The Conversation

Too many airplane systems rely on too few sensors

Written by Carlos Varela, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Planes have many sensors, supplying all kinds of useful data.vaalaa/Shutterstock.com

The apparent connection between fatal airplane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia centers around the failure of a single sensor. I know what that’s like: A few years ago, while I was flying a Cessna 182-RG from Albany, New York, to Fort Meade, Maryland, my...

In the name of 'amateurism,' college athletes make money for everyone except themselves

Written by Jasmine Harris, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ursinus College

College athletes are prohibited from profiting from their performance.Jessica Hill/AP

As millions of people tune in to watch the Final Four, much of their focus will be on the numbers on the scoreboard. But a March 2019 report from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, calls attention to numbers of a different sort.

The report –...

Nixon and Reagan tried closing the border to pressure Mexico – here's what happened

Written by Aileen Teague, Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University

Nixon's Operation Intercept in 1969 led to massive traffic jams. AP Photo

Just a week ago, President Donald Trump appeared poised to take the drastic step of closing the U.S.-Mexico border to both trade and travel. He said he wanted to stop the flood of Central American migrants entering the United States but also punish Mexico for failing to do so....

Climate research needs to change to help communities plan for the future

Written by Robert Kopp, Professor, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Director, Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University

How can we design projects, such as tunnels, to last decades yet still account for the uncertain effects of climate change?AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

Climate change is a chronic challenge – it is here now, and will be with us throughout this century and beyond. As the U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment report made clear,...

Putin's plagiarism, fake Ukrainian degrees and other tales of world leaders accused of academic fraud

Written by Ararat Osipian, Visiting Professor, George Mason University

In some countries, politicians are routinely exposed for having lied about their academic achievement.Shutterstock

A recent college admissions scandal in the United States, which revealed that wealthy parents had bribed officials at elite universities, exposed the price some people are willing to pay to say, “I went to an Ivy League school.&rd...

It can take a village to feed hungry kids in schools

Written by Sarah Riggs Stapleton, Assistant Professor, Education Studies, College of Education, University of Oregon

Assembling backpacks of food for students to take home in Flint, Mich.Kathleen Payton/Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, CC BY-SA

One in 6 American children faces hunger and 3 out of 4 teachers report regularly seeing hungry kids in their classrooms. In response, school meals make up a large fraction of federal food assistance.

The National School Lunch...

Female astronauts: How performance products like space suits and bras are designed to pave the way for women's accomplishments

Written by Susan L. Sokolowski, Director & Associate Professor: Sports Product Design, University of Oregon

Anne McClain of NASA runs through procedures in the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft during a vehicle fit check Nov. 20. NASA/Victor Zelentsov, CC BY-ND

On my first day of spring break, I woke up to way more emails than necessary and a flurry of activity on my social media. Acquaintances from near and far wrote about “patriarchy,” “NASA...

An industrialized global food supply chain threatens human health – here's how to improve it

Written by Robyn Metcalfe, Lecturer in Human Ecology, University of Texas at Austin

Distribution center for the UK grocer Sainsbury, Waltham Point, England.Nick Saltmarsh, CC BY

In an outbreak that has now run for more than 28 months, at least 279 people across 41 states have fallen ill with multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw turkey products. Federal investigators are still trying to determine the cause. In...

Artificial intelligence can now emulate human behaviors – soon it will be dangerously good

Written by Ana Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis University

Is this face just an assembly of computer bits?PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock.com

When artificial intelligence systems start getting creative, they can create great things – and scary ones. Take, for instance, an AI program that let web users compose music along with a virtual Johann Sebastian Bach by entering notes into a program...

Congressional oversight is at the heart of America's democracy

Written by Derek W. Black, Professor of Law, University of South Carolina

Lawmakers have the power to constrain the White House. AP Photo/Susan Walsh

President Donald Trump increasingly acts as though he believes he can ignore Congress and set wide-ranging national policies on his own.

He has, for instance, recently taken unilateral steps to cut off foreign aid to countries he says are sending too many migrants to the...