The Conversation

California aims to become carbon-free by 2045. Is that feasible?

Written by Sarah Kurtz, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Merced

Monitoring the flow of electrical power at the California Independent System Operator grid control centerAP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new law mandating that the electricity the state consumes not cause carbon emissions by 2045.

He also issued an executive order that goes even further: It commits California...

How meteorologists predict the next big hurricane

Written by Mark Bourassa, Professor of Meteorology, Florida State University

Hurricane Florence is heading toward the U.S. coast, right at the height of hurricane season.

Hurricanes can cause immense damage due to the winds, waves and rain, not to mention the chaos as the general population prepares for severe weather.

The latter is getting more relevant, as the monetary damage from disasters is trending up. The growing...

'Treason' is now a popular word – here's what it really means

Written by Robert A. Sedler, Distinguished Professor of Law, Wayne State University

In the furor over the anonymous New York Times op-ed by a Trump administration “senior official,” the word “treason” has been used by a variety of people.

President Trump tweeted “TREASON?” in an apparent reference to the op-ed’s author. Trump’s supporters have likewise used the word in attacks on...

Los activistas que luchan por abolir el ICE plantean una visión más amplia

Written by A. Naomi Paik, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Los manifestantes plantean abolir el ICE.Gregory Bull/AP

Actualmente en el periodo electoral de Estados Unidos, la frase: “Abolir ICE” ha cobrado fuerzas. Es un hashtag, se usa en discursos políticos y manifestaciones, y aparece por todo Facebook.

¿Qué significa esto y en qué momento surgió el concepto?

I...

Can the census ask if you're a citizen? Here's what's at stake in court battles over the 2020 census

Written by Jonathan Entin, Professor Emeritus of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University

Critics worry a citizenship question will dissuade people from answering census takers in 2020.U.S. Census Bureau, CC BY-NC-ND

For the first time in decades, the 2020 census will include a question asking whether or not each counted person is a citizen.

When Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross directed that the 2020 census include that question, he...

Why al-Qaida is still strong 17 years after 9/11

Written by Tricia Bacon, Assistant Professor of Justice, Law & Criminology, American University School of Public Affairs

Seventeen years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida conducted the most destructive terrorist attack in history.

An unprecedented onslaught from the U.S. followed. One-third of al-Qaida’s leadership was killed or captured in the following year. The group lost its safe haven in Afghanistan, including its extensive training infrastructure there....

Minority job applicants with 'strong racial identities' may encounter less pay and lower odds of getting hired

Written by George B. Cunningham, Professor of Sport Management and Sr. Assistant Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies, Texas A&M University

Research has shown African-Americans get fewer job callbacks than whites.astarot/Shutterstock.com

Race-based discrimination is common in the hiring process.

For example, racial minorities are less likely than whites to receive a callback when they apply for a job. There are also wide earning gaps, with African-Americans and Latinos earning a...

Welcome to the new Meghalayan age – here's how it fits with the rest of Earth's geologic history

Written by Steve Petsch, Associate Professor of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst

India's Mawmluh Cave, home of the reference stalagmite for the newly named age.Abhijeet Khedgikar/Shutterstock.com

Jurassic, Pleistocene, Precambrian. The named times in Earth’s history might inspire mental images of dinosaurs, trilobites or other enigmatic animals unlike anything in our modern world.

Labels like these are part of a system...

The friendship of Michelle Obama and George W. Bush strikes a hopeful, important chord

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

Michelle Obama hugs George W. Bush at the opening of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on Sept. 24, 2016.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Earlier this month, a video showing George Bush passing candy to Michelle Obama at the funeral of John McCain went viral. That such a simple act of kindness should attract such wide...

When MSNBC or Fox News airs in public places, how do people react?

Written by Frank Waddell, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Florida

Have you been traveling and noticed that all the televisions in an airport terminal were set to CNN? Or grabbed a drink at a bar and realized that Fox News was being broadcast to its customers?

You might grouse that you’re being forced to watch something that doesn’t jive with your political views. Or maybe you think it’s no big...