The Conversation

Influenza's wild origins in the animals around us

Written by Jonathan Runstadler, Professor of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University

People and animals live side by side – and can have pathogens in common.Nichola Hill, CC BY-ND

In the early 20th century, the leading cause of death was infectious disease. Epidemics erupted with little warning, seemingly out of the blue. When the “Great Influenza” struck in 1918, it killed thousands of people a week in American...

How to get more Americans to volunteer

Written by Rebecca Nesbit, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia

Volunteers assemble food to be distributed to low-income schoolchildren in Pittsburgh through a government-funded program.AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Alexis de Tocqueville, the 19th-century Frenchman fascinated by U.S. life, praised what he saw during his travels across the new nation as an unusual eagerness to volunteer.

Today, Americans volunteer as...

100 years later, the madness of daylight saving time endures

Written by Michael Downing, Lecturer in Creative Writing, Tufts University

Unfortunately, there's not an unlimited amount of daylight that we can squeeze out of our clocks.igorstevanovic/Shutterstock.com

One hundred years after Congress passed the first daylight saving legislation, lawmakers in Florida this week passed the “Sunshine Protection Act,” which will make daylight saving a year-round reality in the...

George W. Bush tried steel tariffs. It didn't work

Written by William Hauk, Associate Professor of Economics, University of South Carolina

President Donald Trump finally followed through on his almost year-old threat to restrict imports of foreign steel.

On March 8, the president slapped a 25 percent tariff on the metal, while also putting a 10 percent duty on foreign aluminum. After initially suggesting there’d be no exceptions, Trump promised to be “very flexible”...

Want better sex? Try getting better sleep

Written by Laurie Mintz, Professor of Psychology, University of Florida

Sleep affects sex, and sex affects sleep. It's important to pay attention to both. VGstockstudio/Shutterstock.com

One in 3 American adults do not get enough sleep. Sexual issues are also common, with as many as 45 percent of women and 31 percent of men having a concern about their sex life. While these might seem like distinct concerns, they are...

School shooters: What can law enforcement do to stop them?

Written by James Jacobs, Professor of Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure, New York University

Could police have stopped Nikolas Cruz before he walked into Parkland High School and massacred 17 students and teachers with a semi-automatic rifle?

In the months and years prior to the February 14, 2018 massacre, family members, school personnel and neighbors had reported Cruz’s disturbing, threatening and violent behavior many times to...

Why is sarcasm so difficult to detect in texts and emails?

Written by Sara Peters, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Newberry College

Because you've never seen it before, right?Heather, CC BY

This sentence begins the best article you will ever read.

Chances are you thought that last statement might be sarcasm. Sarcasm, as linguist Robert Gibbs noted, includes “words used to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning of a sentence.”...

Why big bets on educational reform haven't fixed the US school system

Written by Jack Schneider, Assistant Professor of Education, College of the Holy Cross

After years of claiming they want to fix what's wrong with public schools, education reformers are still hunting for solutions.Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com

The Gates Foundation is regrouping after its latest school improvement disappointment, but it’s not bowing out of the education reform business.

As the philanthropic powerhouse...

Let them eat carp: Fish farms are helping to fight hunger

Written by Ben Belton, Assistant Professor of International Development, Michigan State University

Farmed fish like these carp now make an important contribution to global food security.Ben Belton, CC BY-ND

Over the past three decades, the global aquaculture industry has risen from obscurity to become a critical source of food for millions of people. In 1990, only 13 percent of world seafood consumption was farmed; by 2014, aquaculture was...

Perish not publish? New study quantifies the lack of female authors in scientific journals

Written by Ione Fine, Professor of Psychology, University of Washington

It's not good if women's research isn't in the library stacks.Redd Angelo on Unsplash, CC BY

“Publish or perish” is tattooed on the mind of every academic. Like it or loathe it, publishing in high-profile journals is the fast track to positions in prestigious universities with illustrious colleagues and lavish resources, celebrated...