of dollars that could help students vanish...

More Articles ...

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  2. What’s behind the astonishing rise in LGBTQ+ romance literature?
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  4. Mexico is suing US gun-makers for arming its gangs − and a US court could award billions in damages
  5. As a rabbi, philosopher and physician, Maimonides wrestled with religion and reason – the book he wrote to reconcile them, ‘Guide to the Perplexed,’ has sparked debate ever since
  6. Candidates’ aging brains are factors in the presidential race − 4 essential reads
  7. A Bronx school district offers lessons in boosting student mental health
  8. Text with us and get one great link every day
  9. Children are expensive – not just for parents, but the environment – so how many is too many?
  10. Israeli siege has placed Gazans at risk of starvation − prewar policies made them vulnerable in the first place
  11. Stock indexes are breaking records and crossing milestones – making many investors feel wealthier
  12. Students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students
  13. Bacteria in your gut can improve your mood − new research in mice tries to zero in on the crucial strains
  14. Why the United States needs NATO – 3 things to know
  15. Turkey will stop sending imams to German mosques – here’s why this matters
  16. For graffiti artists, abandoned skyscrapers in Miami and Los Angeles become a canvas for regular people to be seen and heard
  17. ‘It is hijacking my brain’ – a team of experts found ways to help young people addicted to social media to cut the craving
  18. Nitazenes are a powerful class of street drugs emerging across the US
  19. Gold, silver and lithium mining on federal land doesn’t bring in any royalties to the US Treasury – because of an 1872 law
  20. Several companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issues
  21. Don’t let ‘FDA-approved’ or ‘patented’ in ads give you a false sense of security
  22. We designed wormlike, limbless robots that navigate obstacle courses − they could be used for search and rescue one day
  23. Bringing AI up to speed – autonomous auto racing promises safer driverless cars on the road
  24. Real-world experiments in messaging show that getting low-income people the help they need is more effective when stigma is reduced
  25. Revving up tourism: Formula One and other big events look set to drive growth in the hospitality industry
  26. Back in the day, being woke meant being smart
  27. Who will be picked for vice president? Let’s discuss who’s qualified for the job
  28. Recognizing when someone is having a seizure – and how you can help during those first critical moments
  29. Wildlife selfies harm animals − even when scientists share images with warnings in the captions
  30. Mayorkas impeached: Is Congress on a witch hunt? 5 ways to judge whether oversight is legitimate or politicized
  31. Immigrants do work that might not otherwise get done – bolstering the US economy
  32. Why is free time still so elusive?
  33. Saving the news media means moving beyond the benevolence of billionaires
  34. Electric vehicles are suddenly hot − but the industry has traveled a long road to relevance
  35. Why having human remains land on the Moon poses difficult questions for members of several religions
  36. Global health research suffers from a power imbalance − decolonizing mentorship can help level the playing field
  37. Immigration reform has always been tough, and rarely happens in election years - 4 things to know
  38. In the face of severe challenges, democracy is under stress – but still supported – across Latin America and the Caribbean
  39. Philadelphia hopes year-round schooling can catch kids up to grade level – will it make a difference?
  40. Flowers grown floating on polluted waterways can help clean up nutrient runoff and turn a profit
  41. Our robot harvests cotton by reaching out and plucking it, like a lizard’s tongue snatching flies
  42. Early polls can offer some insight into candidates’ weak points – but are extremely imprecise
  43. Are you really in love? How expanding your love lexicon can change your relationships and how you see yourself
  44. AI ‘companions’ promise to combat loneliness, but history shows the dangers of one-way relationships
  45. Family caregivers face financial burdens, isolation and limited resources − a social worker explains how to improve quality of life for this growing population
  46. A brief history of Dearborn, Michigan – the first Arab-American majority city in the US
  47. Can anyone make a citizen’s arrest? The history and legalities of catching criminals yourself
  48. Lorne Michaels, the man behind the curtain at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ has been minting comedy gold for nearly 50 years
  49. Are you seeing news reports of voting problems? 4 essential reads on election disinformation
  50. Pakistan’s post-election crisis – how anti-army vote may deliver an unstable government that falls into the military’s hands