The Conversation

Seeing without eyes – the unexpected world of nonvisual photoreception

Written by Thomas Cronin, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Color-changing cells in an Atlantic squid's skin contain light-sensitive pigments.Alexandra Kingston, CC BY-ND

We humans are uncommonly visual creatures. And those of us endowed with normal sight are used to thinking of our eyes as vital to how we experience the world.

Vision is an advanced form of photoreception – that is, light sensing. But...

MalwareTech's arrest sheds light on the complex culture of the hacking world

Written by Roderick S. Graham, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Old Dominion University

Which hat would you wear?crystalfoto/Shutterstock.com

The arrest of a British cybersecurity researcher on charges of disseminating malware and conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse provides a window into the complexities of hacking culture.

In May, a person going by the nickname “MalwareTech” gained international fame –...

Want to fix America's infrastructure? Build in the places that need help the most

Written by Gregory Burge, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Oklahoma

How can we limit urban sprawl?kla4067, CC BY

Political debates over U.S. infrastructure spending are painfully incomplete. The discussion focuses almost exclusively on how much money should be spent, ignoring important questions about what projects are most needed and where those projects should be placed.

In the U.S., two-thirds of the population...

Do college presidents still matter?

Written by Richard Freeland, Professor of History and Higher Education, Northeastern University

Three influential college presidents: Charles Eliot of Harvard (in office 1869-1909), Robert Maynard Hutchins of the University of Chicago (1929-45) and Drew Faust of Harvard (2007-18).AP Photo/Edward Kitch/Charles Krupa

Drew Faust’s recent decision to step down as president of Harvard has inspired much commentary about who should be the next...

Why Medicaid matters to you

Written by Sharona Hoffman, Professor of health law and bioethics, Case Western Reserve University

As more and more seniors need care, their budgets will be strained. As a result, they may rely on Medicaid.gagliardiImages/Shutterstock.com

Efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare have been suspended for the time being, and many Americans are breathing a sigh of relief. But Obamacare is far from safe, and the same is true for one of the key...

China is the key to avoiding nuclear 'fire and fury' in North Korea

Written by Greg Wright, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of California, Merced

The news of an exchange of threats between the U.S. and North Korea is reported in Tokyo on Aug. 9, 2017.AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un are playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship.

North Korea got the world’s attention – and Trump’s – when it successfully launched an...

TB's stronghold in India: A tragedy there, and a grave concern for the rest of the world

Written by Jay Desai, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California

A study published recently in The Lancet has drawn the world’s attention to the specter of particularly dangerous types of tuberculosis, called multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant, in four countries. The study estimated that the percentage of multidrug-resistant TB among all cases in India, which already has the highest burden...

Can transgender TV characters help bridge an ideological divide?

Written by Erica L. Rosenthal, Senior Research Associate, Hollywood, Health & Society, University of Southern California

file404/shutterstock.com

In 2014, Time magazine declared American culture had reached a “transgender tipping point,” with transgender people achieving unprecedented media visibility.

However, in light of recent policy shifts – such as the White House’s rollback of federal guidelines that supported transgender students and...

Climate gloom and doom? Bring it on. But we need stories about taking action, too

Written by Jon Christensen, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, the Department of History, and the Center for Digital Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles

Are there other ways to get people to engage with climate change?FloridaStock/Shutterstock.com

There’s been no shortage of pessimistic news on climate change lately. A group of climate scientists and policy experts recently declared that we have just three years left to dramatically turn around carbon emissions, or else. Meanwhile a widely...

Are sex offender registries reinforcing inequality?

Written by Trevor Hoppe, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York

Grounds of Hand Up Ministries in Oklahoma City houses sex offenders.AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Public sex offender registries are at the forefront of what I’ve described in my research as a “war on sex.”

Offenders convicted of sex crimes are now singled out for surveillance and restrictions far more punitive than those who commit other...