The Conversation

Climate change matters to more and more people – and could be a deciding factor in the 2024 election

Written by Matt Burgess, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Young people demonstrate ahead of a climate summit in New York in September 2023. Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

If you ask American voters what their top issues are, most will point to kitchen-table issues like the economy, inflation, crime, health care or education.

Fewer than 5% of respondents in 2023 and 2024 Gallup surveys said...

Pennsylvania overhauled its sentencing guidelines to be more fair and consistent − but racial disparities may not disappear so soon

Written by C. Clare Strange, Assistant Research Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, Drexel University

According to the state's new guidelines, juvenile convictions that are 10 years or older should no longer be considered when determining a person's sentence.Seksan Mongkhonkhamsao via Getty Images

Pennsylvania’s new sentencing guidelines went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. They mark the eighth iteration since the state first introduced such...

3 things to watch for in Russia’s presidential election – other than Putin’s win, that is

Written by Adam Lenton, Assistant Professor of Politics & International Affairs, Wake Forest University

Russians will vote in a presidential election from March 15-17, 2024, and are all but guaranteed to hand Vladimir Putin a comfortable victory, paving the way for him to remain in power until at least 2030.

While the result may be a foregone conclusion, the election offers an important glimpse into the Kremlin’s domestic challenges as it...

Solar power occupies a lot of space – here’s how to make it more ecologically beneficial to the land it sits on

Written by Matthew Sturchio, PhD Student in Plant and Ecosystem Ecology, Colorado State University

Solar panels shade grassland at Jack's Solar Garden, an agrovoltaic farm in Longmont, Colo.Matthew Sturchio, CC BY-ND

As societies look for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, large-scale solar power is playing a central role. Climate scientists view it as the tool with the greatest potential to reduce carbon dioxide...

Growing secrecy limits government accountability

Written by David Cuillier, Director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida

When government officials block access to information, the public suffers.fstop123/E+ via Getty Images

When I started covering crime as a reporter for small newspapers in the 1980s, I was assigned to walk to the police department lobby each morning and look through all of the previous day’s police reports, clipped to a board on the counter,...

Yes, sexism among Republican voters helped sink Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign

Written by Tatishe Nteta, Provost Professor of Political Science and Director of the UMass Amherst Poll, UMass Amherst

Donald Trump supporters drive by a rally for Nikki Haley on Feb.1, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Following multiple defeats in the Republican presidential primary, including in her home state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley suspended her bid for the Republican presidential nomination on March 6, 2024.

Barring unforeseen events,...

What is the Japanese ‘wabi-sabi’ aesthetic actually about? ‘Miserable tea’ and loneliness, for starters

Written by Paul S. Atkins, Professor of Japanese, University of Washington

A perfectly imperfect tea bowl.Zen Rial/Moment via Getty Images

On a recent visit to New York I stopped at a Japanese bookstore in Manhattan. Among the English-language books about Japan, I encountered a section of a shelf marked “WABI-SABI” and stocked with titles such as “Wabi Sabi Love,” “The Wabi-Sabi Way,”...

Salty foods are making people sick − in part by poisoning their microbiomes

Written by Christopher Damman, Associate Professor of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, University of Washington

Salt has taken over many diets worldwide -- some more than others.ATU Images/The Image Bank via Getty Images

People have been using salt since the dawn of civilization to process, preserve and enhance foods. In ancient Rome, salt was so central to commerce that soldiers were paid their “salarium,” or salaries, in salt, for instance.

Salt...

NASA’s search for life on Mars: a rocky road for its rovers, a long slog for scientists – and back on Earth, a battle of the budget

Written by Amy J. Williams, Assistant Professor of Geology, University of Florida

Is or was there life on Mars? That profound question is so complex that it will not be fully answered by the two NASA rovers now exploring it.

But because of the literal groundwork the rovers are performing, scientists are finally investigating, in-depth and in unprecedented detail, the planet’s evidence for life, known as its “biosigna...

National parks teach students about environmental issues in this course

Written by Seth T. Kannarr, PhD Student in Geography, University of Tennessee

TKJohn Hudson Photography via Getty Images

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

Title of course:

Environmental Issues in National Parks

What prompted the idea for the course?

The University of Tennessee is a natural fit for this course, with the Great Smoky Mountains...