The Conversation

The ‘giant sucking sound’ of NAFTA: Ross Perot was ridiculed as alarmist in 1992 but his warning turned out to be prescient

Written by Harley Shaiken, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies and Professor of Letters and Science, University of California, Berkeley

Perot become a household name after making an independent run for president in 1992.AP Photo/Doug Mills

H. Ross Perot famously had a way with words that galvanized ordinary Americans and helped him become the most successful third-party candidate since 1912.

He hurled one of his most well-known lines during a 1992 debate with Bill Clinton and...

Trump's order for more action on kidney disease may shrink organ transplant waitlists

Written by Amit Tevar, Associate Professor of Surgery; Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program, Starzl Transplant Institute, University of Pittsburgh

Every year, thousands of Americans with kidney failure who could benefit from life-saving transplants can’t get the organs they need.

A record number of people are dying while waiting for an organ to become available that might have saved their lives. An executive order President Donald Trump signed on July 10, 2019 could help some of them.

It...

Erdoğan's control over Turkey is ending – what comes next?

Written by Gary M. Grossman, Associate Director, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University

Mayoral elections in Turkish cities do not usually grab the world’s attention.

But the defeat of the ruling party’s candidate for Istanbul mayor – once during its March election and then again, even more definitively in a June rematch – is a sign that Turkey’s most powerful political party is losing its influence...

Ticks spread plenty more for you to worry about beyond Lyme disease

Written by Jerome Goddard, Extension Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University

There's a short window between when a tick bites and when it passes on bacteria or virus.MSU Ag Communications, Courtesy Dr. Tina Nations, CC BY-ND

When it comes to problems caused by ticks, Lyme disease hogs a lot of the limelight. But various tick species carry and transmit a collection of other pathogens, some of which cause serious, even fatal,...

Could black philanthropy help solve the black student debt crisis?

Written by Mako Fitts Ward, Clinical Assistant Professor, African and African American Studies & Women and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

Left: Robert Smith. Right (clockwise from left): Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Jay-Z, LeBron James and Nicki Minaj. Reuters, USA Today

When billionaire Robert E. Smith decided to pay off the student loans of the graduating class of 2019 at Morehouse College, he suggested that others follow his lead.

“Let’s make sure every class has the same...

The Trump administration wants to dismantle the agency overseeing 2 million federal workers – and weaken safeguards against partisanship

Written by Matthew May, Senior Research Associate, Boise State University

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter spoke at a Northern Virginia high school about civil service changes underway.AP Photo/Jeff Taylor

The U.S. government has put expertise and competence ahead of political considerations when it hires people for more than 135 years.

As a result of changes made during President Chester Arthur’s administration,...

Long before Armstrong and Aldrin, artists were stoking dreams of space travel

Written by Anne Collins Goodyear, Co-Director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Bowdoin College

Chesley Bonestell's detailed drawings of space stations in Collier's inspired millions of readers. James Vaughan/flickr, CC BY-NC

In the midst of the space race, Hereward Lester Cooke, the former co-director of the NASA Art Program, observed, “Space travel started in the imagination of the artist.”

If the 50th anniversary of the first...

DNA testing companies offer telomere testing – but what does it tell you about aging and disease risk?

Written by Patricia Opresko, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh

A telomere age test kit from Telomere Diagnostics Inc. and saliva collection kit from 23andMe.Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock.com

Over the past few years direct-to-consumer genetic tests that extract information from DNA in your chromosomes have become popular. Through a simple cheek swab, saliva collection or finger prick, companies offer the...

How your diet contributes to nutrient pollution and dead zones in lakes and bays

Written by Donald Scavia, Professor Emeritus, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Charter boat Capt. Dave Spangler holds a sample of algae from Maumee Bay in Lake Erie, Sept. 15, 2017.AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File

Every year in early summer, scientists at universities, research institutions and federal agencies release forecasts for the formation of “dead zones” and harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico, the...

Commercial supersonic aircraft could return to the skies

Written by Iain Boyd, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan

Don't call it a comeback.Aero Icarus/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Flying faster than the speed of sound still sounds futuristic for regular people, more than 15 years after the last commercial supersonic flights ended. The planes that made those journeys, the 14 aircraft collectively known as the Concorde, flew from 1976 to 2003. It traveled three...