The Conversation

To swim like a tuna, robotic fish need to change how stiff their tails are in real time

Written by Daniel Quinn, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia

Researchers have been building robotic fish for years, but the performance has never approached the efficiency of real fish.Daniel Quinn, CC BY-NC

Underwater vehicles haven’t changed much since the submarines of World War II. They’re rigid, fairly boxy and use propellers to move. And whether they are large manned vessels or small...

Americans are in a mental health crisis – especially African Americans. Can churches help?

Written by Brad R. Fulton, Associate Professor, Indiana University

The 160-year-old John Wesley AME Zion Church is one of the few predominantly African American churches that still exists in downtown Washington, D.C.Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Centuries of systemic racism and everyday discrimination in the U.S. have left a major mental health burden on African American communities, and the...

A major new workplace safety initiative targets dangerous heat on the job, but what about chronic heat exposure?

Written by Lynée Turek-Hankins, Ph.D. Student in Environmental Science & Policy, University of Miami

Constructions workers in warm climates are often exposed to dangerous heat.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The summer of 2021 was devilishly hot across much of the U.S. Just five minutes in an attic guest room with no air conditioning could be enough to leave a person drenched in sweat and lightheaded, as one of us discovered during a heat wave in...

A major federal response to occupational extreme heat is here at last

Written by Lynée Turek-Hankins, Ph.D. Student in Environmental Science & Policy, University of Miami

Constructions workers in warm climates are often exposed to dangerous heat.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Britney Spears gets free of father's conservatorship – but many others remain shackled by the easily abused legal arrangement

Written by Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of Virginia

Britney Spears' supporters erupted in cheers after her father was removed as conservator.AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Britney Spears finally got her wish: A judge suspended her dad as conservator, about two and a half months after she told the court that he was ruining her life.

During the Sept. 29, 2021, hearing, Spears’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart,...

US Supreme Court gets set to address abortion, guns and religion

Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

As October begins, the Supreme Court opens its new term.AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

The Supreme Court begins its annual term on Oct. 4, 2021, with a packed agenda highlighted by three claims of violations of constitutional rights. One is about religious rights. A second is about gun rights.

And the biggest case this year is a challenge to abortion...

Havana syndrome fits the pattern of psychosomatic illness – but that doesn't mean the symptoms aren't real

Written by Robert Baloh, Professor of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles

In late 2016, people working and living in the embassy district of Havana, including at the U.S. Embassy seen here, began hearing strange sounds before getting sick. AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

In early September 2021, a CIA agent was evacuated from Serbia in the latest case of what the world now knows as “Havana syndrome.”

Like most people,...

As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in

Written by Paul Chinowsky, Professor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder

Climate change means more schools will need to install or upgrade cooling systems.Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure such as water...

50 years ago, the first CT scan let doctors see inside a living skull – thanks to an eccentric engineer at the Beatles' record company

Written by Edmund S. Higgins, Affiliate Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina

Godfrey Hounsfield stands beside the EMI-Scanner in 1972. PA Images via Getty Images

The possibility of precious objects hidden in secret chambers can really ignite the imagination. In the mid-1960s, British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield pondered whether one could detect hidden areas in Egyptian pyramids by capturing cosmic rays that passed through...

Why charter schools are not as 'public' as they claim to be

Written by Kevin Welner, Professor, Education Policy & Law; Director, National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Boulder

Charter school enrollment reportedly grew 7% during the pandemic.FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images

Proponents of charter schools insist that they are public schools “open to all students.” But the truth is more nuanced. As an education policy researcher – and as author of a new book about charter schools I wrote with fellow researcher W...