NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

The Conversation

Why are so few people born on Christmas Day, New Year's and other holidays?

  • Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Senior Lecturer, Questrom School of Business, Boston University
Holiday birthdays are lonely. Bryan Keogh/The Conversation via Shutterstock.com

Christmas and New Year’s are days of celebration in many parts of the world when people gather with family and friends. One thing many typically don’t celebrate on those days is a birthday.

That’s because Dec. 25 is the least popular day in the U.S., Aus...

Read more: Why are so few people born on Christmas Day, New Year's and other holidays?

Battle at the border: 5 essential reads on asylum, citizenship and the right to live in the US

  • Written by Aviva Rutkin, Data Editor
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checks migrants' documents.AP Photo/Fernando Llano

Editor’s note: As we come to the end of the year, Conversation editors take a look back at the stories that – for them – exemplified 2019.

Who gets to live in the United States?

It’s a contentious question, particularly as the Trump...

Read more: Battle at the border: 5 essential reads on asylum, citizenship and the right to live in the US

Don't let your vote get stolen – 5 essential reads about disinformation in 2020

  • Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US
Who's manipulating what you know before you vote?AntonSokolov/Shutterstock.com

As the 2020 election season heats up, there will be a massive number of people competing for your vote. Only some of them will be legitimate candidates.

The vast majority will be information warriors, people who seek to confuse you about what is truth and what is fiction...

Read more: Don't let your vote get stolen – 5 essential reads about disinformation in 2020

Religious minorities around the world face an uncertain future: 5 essential reads

  • Written by Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor
Relatives light candles for victims who died during a bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on April 22, 2019. AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

Around the world, religious minorities are facing violence because of their beliefs.

Noting that attacks on places of worship had increased, this year the United Nations declared Aug. 22 as...

Read more: Religious minorities around the world face an uncertain future: 5 essential reads

Where does beach sand come from?

  • Written by David R. Montgomery, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
This started as a mountain range.Bas Meelker/Shutterstock.com

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.

Where does beach sand come from? – Sly M., age 6, Cambridge, Massachusetts

There’s more to beach sand than meets the...

Read more: Where does beach sand come from?

Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they send the same racist message

  • Written by Nicole Maurantonio, Associate Professor of Rhetoric & Communication Studies and American Studies, University of Richmond
Decorated with ornaments purchased, created and inherited for years, even generations, Christmas trees are a reflection of a family's history and tastes.John Morgan/flickr, CC BY-SA

As Christmas approaches, many families undertake a familiar ritual: an annual sojourn to the attic, basement or closet to pull out a box of treasured ornaments bought,...

Read more: Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they send the same racist message

Why bad customer service won't improve anytime soon

  • Written by Anthony Dukes, Professor of Marketing, University of Southern California
Bad customer service is increasingly good for companies who use it.Sichon/Shutterstock.com

Some of the most hated companies in the U.S. are also the most profitable.

Much of this consumer resentment may stem from poor customer service. In fact, most Americans have fought with phone menus, desperately seeking a live service agent to seek a refund.

In...

Read more: Why bad customer service won't improve anytime soon

How old would you want to be in heaven?

  • Written by Margaret Morganroth Gullette, Resident Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University
Our cult of youth continues into the afterlife.Denis Simonov/Shutterstock.com

Many religious faiths propose different versions of heaven as a location: There are walled gardens with streams, flowers, pleasing scents, pretty angels, rapturous music or delicious accessible food.

But what about us – the once-mortal – who will go on to...

Read more: How old would you want to be in heaven?

Giving pregnant women antibiotics could harm the lungs of preemies, according to study in mice

  • Written by Kent Willis, Assistant Professor of Neonatology, University of Tennessee
Premature infants are at higher risk for lung diseases.Sarahbean/Shutterstock.com

Born after just 23 of the normal 40 weeks of pregnancy, the extremely preterm baby is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and weighs just one and a quarter pounds. I am a neonatologist, a physician that cares for these preterm babies in intensive care. Most of...

