The Conversation

Climate explained: why carbon dioxide has such outsized influence on Earth's climate

Written by Jason West, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite makes precise measurements of Earth's carbon dioxide levels from space.NASA/JPLCC BY-ND

Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.

If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer,...

A newly designed vaccine may help stamp out remaining polio cases worldwide

Written by Patricia L. Foster, Professor Emerita of Biology, Indiana University

The oral polio vaccine is most commonly used in the developing world, despite one big problem.CDC/Alan Janssen, MSPH, CC BY

Public health organizations around the world have been fighting for global eradication of polio since 1988. Through massive vaccination efforts, the incidence of polio has gone down 99% since then, with the virus eradicated...

Why carbon dioxide has such outsized influence on Earth's climate

Written by Jason West, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite makes precise measurements of Earth's carbon dioxide levels from space.NASA/JPL

I am often asked how carbon dioxide can have an important effect on global climate when its concentration is so small – just 0.041% of Earth’s atmosphere. And human activities are responsible for just 32% of that...

The womb isn't sterile – healthy babies are born with bacteria and fungi in their guts

Written by Kent Willis, Assistant Professor of Neonatology, University of Tennessee

New research suggests that a newborn is exposed to bacteria and fungi in the womb.stockce/Shutterstock

For the last hundred years, scientists have believed that humans develop in a womb that remains sterile and completely isolated from the collection of bacteria, fungi and viruses that make us sick when we emerge into the outside world.

This theory...

Anti-vaccination mothers have outsized voice on social media – pro-vaccination parents could make a difference

Written by Brooke W. McKeever, Associate Professor, University of South Carolina

Vaccinations are important to protect against a host of diseases.www.shutterstock.com

A high school student from Ohio made national headlines recently by getting inoculated despite his family’s anti-vaccination beliefs.

Ethan Lindenberger, 18, who never had been vaccinated, had begun to question his parents’ decision not to immunize...

How a person vapes, not just what a person vapes, could also play a big role in vaping harm

Written by Risa Robinson, Professor and Department Chair, Mechanical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology

A smoking machine in the author's lab. Smoking by a machine is not the same as smoking by a person, the author and others have found.Katie DiFrancesco, CC BY-SA

In the wake of six deaths and 380 cases of confirmed and probable lung disease across the U.S., the Trump administration has called for banning most flavored e-cigarettes because of their...

Why won't Democrats say they want government to solve problems?

Written by Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication, Texas A&M University

They didn't come out and say what they really mean.AP Photo/Eric Gay

All 10 Democratic candidates in the Houston debate Sept. 13 spoke about investing public money – taxpayer dollars – in education, health care and economic opportunity for Americans. Those ideas depend on an underlying point none of them came out and said directly:...

Top Democrats discussed 'Medicare for All' at Houston debate, but what about healthy food for all?

Written by Patricia Smith, Professor of Economics, University of Michigan

The Democratic candidates discussed health care a lot – but not healthy food. AP Photo/David J. Phillip

The 10 Democrats who took the debate stage on Sept. 12 discussed many critical issues, from health care and climate change. But one important topic they didn’t discuss was access to healthy food.

As a researcher focused on nutrition...

Weinstein may be a monster, but the lawyers who enabled him are the real villains in #MeToo takedown 'She Said'

Written by Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Oregon

Weinstein may be on trial, but lots of lawyers enabled his misconduct. Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP

In the greater arc of the #MeToo movement, lawyers have lurked in the shadows, unnamed scribes formalizing agreements meant to stay secret.

But in “She Said,” the behind-the-scenes story of how Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey brought...

How bankruptcy works for companies and creditors

Written by Lindsey Simon, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Georgia

More than 20,000 companies file for bankruptcy every year.

Although companies follow many different paths to bankruptcy, each one encounters a process that is carefully designed to balance the rights of debtors and creditors.

As I’ve learned from studying and practicing bankruptcy law, the system is not perfect, and sometimes outcomes seem...