The Conversation

The politics of the periodic table – who gets the credit and why

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

Random arrangement of the elements.arleksey/Shutterstock.com

The periodic table merges scientific inquiry, international politics, hero worship, desires for structure and desires for credit.

Formally, the modern periodic table is a systematic arrangement of the known chemical elements. The table is organized in an orderly way that shows the...

Immigration, legislation, investigation and child poverty: 4 scholars respond to Trump's State of the Union

Written by Matthew Wright, Assistant professor of government, American University School of Public Affairs

Editor’s note: In his second State of the Union address, President Donald Trump ranged from generous to combative, eloquent to blunt. He unexpectedly complimented the wave of recently elected Democratic women in the House, and they responded by applauding for themselves. And he spent a lot of time on a his favorite topic: immigration and the...

Should we judge people for their past moral failings?

Written by Andrew Khoury, Instructor of Philosophy, Arizona State University

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, accompanied by his wife, speaks during a news conference.AP Photo/Steve Helber

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is facing a controversy after a photograph surfaced from his medical school yearbook showing one person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood. The media alleged the governor was the one in...

People don't trust blockchain systems – is regulation a way to help?

Written by Kevin Werbach, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Using blockchain technology can feel like falling and hoping someone will catch you.Nicoleta Raftu/Shutterstock.com

Blockchain technology isn’t as widely used as it could be, largely because blockchain users don’t trust each other, as research shows. Business leaders and regular people are also slow to adopt blockchain-based systems...

Yellow vest protests erupt in Iraq, Bulgaria and beyond – but don't expect a 'yellow wave'

Written by Dawn Brancati, Visiting Scholar, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University

Protesters in Iraq have been wearing yellow vests since December.AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani

Protesters wearing reflective safety vests have unsettled France for months, halting traffic, chanting slogans and at times clashing violently with police.

Promises by President Emmanuel Macron to raise worker pay and cut taxes have not quelled the French...

Stem cell treatments for arthritic knees are unproven, expensive and potentially dangerous

Written by Mark Miller, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Virginia

An X-ray of both knees reveals a narrow space between joints caused by loss of cartilage. Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Shutterstock.com

Twelve patients who tried injections of stem cells were hospitalized with infections, according to a report in The New York Times that should cause patients concern. More important is that they should investigate stem...

Dying while black: Perpetual gaps exist in health care for African-Americans

Written by Yolonda Wilson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Howard University

An African American man in a hospital bed. Studies show that pain in African American patients is often not addressed. pixelheadphoto/digitalskillet

Several years ago, MapQuest directed me on a 10-hour drive to visit my father in a Florida hospital. Complications from diabetes, including blindness, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and a...

Restorative practices may not be the solution, but neither are suspensions

Written by F. Chris Curran, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

School experiments with new ways to discipline students without suspending them show mixed results.Africa Studio / www.shutterstock.com

Proponents of restorative justice suffered a blow recently with the late 2018 release of a much anticipated RAND study of restorative practices in Pittsburgh schools. The study’s results showed restorative...

African-Americans' economic setbacks from the Great Recession are ongoing – and could be repeated

Written by Vincent Adejumo, Lecturer of African American Studies, University of Florida

The financial crisis of 2009, the worst since the Great Depression, was hard on all Americans. But arguably no group felt its sting more than African-Americans, who were already the most economically and financially vulnerable segment of the population going into it.

Even today, a decade since the Great Recession hit, blacks still haven’t...

Why do so many Americans now support legalizing marijuana?

Written by Amy Adamczyk, Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, City University of New York

A man holds up a joint during a 2017 rally to support the legalization of marijuana in Washington, D.C.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

American views on marijuana have shifted incredibly rapidly. Thirty years ago, marijuana legalization seemed like a lost cause. In 1988, only 24 percent of Americans supported legalization.

But steadily, the nation began to...