The Conversation

How SpaceX lowered costs and reduced barriers to space

Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Associate Professor of Political Science, Cameron University

Minutes after launching the Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX was livestreaming footage from the Tesla Roadster it released into space.SpaceX, CC BY-NC-SA

On March 2, SpaceX plans to launch its first test of an unmanned Dragon vehicle which is designed to carry humans into low Earth orbit and to the International Space Station. If the test is successful,...

Trump-Kim summit ends with no deal, but diplomacy is a long process

Written by Tizoc Chavez, Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Vanderbilt University

President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

A second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended on Feb. 28 with no deal on limiting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

“We had to walk away from that,” the president said.

The two leaders split over both...

Crisis de Venezuela: amenazas de Trump a Maduro evocan la historia sangrienta de la intervención de EEUU en América Latina

Written by Joseph J. Gonzalez, Associate Professor, Global Studies, Appalachian State University

Cuatro manifestantes murieron en un conflict entre la oposición y las fuerzas de seguridad venezolanas en la frontera entre Venezuela y Colombia, el 22 de febrero de 2019.AP Photo/Fernando Llano

La violencia estalló en la frontera entre Venezuela y Colombia en torno a la entrega de ayuda humanitaria a Venezuela el 22 de febrero, matand...

Crisis de Venezuela: las amenazas de Trump a Maduro evocan la historia sangrienta de la intervención de EEUU en América Latina

Written by Joseph J. Gonzalez, Associate Professor, Global Studies, Appalachian State University

Cuatro manifestantes murieron en un conflict entre la oposición y las fuerzas de seguridad venezolanas en la frontera entre Venezuela y Colombia, el 22 de febrero de 2019.AP Photo/Fernando Llano

La violencia estalló en la frontera entre Venezuela y Colombia en torno a la entrega de ayuda humanitaria a Venezuela el 22 de febrero, matand...

What Michael Cohen's betrayal reveals about our messed-up workplace loyalties

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

During Michael Cohen’s Feb. 27 testimony, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar asked the former Trump lawyer and fixer about his legal duties to the president.

“I’m sure you remember, maybe you don’t remember, duty of loyalty, duty of confidentiality, attorney-client privilege,” he said, implying that Cohen’s testimony...

'Micro snails' we scraped from sidewalk cracks help unlock details of ancient earth's biological evolution

Written by Matthew Brown, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University

A live _Padaungiella lageniformis_ wiggles its pseudopods.Daniel J. G. Lahr, CC BY-ND

Every step you take, you’re likely walking on a world of unseen and undescribed microbial diversity. And you don’t need to head out into nature to find these usually unnoticed microscopic organisms.

As biologists, we know this firsthand. A meetup for...

How being beautiful influences your attitudes toward sex

Written by Robert Urbatsch, Associate Professor of Political Science, Iowa State University

Beauty can mean more opportunities – but can it also influence values?Nataliass/Shutterstock.com

People tend to feel strongly about matters of sexual morality, such as premarital sex or gay marriage.

Some sources of these differences are obvious. Religion, media portrayals and parents and peers are big social forces that shape attitudes about...

What drives the appeal of 'Passion of the Christ' and other films on the life of Jesus

Written by S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Cinema and Media Studies, by special appointment, Hamilton College

A still from Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.Courtesy 20th Century Fox.

Church isn’t the only place people go to learn about Jesus.

At the beginning of Lent, 15 years ago, devout evangelical Christians did not go to church to have ashes marked on their foreheads. Rather, they thronged to theaters to watch a decidedly Catholic film to begin...

A new way to pay for innovative drugs, provide universal access and not break the bank

Written by Neeraj Sood, Professor of Public Policy, University of Southern California

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, prepares for the Feb. 26, 2019 hearing with CEOs from several U.S. drug makers.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

On the heels of congressional testimony by the CEOs of major drug makers, there are some important things to keep in mind. The U.S. faces a drug pricing crisis in large...

Listening in to brain communications, without surgery

Written by Salvatore Domenic Morgera, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering, University of South Florida

Signals from inside the brain can reveal what's happening in nerve cells.Peshkova/Shutterstock.com

Plenty of legitimate science – plus a whole lot of science fiction – discusses ways to “hack the brain.” What that really means, most of the time – even in the fictional examples – involves surgery, opening the...