The Conversation

Rail travel is cleaner than driving or flying, but will Americans buy in?

Written by Andreas Hoffrichter, Executive Director of the Center for Railway Research and Education, Michigan State University

The Northeast Corridor sees millions of riders a year, but expanding rail in the U.S. is always fraught. Loco Steve, CC BY-SA

Transportation represents a large portion – about 29 percent – of U.S. emissions, and the share has been rising in recent years. Rail proponents often argue that investment in trains and public transportation is...

Microbes that live in fishes' slimy mucus coating could lead chemists to new antibiotic drugs

Written by Sandra Loesgen, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Oregon State University

Drug discovery can get an assist from what nature's already devised.Annie Spratt/Unsplash, CC BY

One day in the future, you may take a pill to treat an illness – and owe your recovery to the tiny microbes that flourish in the slippery layer of mucus that coats fishes.

It is critically important to find the next generation of antibiotics. The...

Last of the giants: What killed off Madagascar's megafauna a thousand years ago?

Written by Nick Scroxton, Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Paleoclimatology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

A modern mouse lemur *Microcebus* sits upon the cranium of an extinct *Megaladapis* lemur.Dao Van Hoang www.daovanhoang.com

Giant 10-foot-tall elephant birds, with eggs eight times larger than an ostrich’s. Sloth lemurs bigger than a panda, weighing in at 350 pounds. A puma-like predator called the giant fosa.

They sound like characters in a...

Data reveals the value of an assist in basketball

Written by Konstantinos Pelechrinis, Associate Professor of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh

A player drives to the basket. As the defense collapses, he passes the ball to his teammate, anchored at the corner, for the open three-point shot.

This corner shot is one of the most efficient shots in basketball, as measured through the expected points per shot. It’s second only to shots at the rim, followed by three-point shots above the...

What happens to rural and small-town Trump voters after Trump is gone?

Written by J. Edwin Benton, Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, University of South Florida

How will Trump's rural and small-town voters affect American politics after he's gone?AP/David Goldman

If one word can capture the sentiment of rural and small-town dwellers in recent years, it is “resentment.”

I am a scholar who studies politics at the state and local level. Residents of rural and small-town communities believe they...

Medicaid work requirements: Is there a path forward that could help the poor, not harm them?

Written by Simon F. Haeder, Assistant Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at a press conference in Little Rock, talking about new Medicaid work requirements in that state, Sept. 12, 2018. Andrew DeMillo/AP Photo

Just days after the 9-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration’s defining accomplishments continues to dominate American politics.

President Trump...

Jessie Simmons: How a schoolteacher became an unsung hero of the civil rights movement

Written by Valerie Hill-Jackson, Clinical Professor of Educator Preparation and Director, Educator Preparation and School Partnerships, Texas A&M University

Jessie Dean Gipson Simmons, shown top center about age 37, c. 1961 [Clockwise: daughter Angela, sons Obadiah Jerone, Jr. and Carl, and husband Obadiah Jerone, Sr.; daughters Carolyn and Quendelyn are not pictured]Simmons family archives, Author provided

Jessie Dean Gipson Simmons was full of optimism when she and her family moved from an apartment...

For a flooded Midwest, climate forecasts offer little comfort

Written by Shuang-Ye Wu, Associate Professor of Geology, University of Dayton

Historic flooding in the Midwest, including this farm in Nebraska, has caused widespread damage.DroneBase via AP

Flooding in the Midwest, triggered by an intense “bomb cyclone,” has devastated parts of the region, which has been plagued by flood events in recent decades.

Floods are triggered by extreme rainfall events, often combined...

Want to fix gerrymandering? Then the Supreme Court needs to listen to mathematicians

Written by Manil Suri, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Activists at the Supreme Court opposed to partisan gerrymandering hold up representations of congressional districts from North Carolina, left, and Maryland, right.AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

“Are we in Maryland’s third congressional district?” Karen asked on a recent visit to the UMBC campus. Despite zooming into the district’s...

What Oklahoma's opioid settlement means for other states, cities and counties suing Purdue Pharma

Written by Andrew Pollis, Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter recently announced that the state had reached a US$270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma, the largest manufacturer of prescription opioids. The settlement resolves the state’s claims against Purdue over costs incurred in addressing the opioid crisis and allows Purdue to avoid a trial that was...