The Conversation

Poland invites nationalism in its commemoration of WWII by moving location and inviting Trump

Written by Rebecca M. Townsend, Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Hartford

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Piłsudski Square, Warsaw. Rebecca M. Townsend

Every year, Poland commemorates where World War II broke out on Sept. 1, 1939: the Baltic Seacoast peninsula of Westerplatte in Gdańsk in the precise spot and time, 4:45 a.m., where German ships opened fire on Poland.

It will be different this year.

For the 80th...

Catholic Church sex abuse: The difference a Pennsylvania grand jury made in lives of survivors

Written by Brian Clites, Instructor and Associate Director, Case Western Reserve University

The Pennsylvania grand jury report may have played a role in helping survivors come to grips with their past.AP Photo/Matt Rourke

It has been one year since the Pennsylvania grand jury report named 300 sexually abusive Roman Catholic priests in the state. After an 18-month investigation, the grand jury concluded that “over one thousand child...

Setting the historical record straight for the critics of The New York Times project on slavery in America

Written by Kelley Fanto Deetz, Lecturer in American Studies, University of Virginia

Screen Shot of the New York Times homepage for its series, "1619."New York Times

Four hundred years after the event, the New York Times has published a special project focusing on the first Africans arriving in 1619 at Point Comfort, Virginia, and the legacy of slavery in the U.S.

“No aspect of the country that would be formed here has been...

The Amazon is burning: 4 essential reads on Brazil's vanishing rainforest

Written by Catesby Holmes, Global Affairs Editor, The Conversation US

Nearly 40,000 fires are incinerating Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, the latest outbreak in an overactive fire season that has charred 1,330 square miles of the rainforest this year.

Don’t blame dry weather for the swift destruction of the world’s largest tropical forest, say environmentalists. These Amazonian wildfires are a human-ma...

Removing mini-shampoos from hotel rooms won't save the environment

Written by Yossi Sheffi, Professor of Engineering; Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The movement to ban miniature toiletries isn't likely to make a dent in the global plastic crisis.vaidehi shah/Flickr, CC BY

InterContinental Hotels Group will replace mini-shampoos and conditioners with possibly more efficient bulk products by the year 2021.

But environmental activists shouldn’t rejoice just yet.

The announcement is yet...

Why do college textbooks cost so much? 7 questions answered

Written by Amie Freeman, Scholarly Communication Librarian, University of South Carolina

Textbook prices are taking a toll on student finances.alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: The high price of college textbooks has long been a sore point for students. Even though the price reportedly went down by 26% since January 2017 – the first decrease in years – the overall trend in recent years has been a steady...

Why we need to get back to Venus

Written by Paul K. Byrne, Assistant Professor of Planetary Geology, North Carolina State University

On June 5-6, 2012, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory collected images of one of the rarest predictable solar events: the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun. NASA/SDO, AIA

Just next door, cosmologically speaking, is a planet almost exactly like Earth. It’s about the same size, is made of about the same stuff and formed around the same...

Bargain-hunting robocars could spell the end for downtown parking – cities need to plan ahead now

Written by Corey Harper, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

What does a future full of AVs mean for all the spaces reserved for downtown parking?Kris Cros/Unsplash, CC BY

Imagine a scene from the near-future: You get dropped off downtown by a driverless car. You slam the door and head into your office or appointment. But then where does the autonomous vehicle go?

It’s a question that cities would be...

Curious kids: Why don't hummingbirds get fat or sick from drinking sugary nectar?

Written by Jessica Pollock, Research Biologist at Intermountain Bird Observatory, Boise State University

Hummingbirds flap their wings 800 times per minute.Dino Hans Farnese/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 don’t hummingbirds get fat or sick from drinking sugary nectar? – Dhruv, age 15,...

Changes for a landmark agreement mean immigrant children face harsher treatment in US

Written by Kevin Johnson, Dean and Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Davis

Immigrants line up in the dining hall at the U.S. government's newest holding center for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas. AP/Eric Gay

The Trump administration is trying to terminate the Flores settlement, a legal agreement that determines how immigrant children are treated in U.S. immigration detention.

The 1997 settlement established...