The Conversation

'Robotic blacksmithing': A technology that could revive US manufacturing

Written by Glenn S. Daehn, Fontana Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University

Robots already assemble and weld products in factories. Can they make the components parts themselves, too?Factory_Easy/Shutterstock.com

Although it may not be obvious, there’s a close link between manufacturing technology and innovation. Elon Musk often talks of the “machines that build the machines” as being the real enabler in...

Paul Volcker helped shape an independent Federal Reserve – a vital legacy that's under threat

Written by Michael Klein, Professor of International Economic Affairs at The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Paul Volcker was a courageous central banker.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Paul Volcker, who died on Dec. 8, is the poster boy for central bank independence and why it matters.

One of his legacies, as you may have read in the many obituaries published since his death, is taming the runaway inflation that posed an existential threat to the U.S....

What can drones do to protect civilians in armed conflict?

Written by Michael Yekple, Ph.D. Candidate in Security Studies, University of Central Florida

U.N. technicians prepare an unarmed drone for flight over the Democratic Republic of Congo.MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Drones are usually in the news for bad reasons, like controversial killings of suspected terrorists in the Middle East, bombings of Saudi oil facilities or an assassination attempt on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro...

Fat-shaming pregnant women isn't just mean, it's harmful

Written by Angela Rodriguez, Assistant professor of Psychology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Criticizing pregnant women about their weight can be bad for them and their babies.kzenan/Shutterstock.com

December is considered the most fertile month, a time when there’s the greatest likelihood that children will be conceived. Some experts even pinpoint Dec. 11 as the most fertile day.

But in the lead up to giving birth and in the time...

Millions of burnt trees and rusted cars: Post-disaster cleanup is expensive, time-consuming and wasteful

Written by Sybil Derrible, Associate Professor of Sustainable Infrastructure Systems, University of Illinois at Chicago

Debris left behind after a tornado strike on Jefferson City, Missouri, May 23, 2019.AP Photo/Summer Ballentine

The most destructive and costliest wildfire in California’s history, the Camp Fire, killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures in November 2018. A year later, crews were still collecting and carrying away piles of wood,...

Taliban negotiations resume, feeding hope of a peaceful, more prosperous Afghanistan

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

A market in the Old City of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 8, 2019. AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

Peace talks have resumed between the United States and the Taliban of Afghanistan, three months after negotiations ended abruptly following a deadly Taliban attack in Kabul.

The Taliban – an armed insurgency promoting an ultra-conservative form of Sunni...

Super rats or sickly rodents? Our war against urban rats could be leading to swift evolutionary changes

Written by Jonathan Richardson, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Richmond

Cities around the world appear to be harboring increasing numbers of rats, including this one: the inflatable 'Scabby the Rat.'robert cicchetti/Shutterstock.com

It took only a few seconds to spot one. Then another. As I walked into the small park around noon, dozens of rats could be seen scurrying in every direction. They dashed in and out of...

How the 'extreme abstinence' of the purity movement created a sense of shame in evangelical women

Written by Julie Ingersoll, Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Florida

Purity culture promotes sexual abstinence before marriage.charlene trapp/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

Millennial evangelicals are speaking out about the heightened emphasis on sexual purity that characterized their upbringing in that subculture.

Joshua Harris, a former pastor who became one of the most public faces of the purity culture movement in the...

In its anti-'Medicare for All' push, the health insurance industry pulls from an old playbook

Written by Burton St. John III, Professor of Public Relations, University of Colorado Boulder

If you're strangled by health care costs, are you really 'free'?jwblinn/Shutterstock.com

As a debate continues to rage within the Democratic Party over “Medicare for All,” the health insurance has quietly girded itself to fight the elimination of for-profit health care.

In the summer of 2018, trade groups representing hospitals,...

A brief guide to how the China-US trade war will affect your holiday shopping

Written by Charles Hankla, Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University

Some gifts may soon get more expensive. imtmphoto/Shutterstock.com

With more tariffs on Chinese imports set to take effect this month, holiday shoppers in the U.S. face a dilemma: buy the Apple iPhone 11 or Hasbro toy action figures now or risk facing higher prices later.

On Dec. 15, in the middle of the holiday shopping season, the Trump...