The Conversation

Alabama’s execution problems are part of a long history of botched lethal injections

Written by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

In some cases, death row inmates have been strapped to the gurney for hours.AP Photo/Sue Ogrock

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has announced a pause in her state’s use of capital punishment. It follows a run of botched lethal injection executions in the state, including two where the procedure had to be abandoned before the inmates succumbed to the...

'Y'all,' that most Southern of Southernisms, is going mainstream – and it's about time

Written by David B. Parker, Professor of History, Kennesaw State University

A sign encourages people to vote in Charlotte, N.C., ahead of the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Southern Living magazine once described “y’all” as “the quintessential Southern pronoun.” It’s as iconically Southern as sweet tea and grits.

While “y’all” is considered slang,...

Is China ready to lead on protecting nature? At the upcoming UN biodiversity conference, it will preside and set the tone

Written by Vanessa Hull, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida

Four Père David's deer (_Elaphurus davidianus_), also known as milu deer, on a wetland near the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu Province, China. He Jinghua/VCG via Getty Images

As the world parses what was achieved at the U.N. climate change conference in Egypt, negotiators are convening in Montreal to set goals for curbing...

Graphene is a proven supermaterial, but manufacturing the versatile form of carbon at usable scales remains a challenge

Written by Kevin Wyss, PhD Student in Chemistry, Rice University

Graphene has many incredible physical properties that arise from its one-atom-thick carbon structure.AlexanderAlUS/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

“Future chips may be 10 times faster, all thanks to graphene”; “Graphene may be used in COVID-19 detection”; and “Graphene allows batteries to charge 5x faster” –...

Still recovering from COVID-19, US public transit tries to get back on track

Written by Kari Edison Watkins, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis

Ridership on public transit had been declining even before the spread of the virus.Leo Patrizi/E+ via Getty Images

U.S. commuters take approximately 10 billion trips on public transit every year. SciLine asked Kari Watkins, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis, what cities can do to...

We're decoding ancient hurricanes' traces on the sea floor – and evidence from millennia of Atlantic storms is not good news for the coast

Written by Tyler Winkler, Postdoctoral Researcher in Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Deep 'blue holes,' like this one off Belize, can collect evidence of hurricanes.The TerraMar Project, CC BY

If you look back at the history of Atlantic hurricanes since the late 1800s, it might seem hurricane frequency is on the rise.

The year 2020 had the most tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, with 31, and 2021 had the third-highest, after 2005....

This course takes a broad look at failure – and what we can all learn when it occurs

Written by Robert Kunzman, Professor of Curriculum Studies and Philosophy of Education, Indiana University

Failure can be helpful if it's understood correctly.Maria Korneeva via Getty Images

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

Title of course:

“Failure, and How We Can Learn from It”

What prompted the idea for the course?

When I was a high school teacher, I found...

How can you tell if something is true? Here are 3 questions to ask yourself about what you see, hear and read

Written by Bob Britten, Teaching Associate Professor of Media, West Virginia University

Emotions can get in the way of knowing what’s true.Elva Etienne/Moment via Getty Images

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.

How can I tell if what I am hearing is true? – Adam, age 10, Maui, Hawaii

Have you ever heard...

Celebrities in politics have a leg up, but their advantages can't top fundraising failures

Written by Richard T. Longoria, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Mehmet Oz speaks on Nov. 8, 2022, shortly before losing his bid for Pennsylvania senator during the midterm elections. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

TV personality Mehmet Oz lost his bid for Pennsylvania senator during the November midterms. And former NFL football star Herschel Walker appears to be falling further behind his opponent, incumbent...

Treating mental illness with electricity marries old ideas with modern tech and understanding of the brain – podcast

Written by Daniel Merino, Assistant Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

In deep brain stimulation, electrodes – the pale white lines – are implanted into a patient's brain and connected to a battery in a person's chest. Jmarchn/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Mental illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and addiction are notoriously hard to treat and often don’t respond to drugs. But...