The Conversation

Industrial facilities owned by profitable companies release more of their toxic waste into the environment

Written by Mahelet G Fikru, Professor of Economics, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Toxic chemical pollution can come in many forms, including compounds that float on top of water.Brett Hondow/iStock / Getty Images Plus

How much pollution a facility engaged in production or resource extraction emits isn’t just based on its location, its industry or the type of work it does. That’s what our team of environmental and...

Starbucks wants you to stay awhile – but shuttering its mobile-only pickup locations could be a risky move

Written by Vivek Astvansh, Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics, McGill University

When Starbucks announced that it would phase out its mobile-order pickup-only locations beginning in 2026, it raised a question: Why abandon a format seemingly built for speed and efficiency?

As Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explained the decision in an earnings call, the pickup-only stores had a “transactional” feel, lacking “the...

In defense of ‘surveillance pricing’: Why personalized prices could be an unexpected force for equity

Written by Aradhna Krishna, Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan

Surveillance pricing has dominated headlines recently. Delta Air Lines’ announcement that it will use artificial intelligence to set individualized ticket prices has led to widespread concerns about companies using personal data to charge different prices for identical products. As The New York Times reported, this practice involves...

New student loan limits could change who gets to become a professor, doctor or lawyer

Written by Rodney Coates, Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Miami University

As millions of student loan borrowers settle into the school year, many are stressed about how they’ll pay for their degrees. These students may find that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the big tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law over the summer, could limit how much they can borrow.

Until recently, graduate...

Supreme Court redistricting ruling could upend decades of voting rights law – and tilt the balance of power in Washington

Written by Sam D. Hayes, Assistant professor of politics and policy, Simmons University

Black Louisiana voters and civil rights advocates ask U.S. Supreme Court justices to uphold a fair and representative congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais on March 24, 2025. Jemal Countess/Getty Images

On Oct. 15, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of the most anticipated cases of the 2025-2026 term, Louisiana v. Callais,...

‘Space tornadoes’ could cause geomagnetic storms – but these phenomena, spun off ejections from the Sun, aren’t easy to study

Written by Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, Associate Research Scientist, University of Michigan

Flux ropes (simulated, right) are structures made up of magnetic field lines wrapping around each other like a rope, that look similar to tornadoes on Earth.NOAA, Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti and Chip Manchester

Weather forecasting is a powerful tool. During hurricane season, for instance, meteorologists create computer simulations to forecast how these...

Far fewer Americans support political violence than recent polls suggest

Written by Ryan Kennedy, Timashev Chair of Data Analytics and Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University

Some surveys have reported that a large number of Americans are willing to support the use of force for political ends.stellalevi, DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images

A series of recent events has sparked alarm about rising levels of political violence in the U.S. These episodes include the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk on Sept....

Why are elements like radium dangerous? A chemist explains radioactivity and its health effects

Written by Kelling Donald, Professor of Chemistry, University of Richmond

Radioactive elements release particles that can damage cells. MirageC/Moment 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.

“What is radium and why is it dangerous?” – Aurora, 10, Laredo, Texas

The element...

3-legged lizards can thrive against all odds, challenging assumptions about how evolution works in the wild

Written by James T. Stroud, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Georgia Institute of Technology

A brown basilisk missing both its entire left forearm and part of its right hind limb.Brian Hillen

We are lizard biologists, and to do our work we need to catch lizards – never an easy task with such fast, agile creatures.

Years ago, one of us was in the Bahamas chasing a typically uncooperative lizard across dense and narrow branches,...

Climate tipping points sound scary, especially for ice sheets and oceans – here’s why there’s still room for optimism

Written by Alexandra A Phillips, Assistant Teaching Professor in Environmental Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Meltwater runs across the Greenland ice sheet in rivers. The ice sheet is already losing mass and could soon reach a tipping point.Maria-José Viñas/NASA

As the planet warms, it risks crossing catastrophic tipping points: thresholds where Earth systems, such as ice sheets and rain forests, change irreversibly over human lifetimes.

Scient...