The Conversation

Supreme Court’s decision on deportations gave both the Trump administration and ACLU reasons to claim a victory − but noncitizens clearly lost

Written by Rebecca Hamlin, Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst

A prison officer guards a gate at the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, where hundreds of migrants from the United States were deported by the Trump administration. Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images

President Donald Trump has claimed victory at the Supreme Court in his campaign to deport Venezuelan migrants accused by the government of...

Why you should think twice before using shorthand like ‘thx’ and ‘k’ in your texts

Written by David Fang, PhD Student in Marketing, Stanford University

When a texter chops words down, recipients sometimes sense a lack of effort.35mmf2/iStock via Getty Images Plus

My brother’s text messages can read like fragments of an ancient code: “hru,” “wyd,” “plz” – truncated, cryptic and never quite satisfying to receive. I’ll often find myself...

Colorado’s early childhood education workers face burnout and health disparities, but a wellness campaign could help

Written by Jini Puma, Clinical Associate Professor of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Early childhood education workers face high stress and burnout.FatCamera/GettyImages

A lot of research has been done on the outcomes of young children who receive care in early education programs across the country. High-quality early childhood education programs positively shape young children’s development. Far less research has focused on...

Americans die earlier at all wealth levels, even if wealth buys more years of life in the US than in Europe

Written by Sara Machado, Research Scientist in Health Economics, Brown University

Wealth can buy health – but only to a point. marekuliasz/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Americans at all wealth levels are more likely to die sooner than their European counterparts, with even the richest U.S. citizens living shorter lives than northern and western Europeans. That is the key finding of our new study, published in the New...

What would happen if Section 230 went away? A legal expert explains the consequences of repealing ‘the law that built the internet’

Written by Daryl Lim, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, Penn State

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., are vocal critics of Section 230.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996 as part of the Telecommunications Act, has become a political lightning rod in recent years. The law shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content...

Shark AI uses fossil shark teeth to get middle school kids interested in paleontology and computer vision

Written by Christine Wusylko, Postdoctoral Fellow in Educational Technology, University of Florida

A student creates their model using Google Teachable Machine.Christine Wusylko, CC BY-ND

Most kids have a natural curiosity about sharks − especially their sharp and abundant teeth. Our team had the idea to use the appeal of this charismatic apex predator to teach how scientists use artificial intelligence.

We are researchers in AI literacy and...

Two key ingredients cause extreme storms with destructive flooding – why these downpours are happening more often

Written by Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton

A powerful storm system that stalled over states from Texas to Ohio for several days in early April 2025 wreaked havoc across the region, with deadly tornadoes, mudslides and flooding as rivers rose. More than a foot of rain fell in several areas.

As a climate scientist who studies the water cycle, I often get questions about how extreme storms...

Why some storms brew up to extreme dimensions in the middle of America – and why it’s happening more often

Written by Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton

Floodwaters rise in downtown Hopkinsville, Ky., on April 4, 2025.AP Photo/George Walker IV

As a climate...

Cities that want to attract business might want to focus less on financial incentives and more on making people feel safe

Written by Kaitlyn DeGhetto, Associate Professor of Management, University of Dayton

To attract business investment, American cities and states offer companies billions of dollars in incentives, such as tax credits. As the theory goes, when governments create a business-friendly environment, it encourages investment, leading to job creation and economic growth.

While this theory may seem logical on its face, it’s a bit of a...

The founder kings of Silicon Valley: Dual-class stock gives US social media company controllers nearly as much power as ByteDance has over TikTok

Written by Gregory H. Shill, Professor of Law & Michael and Brenda Sandler Faculty Fellow in Corporate Law, University of Iowa

When Congress passed a law in 2024 to ban TikTok unless it came under U.S. ownership, lawmakers argued that the app’s Chinese parent company posed national security concerns. The Trump administration, which had granted the viral video app a reprieve shortly after taking office in January 2025, extended that pause again on April 4 after the...