The Conversation

Why do fingers get wrinkly after a long bath or swim? A biomedical engineer explains

Written by Guy German, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Those puckered prints show up after a while in the water.MarijaRadovic/iStock via Getty Images

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.

Why do fingers and toes get wrinkly and change color after a dip in a pool or a bath? –...

Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson made a suggestion during the 1963 March on Washington − and it changed a good speech to a majestic sermon on an American dream

Written by Bev-Freda Jackson, Adjunct professor of Justice, Law and Criminology, American University School of Public Affairs

Martin Luther King Jr. (bottom right) listens to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Bob Parent/Getty Images

Every now and then, a voice can matter. Mahalia Jackson had one of them.

Known around the world as the “Queen of Gospel,” Jackson used her powerful voice to work in the Civil Rights...

Trump out on bail – a criminal justice expert explains the system of cash bail

Written by Megan T. Stevenson, Professor of Law, University of Virginia

Donald Trump poses for his booking photo on August 24, 2023, in Atlanta.Fulton County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images

For several days, former President Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants in a Georgia election interference case trickled into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta to surrender for arrest, fingerprinting and mugshots before the noon...

How some Muslim and non-Muslim rappers alike embrace Islam's greeting of peace

Written by Margarita Guillory, Associate Professor of Religion, Boston University

Phife and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest perform in 1994.Tim Mosenfelder/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Ever since the United States’ “war on terror” began, American media has been rife with stereotypes of Muslims as violent, foreign threats. Advocates trying to push back against this characterization sometimes emphasize that...

Screen time is contributing to chronic sleep deprivation in tweens and teens – a pediatric sleep expert explains how critical sleep is to kids' mental health

Written by Maida Lynn Chen, Professor of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington

When teens can’t sleep, they often scroll online well into the night, which only exacerbates the problem.ljubaphoto/E+ via Getty Images

With the start of a new school year comes the inevitable battle to get kids back into a healthy bedtime routine. In many cases, this likely means resetting boundaries on screen use, especially late in the...

AI scores in the top percentile of creative thinking

Written by Erik Guzik, Assistant Clinical Professor of Management, University of Montana

Creativity involves generating something new -- a product or solution that didn't previously exist.Maestria_diz/iStock via Getty Images

Of all the forms of human intellect that one might expect artificial intelligence to emulate, few people would likely place creativity at the top of their list. Creativity is wonderfully mysterious – and...

How educational research could play a greater role in K-12 school improvement

Written by Detris Honora Adelabu, Clinical Professor of Applied Human Development, Boston University

Billions of dollars are being spent on education research. Is it working?Fly View Productions/E+ via Getty Images

For the past 20 years, I have taught research methods in education to students here in the U.S. and in other countries. While the purpose of the course is to show students how to do effective research, the ultimate goal of the research...

India's Chandrayaan-3 landed on the south pole of the Moon − a space policy expert explains what this means for India and the global race to the Moon

Written by Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology

India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully touched down on the south pole of the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023, sparking celebrations across the country.AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

India made history as the first country to land near the south pole of the Moon with its Chandrayaan-3 lander on Aug. 23, 2023. This also makes it the first country to land on the...

Campus sexual assault prevention programs could do more to prevent violence, even after a decade-long federal mandate

Written by Heather Hensman Kettrey, Associate Professor of Sociology, Clemson University

Meghan Downey of Chatham protests on September 7, 2017, as then U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announces federal policy changes in rules for investigating sexual assault reports on college campuses.Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Ten years after a federal law required colleges and universities to offer sexual assault...

Waves of strikes rippling across the US seem big, but the total number of Americans walking off the job remains historically low

Written by Judith Stepan-Norris, Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of California, Irvine

Striking members of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union in New York City in 1958.AP Photo

More than 323,000 workers – including nurses, actors, screenwriters, hotel cleaners and restaurant servers – walked off their jobs during the first eight months of 2023. Hundreds of thousands of the employees of delivery giant UPS would...