The Conversation

Charities take digital money now – and the risks that go with it

Written by Philip Hackney, Associate Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh

The value of bitcoin gifts is subject to swift changes.Natali_ Mis/Shutterstock.com

Many large charities, despite being entrusted with accepting and managing funds that benefit the public, are accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – volatile forms of digital money – as donations.

Take, for example, the Silicon Valley Community...

2018 Nobel Prize for physics goes to tools made from light beams – a particle physicist explains

Written by Todd Adams, Professor of Physics, Florida State University

The 2018 Nobel Prize for physics recognized discoveries that can make more powerful lasers.Arthur Ashkin.Niklas Elmehed. © Nobel Media, CC BY-SAGerard Mourou.Niklas Elmehed. © Nobel Media, CC BY-SA

Our world is full of light, and we depend upon it to power life on our planet. So it is appropriate to honor three scientists who invented new...

Refugiados de Venezuela huyen a ciudades latinoamericanas, no a campos de refugiados

Written by Robert Muggah, Associate Lecturer, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Más de 2.3 millones de venezolanos – alrededor del 7 por ciento de la población total – huyeron de la crisis política y económica del país desde el 2014, considerado este el mayor desplazamiento humano en la historia de América Latina.

A principios de este año, un total de 5.000...

Refugiados venezolanos inundan las ciudades latinoamericanas

Written by Robert Muggah, Associate Lecturer, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

A principios de este año, un total de 5.000...

2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: a turning point in the war on cancer

Written by Duane Mitchell, Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Florida

James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo win the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their foundational work on cancer immunotherapy.The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Kyoto University, CC BY-SA

There are moments in the history of scientific achievement that benchmark the end of an era and the beginning of a new phase of...

Kavanaugh sexual assault hearing evokes early Soviet mock trials

Written by Erica Stone Drennan, Ph.D. Candidate in Russian Literature, Columbia University

Across the world, allegations of sexual assault have hinged on women's credibility.Michael Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP

Before last week’s Senate judiciary hearing into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was scheduled, Republican Senator John Cornyn complained that the proceedings would amount to a “sh...

Heat is a serious threat to dairy cows – we're finding innovative ways to keep them cool

Written by Alycia Drwencke, Graduate Student, University of California, Davis

Cooling dairy cows with fans and misters at Pacheco Dairy in Kerman, Calif., during a heat wave in 2006. AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian

California is the nation’s top milk-producing state and home to nearly 1.8 million dairy cows. California is also hot, especially for cows, which have trouble keeping cool when the weather gets warm. And when cows...

Why we're training the next generation of lawyers in big data

Written by Anne Tucker, Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State University

Man and machine.Africa Studio/shutterstock

Artificial intelligence is transforming the traditional delivery of legal services.

In general terms, the set of tools broadly called “legal analytics” promises to do two things: increase the efficiency of tasks that once required substantial time and human effort, and mine masses of data to...

Safe, efficient self-driving cars could block walkable, livable communities

Written by Daniel Piatkowski, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

When cyclists take over road lanes, self-driving cars will operate less efficiently.Can Balcioglu/Shutterstock.com

Almost exactly a decade ago, I was cycling in a bike lane when a car hit me from behind. Luckily, I suffered only a couple bruised ribs and some road rash. But ever since, I have felt my pulse rise when I hear a car coming up behind my...

The Catholic Church resists change – but Vatican II shows it's possible

Written by Melissa Wilde, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania

Pope Francis has asked the heads of every bishops’ conference around the world to gather for a summit in February to discuss the issue of sexual abuse in the church.

Even as the pope takes these steps, debates continue about what he knew and whether there was a better way of dealing with the perpetrators of abuse. There have been many...