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Taking a leap of faith into imaginary numbers opens new doors in the real world through complex analysis

  • Written by William Ross, Professor of Mathematics, University of Richmond
imageImaginary numbers push the boundaries of calculus and other branches of math.Hill Street Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images

To a nonmathematician, having the letter “i” represent a number that does not quite exist and is “imaginary” can be hard to wrap your head around. If you open your mind to this way of thinking,...

Read more: Taking a leap of faith into imaginary numbers opens new doors in the real world through complex...

DEI initiatives removed from federal agencies that fund science, but scientific research continues

  • Written by Filomena Nunes, Professor of Physics, Michigan State University
imageCollaboration is key in science – DEI programs intend to foster inclusivity in the field. sanjeri/E+ via Getty Images

As soon as President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2025, he signed an executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” This order called for the termination of...

Read more: DEI initiatives removed from federal agencies that fund science, but scientific research continues

The dark parallels between 1920s America and today’s political climate

  • Written by Alex Green, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
imageIn the 1920s, some Americans' concern for a U.S. in decline led to a rise in various discriminatory policies and movements that hurt vulnerable minorities. iStock/Getty Images Plus

As promised, the second Trump administration has quickly rolled out a slew of policies and executive orders that the president says are all aimed at “Making...

Read more: The dark parallels between 1920s America and today’s political climate

The fear of deportation hangs over unauthorized workers trying to fight exploitation, but all workers in the US have rights

  • Written by Xóchitl Bada, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, University of Illinois Chicago
imageHandcuffed food-processing workers are escorted into a bus after an ICE raid in Morton, Miss., in 2019.AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

The Trump administration has repeatedly said it wants to deport as many people as possible. What that means for the estimated 8.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the American workforce is unclear.

It is also unclear...

Read more: The fear of deportation hangs over unauthorized workers trying to fight exploitation, but all...

The FACE Act was enacted to protect reproductive health clinics − here’s why its history matters today

  • Written by Micki Burdick, Assistant Professor of Women & Gender Studies, University of Delaware
imageAnti-abortion activists protest in Orlando, Fla., on April 13, 2024.Photo by Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Soon after taking office for a second time, President Donald Trump pardoned anti-abortion activists who had blockaded and restricted access to the entrance of a reproductive health clinic in Washington, D.C., in October 2020.

These...

Read more: The FACE Act was enacted to protect reproductive health clinics − here’s why its history matters...

Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future − alongside the old one

  • Written by Mike Shriberg, Professor of Practice & Engagement, School for Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan
imageAnn Arbor, Michigan's new sustainable energy utility doesn't have to rely on old power lines. Brittany Greeson for The Washington Post via Getty Images

An experiment is underway in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that could change how communities generate and distribute power in the future.

The city, with voters’ strong support, is launching its own...

Read more: Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future −...

5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since COVID-19

  • Written by Rachel Besharat Mann, Assistant Professor in Education Studies, Wesleyan University
imageStudents sit in pop-up tents during wind ensemble class at Wenatchee High School on Feb. 26, 2021 in Wenatchee, Wash..David Ryder/Getty Images

The U.S. educational landscape has been drastically transformed since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered school campuses five years ago.

Access to high-quality teachers and curriculum developed by teachers is...

Read more: 5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since COVID-19

Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? A physicist explains

  • Written by Rae Robertson-Anderson, Professor of Physics & Biophysics, University of San Diego
imageIt pours like a liquid but maintains its shape like a solid.Jack Andersen/Stone via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? – Gabriel, age 8, DeLand, Florida

Imagine...

Read more: Is ranch dressing a liquid or a solid? A physicist explains

America is becoming a nation of homebodies

  • Written by Brian D. Taylor, Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles
imageThe COVID-19 pandemic merely accelerated a trend that began in 2003.C.P. George/ClassicStock via Getty Images

In his February 2025 cover story for The Atlantic, journalist Derek Thompson dubbed our current era “the anti-social century.”

He isn’t wrong. According to our recent research, the U.S. is becoming a nation of homebodies.

Us...

Read more: America is becoming a nation of homebodies

5 reasons veterans are especially hard-hit by federal cuts

  • Written by Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst
imageA protester holds a sign during a demonstration against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the Trump administration outside the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to cut 83,000 jobs, slashing employment by over 17% at the federal agency that...

Read more: 5 reasons veterans are especially hard-hit by federal cuts

More Articles ...

