The Conversation

When losing one's research partner is like losing a part of oneself

Written by Joan Cook, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University

Richard Thompson, the author's best friend.Joan Cook, CC BY-SA

“If you want to see Rich alive, now’s the time.” I sucked in air as I read the text from his wife.

I knew this was coming. But, I had been hoping for a miracle.

I met my friend Richard Thompson at a mental health grant-writing boot camp at Cornell Medical Center almost...

Venezuelan oil fueled the rise and fall of Nicaragua's Ortega regime

Written by Benjamin Waddell, Associate Professor of Sociology, Fort Lewis College

The downfall of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega has been dizzyingly fast.

In January 2018, he had the highest approval rating of any Central American president, at 54 percent. Today, Nicaraguans are calling for Ortega’s resignation.

Ortega, a former Sandinista rebel who previously ruled Nicaragua in the 1980s, first showed signs of...

China’s garbage ban upends US recycling – is it time to reconsider incineration?

Written by Thomas Kinnaman, Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

The market for plastic recycling is drying up, prompting a discussion over what to do with household waste.Steven Depolo, CC BY

China’s decision earlier this year to implement a ban on the import of 24 categories of recyclable materials, including many common plastics used in consumer goods, has shocked recycling systems across the world.

Surpl...

New antidote could prevent brain damage after chemical weapons attack

Written by Janice Chambers, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine; Director, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Mississippi State University

An old gas mask lies abandoned on the ground.By Khamidulin Sergey / shutterstock.com

Terror on a Tokyo subway, 1995; attacks on Syrian civilians, 2013 and 2017; assassinations in an airport in Kuala Lumpur, 2017; attempted assassination in London, 2018. Tremors, foaming at the mouth, seizures, respiratory shutdown, sometimes death. What do these...

Ban 'killer robots' to protect fundamental moral and legal principles

Written by Bonnie Docherty, Lecturer on Law and Associate Director of Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection, International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School, Harvard University

The U.S. military is already testing a Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System.Lance Cpl. Julien Rodarte, U.S. Marine Corps

When drafting a treaty on the laws of war at the end of the 19th century, diplomats could not foresee the future of weapons development. But they did adopt a legal and moral standard for judging new technology not covered by...

Civil lawsuits are the only way to hold bishops accountable for abuse cover-ups

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

Victims or their family members react to a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation that identified more than 1,000 child victims of clergy sexual abuse. AP/Matt Rourke

Last week, a Pennsylvania grand jury documented 70 years of concerted efforts by Catholic bishops in that state to conceal more than 1,000 cases of child sexual abuse by priests...

Swift's telescope reveals birth, deaths and collisions of stars through 1 million snapshots in UV

Written by Michael Siegel, Research Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University

Technicians prepare Swift's UVOT for vibration testing on Aug. 1, 2002, more than two years before launch, in the High Bay Clean Room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Imagine if the color camera had never been invented and all our images were in black and white. The world would still look...

Saving the brain with a new nerve agent antidote

Written by Janice Chambers, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine; Director, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Mississippi State University

An old gas mask lies abandoned on the ground.By Khamidulin Sergey / shutterstock.com

Turkey's currency collapse shows just how vulnerable its economy is to a crisis

Written by Can Erbil, Professor of the Practice of Economics, Boston College

Sometimes you have to look back to move forward. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

If you happen to be a tourist in Turkey right now, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, things look grim.

The Turkish lira has lost as much as a third of its value relative to the U.S. dollar in less than a month and recently hit a record low. As a result, all imported...

Why it matters that teens are reading less

Written by Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University

SAT reading scores in 2016 were the lowest they've ever been.Aha-Soft/Shutterstock.com

Most of us spend much more time with digital media than we did a decade ago. But today’s teens have come of age with smartphones in their pockets. Compared to teens a couple of decades ago, the way they interact with traditional media like books and movies...