Read more: Giving pregnant women antibiotics could harm the lungs of preemies, according to study in mice

Should you avoid meat for good health? How to slice off the facts from the fiction

  • Written by Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Meat is a very popular food for most Americans. Its nutritional value is a topic of much debate.puhhha/Shutterstock.com

More than half of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions resolve to “eat healthier.” If you’re one, you might be confused about the role meat should play in your health.

It’s no wonder...

Read more: Should you avoid meat for good health? How to slice off the facts from the fiction

More Articles ...

  1. Nonprofits that empower leaders of color are more apt to do something about racial inequality
  2. A real-life deluminator for spotting exoplanets by reflected starlight
  3. The holidays remind us that grief cannot be wished away
  4. Democratic presidential hopefuls are promising to ramp up funding for public schools
  5. 5 ways chess can make you a better law student and lawyer
  6. Here's how you can be nudged to eat healthier, recycle and make better decisions every day
  7. How St. Francis created the Nativity scene, with a miraculous event in 1223
  8. Alcoholic? Me? How to tell if your holiday drinking is becoming a problem
  9. Can Congress hold Trump accountable? 4 essential reads on a historic power struggle
  10. The Madrid climate conference's real failure was not getting a broad deal on global carbon markets
  11. How Crisco toppled lard – and made Americans believers in industrial food
  12. Tracking your heart rate? 5 questions answered about what that number really means
  13. 150 cooks, servers and dishwashers almost shut down a Democratic debate, showing unions' growing clout in the party
  14. Think presidential debates are dull? Thank 1950s TV game shows
  15. Parents of medically fragile children and their kids could use help, understanding year-round
  16. 7 reasons to learn a foreign language
  17. 7 science-based strategies to boost your willpower and succeed with your New Year’s resolutions
  18. My team uses crossbows and drones to collect bacteria from whales – and the results are teaching us how to keep whales healthy
  19. Feeling sick is an emotion meant to help you get better faster
  20. When a chief justice reminded senators in an impeachment trial that they were not jurors
  21. The science of gift wrapping explains why sloppy is better
  22. Planetary confusion -- why astronomers keep changing what it means to be a planet
  23. How can we make sure that algorithms are fair?
  24. 3 lessons for today's teachers and students from coach Vince Lombardi
  25. 6 charts that illustrate the surprising financial strength of American houses of worship
  26. Catholic activism, not repentance for sexual abuse, is what forces clergy to resign
  27. Evangelical gangs in Rio de Janeiro wage 'holy war' on Afro-Brazilian faiths
  28. Transgender homeless Americans find few protections in the law
  29. Why Congress would keep working during a government shutdown
  30. US-China trade deal: 3 fundamental issues remain unresolved
  31. In impeachment spotlight, dueling views of professionalism appear
  32. Impeachment is better than exile
  33. Kids aren't getting enough exercise, even in sporty Seattle
  34. Memo from a historian: White ladies cooking in plantation museums are a denial of history
  35. When Trump calls someone a dog, he's tapping into ugly history
  36. Margaret Morse Nice thought like a song sparrow and changed how scientists understand animal behavior
  37. Butterfly lovers become citizen scientists by logging sightings on eButterfly
  38. Uber's data revealed nearly 6,000 sexual assaults. Does that mean it's not safe?
  39. Asking people with memory loss about past holidays can help them recall happy times
  40. As rural Americans struggle for health care access, insurers may be making things worse
  41. The Earth needs multiple methods for removing CO2 from the air to avert worst of climate change
  42. 'Organic' label doesn't guarantee that holiday ham was a happy pig
  43. The dangers of depicting Greta Thunberg as a prophet
  44. Why are whales big, but not bigger?
  45. How old should kids be to get phones?
  46. ‘Richard Jewell’ is only the latest film to depict a female journalist trading sex for scoops
  47. Supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may have a friend
  48. Winter is coming: 5 essential reads about snow and ice
  49. Myths around mental illness cause high rates of unemployment
  50. Slave life's harsh realities are erased in Christmas tours of Southern plantations