The Conversation

Triclosan, often maligned, may have a good side — treating cystic fibrosis infections

Written by Chris Waters, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Michigan State University

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria inside a biofilm.Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com

Maybe you’ve had the experience of wading in a stream and struggling to keep your balance on the slick rocks, or forgetting to brush your teeth in the morning and feeling a slimy coating in your mouth. These are examples of bacterial biofilms that are found anywhere...

Breastfeeding has been the best public health policy throughout history

Written by Joan Y. Meek, Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education; Professor, Clinical Sciences, Florida State University

A mother breastfeeding her infant. Breast milk is considered the best source of nutrition for babies. Lopolo/Shutterstock.com

Breastfeeding has long been the gold standard for infant nutrition. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and World Health Organization...

The pace of nonprofit media growth is picking up

Written by Charles Lewis, Professor, School of Communication; Executive Editor, Investigative Reporting Workshop, American University School of Communication

H.F. 'Gerry' Lenfest, left, donated tens of millions of dollars to sustain Philadelphia's newspapers.AP Photo/Rich Schultz

The man best known for founding the digital classified listing service Craigslist recently gave a New York City journalism school US$20 million. His gift was big enough to prompt rebranding at what will now be called the Craig...

Trump isn't the first leader to rattle the world order

Written by Kelly McFarland, Director of programs and research, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University

Donald Trump’s recent trip to the G-7 summit smashed expectations of how world leaders should behave.

Trump’s actions in Canada included exacerbating the growing trade war and accusing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of lying. Summit participants described the President as “angry, mocking, wandering and rude.” Trump...

How cities help immigrants feel at home: 4 charts

Written by Ernesto Castañeda, Assistant Professor of Sociology, American University

As anti-immigrant sentiment erupts in Western democracies from Germany to the United States, some cities are still finding ways to make immigrants feel at home.

I conducted hundreds of interviews with immigrants in New York, Paris and Barcelona intermittently for over a decade to understand how each city integrates – or excludes – its...

Harnessing natural gas to harvest water from the air might solve 2 big problems at once

Written by Vaibhav Bahadur, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

Oil drilling produces natural gas that often gets burned on the spot, going to waste.AP Photo/Eric Gay

One of the biggest freshwater reservoirs in the world is, literally, up in the air.

Between 6 and 18 million gallons of freshwater hover above every square mile of land, not counting droplets trapped in clouds. Scientists realized this centuries...

Meet the foodies who are changing the way Americans eat

Written by Joshua T. Beck, Assistant Professor, University of Oregon

As residents of idyllic Eugene, Oregon, with its culture of local food, we might be forgiven for assuming all Americans are “locavores.”

The rich volcanic and glacial soil deposits of the Willamette Valley are irrigated by a splendid river system and tilled by farmers who raise everything from goats to hazelnuts. These farmers make...

Could human cancer treatments be the key to saving sea turtles from a disfiguring tumor disease?

Written by Jessica Alice Farrell, PhD Student in Biology, University of Florida

Soft tumors make life hard for sea turtles.Jessica Farrell, CC BY-ND

Sea turtles’ reality is very different than the fun-loving, playful way they’re depicted in popular movies such as “Finding Nemo.” Far from being carefree, sea turtles across the globe are heavily burdened by debilitating soft-tissue tumors. All seven...

Silicon Valley, from 'heart’s delight' to toxic wasteland

Written by Andrew L. Russell, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences; Professor of History, SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Once lauded for their vision and promise, Silicon Valley giants have made life so hard for locals that residents regularly protest the companies, including their amenities like charter buses to save workers from the region's terrible traffic.AP Photo/Richard Jacobsen

There was a time when California’s Santa Clara Valley, bucolic home to...

A long fuse: 'The Population Bomb' is still ticking 50 years after its publication

Written by Derek Hoff, Associate Professor, Lecturer in Business and Humanities, University of Utah

Slums like this one in Rio de Janeiro embody the problems Paul Ehrlich warned of in 'The Population Bomb.'dany13, CC BY

“The battle to feed all of humanity is over,” Stanford biologist and ecologist Paul Erhlich declared on the first page of his 1968 best-seller, “The Population Bomb.” Because the “stork had passed the...