  1. Daylight saving time and early school start times cost billions in lost productivity and health care expenses
  2. How Trump’s $2B court battle over foreign aid could reshape executive authority
  3. Pause in aid has introduced uncertainty into Ukraine’s military planning − forever changing its war calculus
  4. NIH funding cuts will hit red states, rural areas and underserved communities the hardest
  5. ‘Pac-Man with a ponytail’ proteins regulate everything from night vision to heartbeats – studying what GRKs look like could improve an array of drugs
  6. What Amazon MGM’s creative control over the James Bond film franchise means for the future of 007
  7. Exhausted by the news? Here are 6 strategies to stay informed without getting overwhelmed − or misled by misinformation
  8. The US has pardoned insurrectionists twice before – and both times, years of violent racism followed
  9. Beyond AI regulation: How government and industry can team up to make the technology safer without hindering innovation
  10. Knocking down abandoned buildings has a lot of benefits for Detroit − but it’s costly for cities
  11. Why getting the numbers right isn’t enough for pollsters to be credible in today’s polarized climate
  12. Butterflies declined by 22% in just 2 decades across the US – there are ways you can help save them
  13. How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters
  14. Anger is a flow of emotion like water through a hose − at work, it helps to know when to turn it up or down and how to direct it
  15. DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power
  16. As tuberculosis cases rise in the US and worldwide, health officials puzzle over the resurgence of a disease once in decline
  17. What’s that microplastic? Advances in machine learning are making identifying plastics in the environment more reliable
  18. Why Muslim American nonprofits are taking steps to build trust with donors during Ramadan
  19. Death by firing squad set to resume in the US – but no matter the method, all means of execution come with a troubling history
  20. Philly’s street fentanyl contains an industrial chemical called BTMPS that’s an ingredient in plastic
  21. The US energy market has its troubles, though it may not be a ‘national emergency’
  22. Carolina wildfires followed months of weather whiplash, from drought to hurricane-fueled floods and back to drought
  23. The child boss in ‘Severance’ reveals a devastating truth about work and child-rearing in the 21st century
  24. Supreme Court sides with San Francisco, requiring EPA to set specific targets in water pollution permits
  25. COVID-19 is the latest epidemic to show biomedical breakthroughs aren’t enough to eliminate a disease
  26. Learning ethics − one Marvel movie at a time
  27. USAID’s history shows decades of good work on behalf of America’s global interests, although not all its projects succeeded
  28. Influencers have trouble figuring out their tax obligations − and with good reason
  29. Trump is the kinglike president many feared when arguing over the US Constitution in 1789 – and his address to Congress showed it
  30. A potential $110B economic hit: How Trump’s tariffs could mean rising costs for families, strain for states
  31. Extreme heat silently accelerates aging on a molecular level − new research
  32. Gifts from top 50 US philanthropists rebounded to $16B in 2024 − Mike Bloomberg; Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin; and Michael and Susan Dell lead the list of biggest givers
  33. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs advises the president on use of America’s military power
  34. How the hidden epidemic of violence against nurses affects health care
  35. How Trump’s second term might affect the market and your finances
  36. Many more Denver teens have experienced homelessness than official counts show
  37. Out-of-balance bacteria is linked to multiple sclerosis − the ratio can predict severity of disease
  38. How are clouds’ shapes made? A scientist explains the different cloud types and how they help forecast weather
  39. GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard
  40. Who’s who at the Vatican?
  41. What is isolationism? The history and politics of an often-maligned foreign policy concept
  42. From opposing robber barons to the New Deal to desegregation to DOGE, state attorneys general have long taken on Washington
  43. America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures
  44. What is Tren de Aragua? How the Venezuelan gang started − and why US policies may only make it stronger
  45. The only ‘winner’ here is Putin: Ukraine unites in response to Trump-Zelenskyy spat and resigns itself to new reality
  46. How Trump’s compulsion to dominate sabotages dealmaking, undermines democracy and threatens global stability
  47. Making English the official US language can’t erase the fact that the US has millions of Spanish speakers and a long multilingual history
  48. As flu cases break records this year, vaccine rates are declining, particularly for children and 65+ adults
  49. Texas records first US measles death in 10 years – a medical epidemiologist explains how to protect yourself and your community from this deadly, preventable disease
  50. Coastal economies rely on NOAA, from Maine to Florida, Texas and Alaska – even if they don’t realize it