The Conversation

Are we alone? The question is worthy of serious scientific study

Written by Kevin Knuth, Associate Professor of Physics, University at Albany, State University of New York

US F/A-18 footage of a UFO (circled in red). Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Parzival191919, CC BY-NC-SA

Are we alone? Unfortunately, neither of the answers feel satisfactory. To be alone in this vast universe is a lonely prospect. On the other hand, if we are not alone and there is someone or something more...

New telescope will scan the skies for asteroids on collision course with Earth

Written by Michael B. Lund, Post-doctoral researcher, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Vanderbilt University

Artist depiction of an asteroid on a collision course with EarthBy Mopic/shutterstock.com

Around sunrise on Feb. 15, 2013, an extremely bright and otherworldly object was seen streaking through the skies over Russia before it exploded about 97,000 feet above the Earth’s surface. The resulting blast damaged thousands of buildings and injured...

Amazonian psychedelic may ease severe depression, new study shows

Written by Luís Fernando Tófoli, Professor of Psychiatry, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

The vine Banisteriopsis caapi is one ingredient in ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew that Amazonian indigenous populations have long used for spiritual purposes. Apollo/flickr, CC BY-SA

“Leon” is a young Brazilian man who has long struggled with depression. He keeps an anonymous blog, in Portuguese, where he describes the challenge of...

Nevada's unions show how organized labor can flourish even after an adverse Supreme Court ruling

Written by Ruben J. Garcia, Professor of Law, Co-Director of UNLV Workplace Law Program, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Nevada unions have been successful in part because of their political engagement.AP Photo/Isaac Brekken

American labor unions have long been bracing for a “post-Janus” future in which collecting dues would be harder than ever.

The Janus case has been moving through the courts for two years and addresses the question of whether a public...

What Pope Francis' choice of a Pakistani cardinal means for Christians of the country

Written by Myriam Renaud, PhD Candidate in Religious Thought and Ethics, University of Chicago

Pakistani Christians attend Easter service in Lahore in April 2018.AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Pope Francis will create 14 cardinals on June 29, among them Pakistan’s Joseph Coutts, currently the archbishop of Karachi. What might come as a surprise to some people is that Pakistan, though a majority-Muslim country, is home to some 2.5 million...

US turned away thousands of Haitian asylum-seekers and detained hundreds more in the 90s

Written by A. Naomi Paik, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Haitian refugees at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, Sept. 7, 1994.AP Photo/Doug Mills

President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies, where people crossing the border without documents are criminally prosecuted, do not represent the first time the U.S. has indefinitely detained immigrant children and families.

In...

Extreme stress in childhood is toxic to your DNA

Written by Daniel R. Weinberger, Director of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and Professor, Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience and The Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

Photo by Kat J on Unsplash, CC BY-SA

The real danger of separating children from parents is not the psychological stress – it’s the biological time bomb. The screaming and crying, the anguish and desolation is gut-wrenching. But the fallout pales in comparison to the less visible long-term effects that are more sinister and dangerous....

A brief history of the s'more, America's favorite campfire snack

Written by Jeffrey Miller, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Hospitality Management, Colorado State University

So gooey, so good.Chewonki Semester School, CC BY-NC-ND

This summer, 45 million pounds of marshmallows will be toasted over a fire in America. Many will be used as an ingredient in the quintessential summer snack: the s’more.

Huddling around a campfire and eating gooey marshmallows and warm chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers may...

Mandatory labels with simple disclosures reduced fears of GE foods in Vermont

Written by Jane Kolodinsky, Professor and Chair Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont

Vermont has had food labels that indicate food has been 'partially produced with genetic engineering.'Sally McCay, UVM Photo, CC BY-NC-ND

There has been substantial debate over whether mandated labels for genetically engineered foods might increase or decrease consumer aversion toward genetic engineering.

This question is particularly relevant now...

Crop insurance is good for farmers, but not always for the environment

Written by Don Fullerton, Gutsgell Professor of Finance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Crop insurance is designed to help farmers weather disasters such as Hurricane Irma, which devastated many Florida citrus farms in 2017.AP Photo/Tamara Lush

Congress is currently debating the 2018 Farm Bill, a massive piece of legislation enacted about every five years. One of its key elements is crop insurance, which helps protect farmer income in...