The Conversation

Scientist at work: Bio-prospecting for better enzymes

Written by Jeffrey Gardner, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Polysaccharide molecules such as cellulose, seen here, are long chains of sugars that are very hard to break apart. Enzymes – proteins that can degrade polysaccharides – have many industrial uses.CeresVesta/Wikipedia

When people hear about prospecting, they might imagine old forty-niners (miners) with pickaxes hunting for gold, or...

More people than ever before are single – and that's a good thing

Written by Bella DePaulo, Project Scientist, University of California, Santa Barbara

Tithi Luadthong/www.shutterstock.com

The 21st century is the age of living single.

Today, the number of single adults in the U.S. – and many other nations around the world – is unprecedented. And the numbers don’t just say people are staying single longer before settling down. More are staying single for life. A 2014 Pew Report est...

Water, weather, new worlds: Cassini mission revealed Saturn's secrets

Written by Dan Reisenfeld, Professor of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Montana

Saturn and its rings backlit by the sun, which is blocked by the planet in this view. Encircling the planet and inner rings is the much more extended E-ring.NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute, CC BY

Cassini is the most sophisticated space probe ever built. Launched in 1997 as a joint NASA/European Space Agency mission, it took seven years to journey...

Why environmental groups need more volunteers of color

Written by Lindsey McDougle, Assistant Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), Rutgers University Newark

Most U.S. environmental organizations are less diverse than this group of Californian environmental justice leaders.Brooke Anderson/CEJA

Earth Day comes right before National Volunteer Week, an annual celebration of North American volunteerism in late April. This fortuitous timing gives environmental nonprofits an opportunity to engage prospective...

Defending science: How the art of rhetoric can help

Written by Leah Ceccarelli, Professor of Communication, University of Washington

Rhetoric can teach scientists how to effectively communicate what's going on in the lab to the rest of us.Joshua Mayer, CC BY-SA

Science seems to be under attack in America, so much so that scientists and their supporters are marching in the streets.

President Donald Trump has publicly called climate change a Chinese hoax abetted by greedy...

Theresa May's snap election gamble, explained

Written by Garret Martin, Professorial Lecturer, American University School of International Service

Theresa May, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, decided on April 18 to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections on June 8. The motion easily secured the required two-thirds majority in the U.K.‘s House of Commons.

The decision marks a stunning reversal and has surprised many people in her own government and abroad. May had...

There's a new generation of water pollutants in your medicine cabinet

Written by Lee Blaney, Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Shutterstock

Every day we each use a variety of personal care products. We wash our hands with antibacterial soaps and clean our faces with specialty cleansers. We wash and maintain our hair with shampoo, conditioner and other hair care products. We use deodorant and perfume or cologne to smell nice. Depending on the day, we may apply sunscreen or...

What Gorsuch's conservative Supreme Court means for workers

Written by Michele Gilman, Venable Professor of Law, University of Baltimore

As Neil Gorsuch takes his seat on the Supreme Court, the 4-4 ideological stalemate that plagued the institution after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia has been broken, reestablishing its conservative tilt.

In an article I wrote last year on the implications of Donald Trump getting the chance to fill Scalia’s seat, I described how the...

Why Native Americans do not separate religion from science

Written by Rosalyn R. LaPier, Research Associate of Women's Studies, Environmental Studies and Native American Religion, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University

A Menominee Tribal biology class in Green Bay, Wisconsin.U.S. Department of Agriculture Follow, CC BY

Last year five Native American tribes in Washington state managed to repatriate the remains of the “Ancient One,” as they called him, or “Kennewick Man,” as scientists called him.

For the tribes, the Ancient One is to be...

Why are we dragging our feet when more automation in health care will save lives?

Written by Thomas Hooven, Neonatologist, Columbia University Medical Center

From closed-loop ventilators to smarter vital sign monitors, automation has untapped potential to improve medical outcomes.From www.shutterstock.com

As a neonatologist, I worry about patients with pulmonary hypertension. This unforgiving disease, sometimes seen after premature birth, can end with sudden death from constricting blood vessels in the...