The Conversation

Is it the end of 'statistical significance'? The battle to make science more uncertain

Written by Valen E. Johnson, University Distinguished Professor and Department Head of Statistics, Texas A&M University

Some scientists think it's time to hang up statistical significance.mariakraynova/Shutterstock.com

The scientific world is abuzz following recommendations by two of the most prestigious scholarly journals – The American Statistician and Nature – that the term “statistical significance” be retired.

In their introduction to the...

As its ruling dynasty withers, Gabon – a US ally and guardian of French influence in Africa – ponders its future

Written by Gyldas A. Ofoulhast-Othamot, Adjunct professor, Political Science and International Studies, University of Tampa

The fragility of one of the world’s longest-lasting political dynasties was exposed when the military attempted a coup in Gabon in January.

The coup, orchestrated by junior members of Gabon’s military, failed to unseat Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has run the central African country since the late 1960s. And Gabon’s next...

Atheism has been part of many Asian traditions for millennia

Written by Signe Cohen, Associate Professor and Department Chair, University of Missouri-Columbia

Atheism is not a modern concept.Zoe Margolis, CC BY-NC-ND

A group of atheists and secularists recently gathered in Southern California to talk about social and political issues. This was the first of three summits planned by the Secular Coalition for America, an advocacy group based in Washington D.C.

To many, atheism – the lack of belief in a...

Is doing your taxes making you crazy? Here's why it shouldn't

Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Senior lecturer, Boston University

Tax time can be stressful.Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley/Shutterstock.com

It’s tax time in the U.S., which means Americans and residents are hurriedly poring over paperwork, filling in forms and hoping to file by the April 15 deadline.

While for many it may be routine, for others it’s a significant source of stress. A friend recently told me...

Citizen science shows that climate change is rapidly reshaping Long Island Sound

Written by Hannes Baumann, Assistant Professor of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut

Project Oceanology class retrieves a bottom trawl at the mouth of the Thames River. Anna Sawin, CC BY-SA

In the summer of 1973, Joe Hage was in the seventh grade. Together with his peers, he boarded the old Boston Whaler from Project Oceanology just as dawn began to shimmer from behind the trees of Bluff Point. He remembers how instructors led the...

How state power regulators are making utilities account for the costs of climate change

Written by Iliana Paul, Policy Analyst, Institute for Policy Integrity, New York University

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has ordered state agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.AP Photo/Morgan Lee

The electricity powering your computer or smartphone that makes it possible for you to read this article could come from one of several sources. It’s probably generated by burning natural gas or coal or from operating a...

Rail travel is cleaner than driving or flying, but will Americans buy in?

Written by Andreas Hoffrichter, Executive Director of the Center for Railway Research and Education, Michigan State University

The Northeast Corridor sees millions of riders a year, but expanding rail in the U.S. is always fraught. Loco Steve, CC BY-SA

Transportation represents a large portion – about 29 percent – of U.S. emissions, and the share has been rising in recent years. Rail proponents often argue that investment in trains and public transportation is...

Microbes that live in fishes' slimy mucus coating could lead chemists to new antibiotic drugs

Written by Sandra Loesgen, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Oregon State University

Drug discovery can get an assist from what nature's already devised.Annie Spratt/Unsplash, CC BY

One day in the future, you may take a pill to treat an illness – and owe your recovery to the tiny microbes that flourish in the slippery layer of mucus that coats fishes.

It is critically important to find the next generation of antibiotics. The...

Last of the giants: What killed off Madagascar's megafauna a thousand years ago?

Written by Nick Scroxton, Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Paleoclimatology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

A modern mouse lemur *Microcebus* sits upon the cranium of an extinct *Megaladapis* lemur.Dao Van Hoang www.daovanhoang.com

Giant 10-foot-tall elephant birds, with eggs eight times larger than an ostrich’s. Sloth lemurs bigger than a panda, weighing in at 350 pounds. A puma-like predator called the giant fosa.

They sound like characters in a...

Data reveals the value of an assist in basketball

Written by Konstantinos Pelechrinis, Associate Professor of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh

A player drives to the basket. As the defense collapses, he passes the ball to his teammate, anchored at the corner, for the open three-point shot.

This corner shot is one of the most efficient shots in basketball, as measured through the expected points per shot. It’s second only to shots at the rim, followed by three-point shots above the...