The Conversation

What big data can tell us about how a book becomes a best-seller

Written by Albert-László Barabási, Author of The Formula, Linked, and Bursts, Northeastern University

Factors ranging from the timing of a book's release to its subject matter can determine whether it will crack the vaunted list.Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com

The average American reads 12 or 13 books a year, but with over 3 million books in print, the choices they face are staggering.

Despite the introduction of 100,000 new titles each year, only...

Forget lanes – we all need to head together toward preventing firearm injury

Written by Michael Hirsh, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Many of us working in the “Gun Sense” field – that is, finding a middle ground position to advance firearm safety and reduce preventable injury in our patients – had an “a-ha” moment that led us to toil in these fields.

Mine was on Nov. 2, 1981, when my friend and co-resident Dr. John C. Wood II was shot right...

Test prep is a rite of passage for many Asian-Americans

Written by Julie J. Park, Associate Professor of Education, University of Maryland

Students prep for the SAT at a test prep center in New York City.Kaplan Test Prep

When ACT released its latest test scores this past October, the results showed that average scores took a dip for every racial group in the United States except one – Asian-Americans.

A similar situation played out with the SAT. Asian-Americans experienced a gain...

5 ways to help robots work together with people

Written by Nancy Cooke, Professor of Human Systems Engineering, Arizona State University

Making the most of human-robot collaborations will require good teamwork.WeStudio/Shutterstock.com

For most people today, robots and smart systems are servants that work in the background, vacuuming carpets or turning lights on and off. Or they’re machines that have taken over repetitive human jobs from assembly-line workers and bank tellers....

Low-income parents want a white picket fence, not just money, before getting married

Written by Christina Gibson-Davis, Associate Professor of Sociology, Duke University

Before they walk down the aisle, many couples want to own a house, have a bank account and have a job that offers health insurance.MNStudio/shutterstock.com

Marriage rates in the U.S. are declining, especially among the lowest-income Americans.

However, in October, wage growth in the U.S. hit a nine-year high, with low-wage workers seeing some of...

In Georgia's gubernatorial race, Stacey Abrams' strategy may make victory easier for future black candidates in the South

Written by Andra Gillespie, Associate Professor, Political Science, Emory University

Democrat Stacey Abrams was poised to become America’s first black female governor in Georgia during the 2018 midterms.

She lost by only 1.5 percentage points. Because of allegations of voter suppression, Abrams felt duty-bound to legally challenge potential voting irregularities before offering any type of concession. By the time she...

Companies blocked from using West Coast ports to export fossil fuels keep seeking workarounds

Written by Shawn Olson-Hazboun, Faculty, Graduate Program on the Environment, Evergreen State College

One of the many would-be sites for fossil fuel exports in Washington state.AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

A year after Washington state denied key permits for a coal-export terminal in the port city of Longview, the Army Corps of Engineers announced it would proceed with its review – essentially ignoring the state’s decision.

This dispute pits...

Trump, Saudi Arabia and the Khashoggi case: What would Obama have done?

Written by Steven Feldstein, Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs & Associate Professor, School of Public Service, Boise State University

President Donald TrumpAP Photo/Evan Vucci

After weeks of ratcheting tension about who authorized the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump sought to put an end to the debate.

He issued a blunt public statement asserting that “we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,”...

Rogue science strikes again: The case of the first gene-edited babies

Written by G. Owen Schaefer, Research Assistant Professor in Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore

Chinese scientists led by He Jiankui claimed they used CRISPR to modify human embryos that eventually were born as twin girls.AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The idea of scientists tinkering with the genes of babies was once the provenance of science fiction, but now it’s entered the realm of reality: On Nov. 26, Chinese scientist He Jiankui...

The road to enhancement, via human gene editing, is paved with good intentions

Written by John Evans, Professor of Sociology, University of California San Diego

A Chinese scientist claims he edited the DNA of twin girls during an in vitro fertilization procedure. CI Photos / Shutterstock.com

It appears that researchers in China have facilitated the birth of the first “designer baby” – actually babies, twin girls who are supposedly genetically resistant to HIV. The scientist who created...