The Conversation

Is it ethical to keep pets and other animals? It depends on where you keep them

Written by David Favre, Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law, Michigan State University

Cats can be happy in apartments, but the space needs features that enable their natural desire to climb, jump, hide and scratch.www.shuterstock.com

New York City’s comprehensive new code for animal welfare restricts when horse-drawn carriages can operate and bans the sale of the fatty liver of a force-fed duck, foie gras.

Washington state...

Curious Kids: Why do people look into space with telescopes but not binoculars?

Written by Silas Laycock, Professor of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Two lenses might be better than one.AstroStar/Shutterstock.com

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 people use telescopes to look into space but not binoculars? – Niraj, age 6, Arlington, Massachusetts

Go outside right...

Why telling people with diabetes to use Walmart insulin can be dangerous advice

Written by Jeffrey Bennett, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt University

A vial of insulin. Prices for the drug, crucial for those with diabetes, have soared in recent years.Oleksandr Nagaiets/Shutterstock.com

About 7.4 million people in the U.S. require manufactured insulin to stay alive. I’m one of them. I’ve lived with Type 1 diabetes for over 15 years and inject two kinds of insulin every day. These...

Impeachment: Two quotes that defined the first day of public hearings

Written by Kirsten Carlson, Associate Professor of Law and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University

Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor, left, and Foreign Service officer George Kent are sworn in before the House Intelligence Committee during the first public impeachment hearing.AP/Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Photo

Editor’s note: Wednesday was the first day of public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry. Two career diplomats – Will...

Climate change fueled the rise and demise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, superpower of the ancient world

Written by Ashish Sinha, Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences, California State University, Dominguez Hills

Ashurbanipal, last major ruler of the Assyrian Empire, couldn't outrun the effects of climate change.British Museum, CC BY-ND

Ancient Mesopotamia, the fabled land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, was the command and control center of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. This ancient superpower was the largest empire of its time, lasting from 912 BC...

Firearm-makers may finally decide it's in their interest to help reduce gun violence after Sandy Hook ruling

Written by Timothy D. Lytton, Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law, Georgia State University

The popularity of semiautomatic rifles increases the risk that mass shootings result in multiple deaths. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Mass shootings have become a routine occurrence in America.

Gun-makers have long refused to take responsibility for their role in this epidemic. That may be about to change.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 12 refused to block...

What is a caliph? The Islamic State tries to boost its legitimacy by hijacking a historic institution

Written by Ken Chitwood, Journalist-fellow, University of Southern California's Center for Religion and Civic Culture / Lecturer, Concordia College New York, University of Florida

An image of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died on Oct. 26, 2019..Department of Defense via AP

Just days after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Oct. 27, the Islamic State named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as the new “caliph.”

In 2014, IS conquered vast swaths of Iraq and Syria and declared itself to be the...

House impeachment inquiry may help restore the political and social norms that Trump flouts

Written by Sunita Sah, Associate Professor of Management and Organizations, Cornell University

Trump has broken a lot of norms.AP Photo/Seth Wenig

President Donald Trump regularly uses blatant violations of long-established social and political norms to signal his “authenticity” to supporters.

Asking foreign countries to investigate and deliver dirt on his political opponents, which prompted an impeachment inquiry in the U.S....

How higher ed can deal with ethical questions over its disgraced donors

Written by Deni Elliott, Eleanor Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics and Press Policy; Co-Chief Project Officer on the National Ethics Project, University of South Florida

UCLA gave $425,000 back to Donald Sterling in 2014 after he disparaged Magic Johnson. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Private donors are giving colleges and universities record amounts of money – along with increasingly frequent bouts of public shame when they turn out to have embarrassing baggage.

Revelations that Yale, Columbia, Cornell and...

Could the Hyde Amendment be repealed in 2020?

Written by Gretchen E. Ely, Professor of Social Work and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Abortion rights advocates wear pink shirts while opponents wear red at a public hearing in Boston.AP Photo/Steven Senne

In 1976, conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois introduced a bill that would ban the use of federal funding for abortion expenses except in instances of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.

Today, the Hyde...