The Conversation

Privatizing essential human services like the VA can come at a high social cost

Written by Sebastian Jilke, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University Newark

For-profit service providers may use discrimination as a way to make more money.wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

Over the years, countries have privatized dozens of services and activities once the sole domain of governments, such as the provision of electricity and water, road operations, prisons and even health care, with the ostensible aim of...

70 years of instant photos, thanks to inventor Edwin Land's Polaroid camera

Written by Ann Elsner, Professor of Optometry, Indiana University

It's been 70 years of instant photography, thanks to Edwin Land, on the left.AP Photo

It probably happens every minute of the day: A little girl demands to see the photo her parent has just taken of her. Today, thanks to smartphones and other digital cameras, we can see snapshots immediately, whether we want to or not. But in 1944 when 3-year-old...

Wildfire risks are high again this year – here's what travelers need to know

Written by Ragan Adams, Coordinator, Veterinary Extension Specialist Group, Colorado State University

The Berry Fire burns in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, August 27, 2016.AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File

Memorial Day marks the traditional opening of the summer travel season. This year the American Automobile Association projects that more than 41.5 million Americans will hit the road over Memorial Day weekend, nearly 5 percent more than last...

Why the EPA's 'secret science' proposal alarms public health experts

Written by Bernard Goldstein, Professor Emeritus, Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh

The landmark Harvard Six Cities study found a strong link between air pollution and health risks.Pixabay

Later this month, the EPA could finalize a controversial rule to limit what scientific research the agency can use in writing environmental regulations.

I write as an academic who has been involved in air pollution issues for over 50 years and a...

Venezuelans are boycotting their presidential election

Written by Marco Aponte-Moreno, Assistant Professor of Global Business, St Mary's College of California

Despite his 20 percent approval rate, President Nicolas Maduro is almost assured a win in Venezuela's May 20 election. The opposition says the vote is a "farce."REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Venezuela’s May 20 presidential election may be an election in name only.

Nicolás Maduro is widely expected to be reelected as Venezuela’s...

Diet soda may be hurting your diet

Written by Eunice Zhang, Clinical Fellow of Preventive Medicine, University of Michigan

Coca-Cola is the world's most popular carbonated soft drink. The original is made with sugar, but the others contain artificial sweeteners that are now linked to a rise in obesity and diabetes.By Chones/shutterstock.com

Artificial sweeteners are everywhere, but the jury is still out on whether these chemicals are harmless. Also called non-nutritive...

What is 5G? The next generation of wireless, explained

Written by Jan Rabaey, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley

How fast will mobile data get?alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com

Every decade or so, the wireless industry rolls out a new cellular communications standard that can transmit more data more quickly. Already under development is the next round, called “5G” because it’s the fifth major generation of these standards for encoding and...

Why America needs a new approach to school desegregation

Written by Jerry Rosiek, Professor of Education Studies, University of Oregon

Despite decades of attempts at integration, America's school remain largely segregated.Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

Despite all the time and effort invested desegregating the nation’s schools over the past half century, the reality is America’s schools are more segregated now than they were in 1968.

Keep that statistic in mind as...

A peek into the lives of Puerto Rican Muslims and what Ramadan means post Hurricane Maria

Written by Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida

Muslims praying in Puerto Rico.AP Photo/Tomas van Houtryve

For Juan, Ramadan is a balancing act. On the one hand is his religious faith and practice. On the other is his land, his culture, his home: Puerto Rico.

Although he weaves these two elements of his identity together in many ways, during Ramadan, the borderline between them becomes palpable....

Donald Glover and the state of 'black genius'

Written by Phillip L. Cunningham, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, Quinnipiac University

Donald Glover, under his hip-hop pseudonym Childish Gambino, recently released a provocative music video for his single, “This Is America.”

The video, with its violent imagery and references to blackface minstrels, came as a surprise for Childish Gambino fans previously accustomed to his witty, sardonic style. As a result, it has been...