The Conversation

For a North Korean refugee raising her kids in the UK, the past is never far

Written by Jieun Baek, PhD candidate in Public Policy, University of Oxford

Jihyun Park finds joy in the little things many take for granted, whether it's being able to drop her kids off at school or having family dinners. Author provided

Grace Park is an 8-year-old girl from Manchester, United Kingdom, who likes making colorful bracelets with plastic lanyards, playing games with her two older brothers, and writing poems...

I visited the Rohingya refugee camps and here is what Bangladesh is doing right

Written by Sabrina Karim, Assistant Professor, Caplan Faculty Fellow, Cornell University

What is the future of Rohingya refugees?AP Photo/Manish Swarup

Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar since September 2017. The Bangladeshi government’s plan to start repatriating them beginning this Tuesday, Jan. 22, has been postponed due to concerns about their safety.

That the Bangladesh government agreed...

How secure is your data when it's stored in the cloud?

Written by Haibin Zhang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Is this cloud secure?SWEviL/Shutterstock.com

As cloud storage becomes more common, data security is an increasing concern. Companies and schools have been increasing their use of services like Google Drive for some time, and lots of individual users also store files on Dropbox, Box, Amazon Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and the like. They’re no...

The hidden health inequalities that American Indians and Alaskan Natives face

Written by Annie Belcourt, Associate Professor of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Montana

Tribally led wellness encampment in Wyoming.Gordon Belcourt, CC BY-SA

I was an American Indian student pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology in the 1990s, when I realized the stark contrast between my life experiences growing up on my home reservation and those of my non-Native peers.

Many incredible family members and friends had...

The world on a billionaire's budget

Written by Andrew D. Hwang, Associate Professor of Mathematics, College of the Holy Cross

Jeff Bezos is now the richest person in the world.Reed Saxon/AP Photo

The world’s wealthiest are prospering. As of February 2017, there were about 2,000 billionaires in the world. This micro-elite controls over US$7.6 trillion, an increase of 18 percent from 2016.

A billionaire’s spending power is difficult to grasp, both because most...

Don't automate the fun out of life

Written by Peter Hancock, Professor of Psychology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida

Would a robot appreciate this view?soft_light/Shutterstock.com

Imagine you are about to go on vacation. You have been looking forward to it for some time. But your robotic personal assistant has other ideas. It calmly explains to you that it will be cheaper, safer and more efficient for it to take your place on the holiday trip.

In one sense,...

Look up at the super blue blood full moon Jan. 31 – here's what you'll see and why

Written by Shannon Schmoll, Director, Abrams Planetarium, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University

As long as clouds don't get in the way, the view should be spectacular.NASA Goddard, CC BY

During the early hours of Jan. 31, there will be a full moon, a total lunar eclipse, a blue moon and a supermoon – all at the same time. None of these things is really all that unusual by itself. What is rare is that they’re happening all together...

4 things you need to know right now to protect yourself from the flu

Written by Arnold Monto, Professor, Epidemiology, University of Michigan

Donnie Cardenas, on bed, waits with his roommate Torrey Jewett at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif., Jan. 10, 2018. Cardenas had the flu.AP Photo/Greg Bull

This has been a particularly bad influenza season, starting early especially in the South and West Coast in the U.S. This follows a severe season in Australia during our summer.

There...

How talented kids from low-income families become America's 'Lost Einsteins'

Written by Alexander Bell, PhD Candidate, Economics, Harvard University

New research concludes that there are many “Lost Einsteins” in America – children who had the ability to become inventors but didn't because of where they were born.Shutterstock.com

Innovation is widely viewed as the engine of economic growth.

To maximize innovation and growth, all of our brightest youth should have the opportunity...

DACA isn't just about social justice – legalizing Dreamers makes economic sense too

Written by Amy Hsin, Associate Professor of Sociology, City University of New York

Demonstrators chant slogans during an immigration rally in support of DACA.AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Earlier this month, hopes were high that a bipartisan deal could be reached to resolve the fate of the “Dreamers,” the millions of undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. as children.

Those hopes all but vanished on Jan. 11 as...