The Conversation

Mac at 40: User experience was the innovation that launched a technology revolution

Written by Jacob O. Wobbrock, Professor of Information, University of Washington

The original Macintosh computer may seem quaint today, but the way users interacted with it triggered a revolution 40 years ago. Mark Mathosian/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Technology innovation requires solving hard technical problems, right? Well, yes. And no. As the Apple Macintosh turns 40, what began as Apple prioritizing the squishy concept of...

Face recognition technology follows a long analog history of surveillance and control based on identifying physical features

Written by Sharrona Pearl, Associate Professor of Bioethics and History, Drexel University

Today's technology advances what passport control has been doing for more than a century.ullstein bild via Getty Images

American Amara Majeed was accused of terrorism by the Sri Lankan police in 2019. Robert Williams was arrested outside his house in Detroit and detained in jail for 18 hours for allegedly stealing watches in 2020. Randal Reid spent...

Boeing door plug blowout highlights a possible crisis of competence − an aircraft safety expert explains

Written by Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, Assistant Professor of Aviation, University of North Dakota

An investigator examines the frame of a Boeing aircraft whose door plug blew out in flight.National Transportation Safety Board via AP

In the wake of the in-flight blowout of the side of a Boeing 737 Max 9, federal regulators have grounded planes and are stepping up scrutiny of Boeing’s manufacturing process.

The Jan. 5, 2024, explosive...

The US is struggling to handle an immigration surge – here's how Europe is dealing with its own influx

Written by Tara Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy, Tufts University

Workers from the Spanish nonprofit Open Waters rescue 178 migrants from different countries, off the coast of Italy in September 2023. Jose Colon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As record-high numbers of undocumented migrants cross the United States-Mexico border illegally, one key question is how the U.S. got into this situation, and what lessons...

I’m an artist using scientific data as an artistic medium − here’s how I make meaning

Written by Sarah Nance, Assistant Professor of Integrated Practice in Art and Design, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Sarah Nance at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, 2019.Courtesy of Sarah Nance

As an artist working across media, I’ve used everything from thread to my voice to poetically translate and express information. Recently, I’ve been working with another medium – geologic datasets.

While scientists use data visualization to show the...

The US is struggling to handle an immigration surge – here’s how Europe is dealing with its own influx

Written by Tara Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy, Tufts University

Workers from the Spanish nonprofit Open Waters rescue 178 migrants from different countries, off the coast of Italy in September 2023. Jose Colon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As record-high numbers of undocumented migrants cross the United States-Mexico border illegally, one key question is how the U.S. got into this situation, and what lessons...

Latin America's colonial period was far less Catholic than it might seem − despite the Inquisition's attempts to police religion

Written by Diego Javier Luis, Assistant Professor of History, Tufts University

One of the most pervasive myths about colonial Latin American society is that it was Catholic, full stop.

It’s a familiar story: As history books tell it, the Europeans brought their religion to the New World, and none were as zealous in their attempts to convert Indigenous people as the Spaniards. Indeed, in the Spanish view, the quest to...

Students in this course learn the art of the apology

Written by Nancy E. Berg, Professor of comparative literature, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Sorry: The art and literature of the apology

What prompted the idea for the course?

A number of years ago our students and faculty read Eula Biss’ book “Notes from No Man’s Land” for our...

Old forests are critically important for slowing climate change and merit immediate protection from logging

Written by Beverly Law, Professor Emeritus of Global Change Biology and Terrestrial Systems Science, Oregon State University

An old-growth forest of noble fir trees at Marys Peak in Oregon's Coast Range.Beverly Law, CC BY-ND

Forests are an essential part of Earth’s operating system. They reduce the buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and land degradation by 30% each year. This slows global temperature...

Beijing may have brokered a fragile truce in northern Myanmar – but it can't mask China's inability to influence warring parties

Written by Tharaphi Than, Associate Professor of World Cultures and Languages, Northern Illinois University

Members of the rebel Ta'ang National Liberation Army standing guard in Shan state, Myanmar.STR/AFP via Getty Images

A shaky agreement to end fighting in northern Myanmar has served to highlight concerns in Beijing over the ongoing unrest – and the limits of China’s power to influence the ongoing civil war.

On Jan. 12, 2024, China...