The Conversation

Porn 'disruption' makes Stormy Daniels a rare success in increasingly abusive industry

Written by Gail Dines, Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, Wheelock College

Stormy Daniels is the rare 'porn star' to find success. She was even briefly a Senate contender in 2009.AP Photo/Bill Haber

Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, rocketed to fame recently by challenging a non-disclosure agreement tied to the US$130,000 payoff she received to keep silent about her alleged sexual relationship with the...

Local media struggle to hold Sinclair accountable

Written by Andrea Hickerson, Director of the School of Communication and Associate Professor of Journalism, Rochester Institute of Technology

A screenshot from the Deadspin montage, which featured news anchors repeating the same script decrying 'fake news.'Deadspin

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s stations are under renewed scrutiny following Deadspin’s release of a montage of anchors reading the same script about fake news.

Since then, many of the anchors featured in the video have...

Mormonism's newest apostles reflect growing global reach

Written by Matthew Bowman, Associate Professor of History, Henderson State University

People attend the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 31, 2018, in Salt Lake City.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

At its annual General Conference held from March 31 to April 1, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons), announced two new members of its second highest governing...

Election security means much more than just new voting machines

Written by Jamie Winterton, Director of Strategy, Global Security Initiative, Arizona State University

Testing a new voting machine is a good start.AP Photo/David Goldman

In late March, Congress passed a significant spending bill that included US$380 million in state grants to improve election infrastructure. As the U.S. ramps up for the 2018 midterm elections, that may seem like a huge amount of money, but it’s really only a start at securing...

Why the extreme reaction to Obamacare could be the new normal in American politics

Written by Simon F. Haeder, Assistant Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University

House Speaker Paul Ryan's attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act in March 2017 was just one of many to undo the health law.AP Photo/Susan Walsh

It has been more than eight years since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Many may not remember the tumultuous scenes in Washington, D.C., and around the nation that preceded its passage. Town...

Why nuclear fusion is gaining steam – again

Written by Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

The coils winding facility building in France, where a global effort to build the ITER fusion energy reactor is underwayRob Crandall/Shutterstock.com

Back when I studied geology in grad school, the long-term future of energy had a single name: nuclear fusion. It was the 1970s. The physicists I studied with predicted that tapping this clean new...

Goodbye Kepler, hello TESS: Passing the baton in the search for distant planets

Written by Jason Steffen, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Imagined view from Kepler-10b, a planet that orbits one of the 150,000 stars that the Kepler spacecraft is monitoring.NASA/Kepler Mission/Dana Berry, CC BY

For centuries, human beings have wondered about the possibility of other Earths orbiting distant stars. Perhaps some of these alien worlds would harbor strange forms of life or have unique and...

Why double-majors might beat you out of a job

Written by Matthew J. Mayhew, William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State University

New research shows double majors have a big competitive advantage in one critical area.fizkes/Shutterstock

Two college majors are better than one. That is the conclusion that researchers are beginning to reach.

Prior research has already shown that students who double major can earn more than peers who majored in only one field.

New research we...

Why weather forecasters still struggle to get the big storms right

Written by Jeffrey B. Halverson, Professor of Geography & Environmental Systems, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Snow on the ground after a winter storm. NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response

It was March 2017, and a winter storm named Stella promised to deliver up to a foot and a half of snow to New York City and parts of New Jersey. Officials pushed out blizzard warnings, suggesting the city was under imminent snowy siege.

But only 7 inches fell. Then-Gov. Chris...

Coral reefs are in crisis – but scientists are finding effective ways to restore them

Written by Deron Burkepile, Associate Professor of Ecology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Juvenile blue tang sheltering in restored staghorn coral.Mark Ladd, CC BY-ND

These are bleak times for coral reefs. Warming ocean waters, disease outbreaks, pollution, sedimentation, careless scuba divers, destructive fishing practices, and a host of other global and local stressors are decimating coral populations at unprecedented rates.

If there...