The Conversation

Lafayette helped Americans turn the tide in their fight for independence – and 50 years later, he helped forge the growing nation’s sense of identity

Written by Matthew Smith, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Miami University

Jean Marie Joseph Bove's depiction of Lafayette returning to the U.S. The caption says, 'A great man belongs to the whole universe.'Blancheteau Collection/Cornell University Library via Wikimedia Commons

America is nearing the 250th anniversary of its revolutionary birth, the Declaration of Independence. July 4, 2026, will mark a milestone –...

If people stopped having babies, how long would it be before humans were all gone?

Written by Michael A. Little, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York

When the population plunges, it can get pretty lonely. Sean Gallup/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.

If people stopped having babies, how long would it be before humans were all gone? – Jeffrey

Very few people...

From Kent State to Los Angeles, using armed forces to police civilians is a high-risk strategy

Written by Brian VanDeMark, Professor of History, United States Naval Academy

Smoke and tear gas surround a protester in Los Angeles on June 7, 2025, amid confrontations between immigration rights advocates and law enforcement personnel.Taurat Hossain/Anadolu via Getty Images

Responding to street protests in Los Angeles against federal immigration enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered 2,000 soldiers from the...

Coral reefs face an uncertain recovery from the 4th global mass bleaching event – can climate refuges help?

Written by Noam Vogt-Vincent, Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Biology, University of Hawaii

The Great Barrier Reef stretches for 1,429 miles just off Australia's northeastern coast.Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Image

Tropical reefs might look like inanimate rock, but these colorful seascapes are built by tiny jellyfish-like animals called corals. While adult corals build solid structures that are firmly attached to the sea...

Was the Boulder attack terrorism or a hate crime? 2 experts unpack the complexities

Written by Frederic Lemieux, Professor of the Practice and Faculty Director of the Master's in Applied Intelligence, Georgetown University

A woman places flowers outside the Boulder, Colo., courthouse after an attack that injured 12 people. David Zalubowski/AP Photo

Twelve people in Boulder, Colorado, were injured by a man wielding a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails on June 1, 2025. Those burned in the attack were taking part in a peaceful, silent walk on Pearl Street, a...

Beyond de-extinction and dire wolves, gene editing can help today’s endangered species

Written by Alex Erwin, Assistant Professor of Law, Florida International University

Only a few hundred red wolves still exist, most in captivity.JeffGoulden/E+ via Getty Images

Have you been hearing about the dire wolf lately? Maybe you saw a massive white wolf on the cover of Time magazine or a photo of “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin holding a puppy named after a character from his books.

The dire wolf, a...

‘The Eternal Queen of Asian Pop’ sings one last encore from beyond the grave

Written by Xianda Huang, PhD student in Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles

Teresa Teng, who died in 1995, still has legions of fans around the world.Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty Images

Several years ago, an employee at Universal Music came across a cassette tape in a Tokyo warehouse while sorting through archival materials. On it was a recording by the late Taiwanese pop star Teresa Teng that had never been...

US health care is rife with high costs and deep inequities, and that’s no accident – a public health historian explains how the system was shaped to serve profit and politicians

Written by Zachary W. Schulz, Senior Lecturer of History, Auburn University

Concessions to the private sector are one reason why health care is so costly.FS Productions/Tetra images via Getty Images

A few years ago, a student in my history of public health course asked why her mother couldn’t afford insulin without insurance, despite having a full-time job. I told her what I’ve come to believe: The U.S. health...

Debates over presidential power to suspend habeas corpus resurface in Trump administration

Written by Brooks D. Simpson, Foundation Professor of History, Arizona State University

There's a conflict brewing over the rights of the arrested and detained; it's not a new conflict.busra İspir, iStock/Getty Images Plus

The principle of habeas corpus, a legal phrase, is a simple one: Translated from the Latin as “produce the body,” it provides that a judge may compel prosecutors to supply evidence to determine...

Early visions of Mars: Meet the 19th-century astronomer who used science fiction to imagine the red planet

Written by Matthew Shindell, Curator, Planetary Science and Exploration, Smithsonian Institution

Camille Flammarion's work imagined what might exist beyond Earth in the universe. Three Lions/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Living in today’s age of ambitious robotic exploration of Mars, with an eventual human mission to the red planet likely to happen one day, it is hard to imagine a time when Mars was a mysterious and unreachable world....