The Conversation

As US and Taliban plan to sign accord, Afghanistan must prepare for peace

Written by Elizabeth B. Hessami, Faculty Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University

Taliban fighters surrender their weapons in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2020. Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua via Getty Images

After a week-long truce signed Feb. 22 between the United States and the Taliban appears to have held, a peace deal may finally end Afghanistan’s decades-long conflict.

The accord, slated for signing...

After US and Taliban sign accord, Afghanistan must prepare for peace

Written by Elizabeth B. Hessami, Faculty Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign an agreement ending the US's 18-year war in Afghanistan, Doha, Feb. 29, 2020. GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

The United States has signed a peace deal with the Taliban, an armed insurgency promoting an...

Paying all blood donors might not be worth it

Written by Gretchen Chapman, Professor of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University

The rewards for doing this usually aren't monetary.Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The Abstract features interesting research and the people behind it.

Gretchen Chapman is a decision scientist who explores what makes it more likely that people will get vaccinated or engage in other behaviors that are good for public health. We asked...

What the Trump budget says about the administration's health priorities

Written by Simon F. Haeder, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Pennsylvania State University

President Donald Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2021. AP photo / J. Scott Applewhite

The Trump administration recently released its budget blueprint for the 2021 fiscal year, the first steps in the complex budgetary process.

The final budget will reflect the input of Congress, including the Democratic House of Representatives, and will...

The Culinary Union of Nevada takes a pass on endorsing – here's why that may be a winning political strategy

Written by Ruben J. Garcia, Professor of Law, Co-Director of UNLV Workplace Law Program, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Rather than cooking up a storm, the Culinary's role in the Democratic primary could be a recipe for success.Patrick Semansky/AP Photo

A picket line outside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas proved to be a hot ticket for most Democratic hopefuls aiming to pick up a vote or two ahead of the Nevada caucuses.

Elizabeth Warren turned up with donuts to...

Federal Pell Grants help pay for college – but are they enough to help students finish?

Written by Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of Pennsylvania

Students who rely heavily on financial aid tend to be concentrated in non-selective colleges, new research shows.Ariel Skelly/Getty Images

Pell Grants are one way the federal government helps people pay for college.

During the 2020 to 2021 school year, eligible students can receive up to US$6,345 through the program, depending on where they go to...

Air pollution kills thousands of Americans every year – here's a low-cost strategy to reduce the toll

Written by Jason West, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Reducing fine particle air pollution from petrochemical complexes, like this one near the Houston Ship Channel in Texas, is a low-cost way to lower air pollution mortality.AP Photo/David J. Phillip

About 1 of every 25 deaths in the U.S. occurs prematurely because of exposure to air pollution. Dirty air kills roughly 110,000 Americans yearly, which...

Why do people believe con artists?

Written by Barry M. Mitnick, Professor of Business Administration and of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Would you buy medicine from this man?Carol M. Highsmith/Wikimedia Commons

What is real can seem pretty arbitrary. It’s easy to be fooled by misinformation disguised as news and deepfake videos showing people doing things they never did or said. Inaccurate information – even deliberately wrong information – doesn’t just come...

They're all fabulous and wonderful! How to figure out what's real in an inflated letter of recommendation

Written by Stephen J Ceci, Professor of Human Development, Cornell University

What do you do when every letter says the job candidate is fabulous?Shutterstock/Victoruler

Over the decades that I’ve worked in universities, I’ve watched academic letters of reference become increasingly inflated. And letter inflation goes beyond the academy; friends who hire in business say they, too, have witnessed reference letter...

Nondisclosure and secrecy laws protect Bloomberg – not the women who sued him

Written by Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Oregon

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren had a heated exchange. AP Photo/John Locher

Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received a lot of flak at the Feb. 19 Democratic debate for his refusal to release employees who sued his company from nondisclosure agreements.

He admitted to having a “few...