The Conversation

Juul: Why a trendy e-cig is causing a social – and public health – commotion

Written by Amy Lauren Fairchild, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the School of Public Health, Associate Vice President for Faculty and Academic Affairs at Texas A&M Health Science Center, Professor of Health Policy & Management, Texas A&M Universit

A woman exhaling after taking a hit from a Juul. vaping360.com/juul/juul-vapor-review/, CC BY-SA

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a campaign to discourage e-cigarette vaping. While it targeted all e-cigarette vaping, the campaign makes a powerful visual reference to Juul, a device that can be recharged in a computer...

Immigration agents X-raying migrants to determine age isn't just illegal, it's a misuse of science

Written by Elizabeth A. DiGangi, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Teeth and bones can tell something about age – but not someone's birthday.Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences, CC BY-NC-SA

A teenager’s father is murdered in Somalia, and the boy travels to the United States seeking asylum. Another teen’s father and brother are murdered by extremist groups in Afghanistan and he too makes his way...

Why poverty is rising faster in suburbs than in cities

Written by Scott W. Allard, Professor of Social Policy, University of Washington

An American suburb.jansgate/flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

In the U.S., the geography of poverty is shifting.

According to a May report from the Pew Research Center, since 2000, suburban counties have experienced sharper increases in poverty than urban or rural counties.

This is consistent with research across the U.S. over the past decade – as well as my...

In praise of doing nothing

Written by Simon Gottschalk, Professor of Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Modern life seems to encourage acceleration for the sake of acceleration – to what end?JoeyCheung/Shutterstock.com

In the 1950s, scholars worried that, thanks to technological innovations, Americans wouldn’t know what to do with all of their leisure time.

Yet today, as sociologist Juliet Schor notes, Americans are overworked, putting in...

How can criminals manipulate cryptocurrency markets?

Written by Nir Kshetri, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

Now you see it, now you don't.Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are based on systems that are supposed to be inherently protected from fraud. Yet the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into manipulation of bitcoin prices. How is that sort of activity even possible?

From researching blockchain...

Will Silicon Valley's new company towns end up as failed utopias?

Written by Grant Bollmer, Assistant Professor of Communication, North Carolina State University

A retail street in Facebook's proposed Willow Campus. Facebook

Willow Village is a community planned for a 59-acre site in California’s Silicon Valley, between Menlo Park and East Palo Alto.

It will have housing, offices, a grocery store, a pharmacy, and its developers say, maybe even its own cultural center.

There’s one notable thing...

Missouri's dark money scandal, explained

Written by Ciara C Torres-Spelliscy, Leroy Highbaugh Sr. Research Chair and Associate Professor of Law, Stetson University

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, before he resigned amid scandalsAP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is finally ready to resign. His sex scandal didn’t force him to step down, but rather allegations that “dark money” improperly financed his winning gubernatorial bid.

During the years I’ve spent writing about the...

How the US benefits when it educates future world leaders

Written by Nathan Urban, Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Strategic Initiatives, University of Pittsburgh

The decline in international students studying in the U.S. has worldwide implications.Vladimir Mucibabic/www.shutterstock.com

When the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities declines, commentators often focus on the economic impact the decline will have on individual universities and communities.

As experts who specialize...

The sage grouse isn't just a bird – it's a proxy for control of Western lands

Written by John Freemuth, Professor of Public Policy and Executive Director, Andrus Center for Public Policy, Boise State University

Male sage grouse at the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming.Tom Koerner/USFWS, CC BY

The Trump administration is clashing with conservation groups and others over protection for the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a bird widely known for its dramatic mating displays. The grouse is found across sagebrush country from the...

Why ABC reacted so swiftly to Roseanne's racist tweet

Written by Anjana Susarla, Associate Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University

ABC Entertainment, which produced the revamped version of “Roseanne,” is the latest company to learn the challenge of doing business in an age when citizen activism is amplified by social media.

The network canceled the hit show after its star, Roseanne Barr, sent a racist tweet – since deleted – that prompted outrage and a...