The Conversation

What is COP26? Here's how global climate negotiations work and what's expected from the Glasgow summit

Written by Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, University of Dayton Human Rights Center, University of Dayton

U.N. climate summits bring together representatives of almost every country.UNFCCC

Over two weeks in November, world leaders and national negotiators will meet in Scotland to discuss what to do about climate change. It’s a complex process that can be hard to make sense of from the outside, but it’s how international law and institutions...

Short-sleepers are more likely to suffer from irregular and heavy periods

Written by Kat Kennedy, PhD Student, Physiology, University of Arizona

Menstrual periods can disturb sleep, but sleep troubles can worsen menstrual symptoms.Catherine McQueen/Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Menstruating women who sleep less than six hours a night tend to suffer heavier and irregular periods. That is the conclusion from our new study, which...

Drácula, el enfermo: cómo nació el mito del vampiro

Written by Stanley Stepanic, Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Virginia

Modern vampires like Dracula may be dashing, but they certainly weren't in the original vampire myths.Archive Photos/ Moviepix via Getty Images

El vampiro es una imagen común en la cultura pop actual que adopta muchas formas: desde Alucard, el gallardo engendro de Drácula en el juego de PlayStation “Castlevania: Symphony of the...

Cities worldwide aren't adapting to climate change quickly enough

Written by John Rennie Short, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Flooding is seen in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia after the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Sept. 2, 2021. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Climate change is magnifying threats such as flooding, wildfires, tropical storms and drought. In 2020 the U.S. experienced a record-breaking 22 weather and climate disasters that each caused at least US$1 billion in...

Future of college will involve fewer professors

Written by Patricia A. Young, Professor of Literacy, Culture and Instructional Design & Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Some colleges and universities may be using AI technology to help teach their students. skynesher/E+ via Getty Images

At a large private university in Northern California, a business professor uses an avatar to lecture on a virtual stage.

Meanwhile, at a Southern university, graduate students in an artificial intelligence course discover that one of...

How ideas from ancient Greek philosophy may have driven civilization toward climate change

Written by Michael Paul Nelson, Professor of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, Oregon State University

Firefighters and residents battle a blaze in hot, dry conditions in Athens, Greece, in August 2021.AP Photo/Petros Karadjias

Wildfires driven by increasing winds and unprecedented heat surrounded Athens, Greece, this past summer, blanketing its ancient marble monuments and olive groves with ash and acrid smoke. These are the same places where...

Can Facebook’s smart glasses be smart about security and privacy?

Written by Apu Kapadia, Professor of Computer Science, Indiana University

Is he looking at you or looking at personal information about you?CSA Images via Getty Images

Facebook’s recently announced Ray-Ban Stories glasses, which have two cameras and three microphones built in, are in the news again.

Facebook has kicked off a worldwide project dubbed Ego4D to research new uses for smart glasses.

Ray-Ban Stories...

Trailblazing women who broke into engineering in the 1970s reflect on what's changed – and what hasn't

Written by Laura Ettinger, Associate Professor of History, Clarkson University

Women who got their start in the male-dominated profession 40 years ago have advice for today's newcomers in STEM.Contributor/Denver Post via Getty Images

Engineering in the U.S. has long been – and continues to be – a male-dominated profession. Fifty years ago, it looked like that might change.

In 1970, the percentage of women majoring...

Wiccans in the US military are mourning the dead in Afghanistan this year as they mark Samhain, the original Halloween

Written by Helen A. Berger, Affliate Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University

The Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary does a ritual of remembrance at the grave of a Wiccan soldier killed in Afghanistan.Courtesy of Selena Fox, CC BY-NC

For most Americans, Halloween is a fun holiday when homes are decorated with symbols of the supernatural – witches, goblins and spirits – and costumed children go door to door...

Smells like witch spirit: How the ancient world’s scented sorceresses influence ideas about magic today

Written by Britta Ager, Assistant Professor of Classics, Arizona State University

Perfumes, potions and witches have been entwined for centuries.Frederick Stuart Church/Smithsonian American Art Museum/Wikimedia Commons

Most perfume ads suggest that the right scent can make you sexy, alluring and successful. A blend by Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, meanwhile, offers to make you smell like Hecate, the three-faced Greek goddess of...