The Conversation

Insects were not what my girlfriends wanted to study, until we 'met' Dana Scully

Written by Jessica Ware, Associate Professor of Biology, Rutgers University Newark

Among women who are familiar with Scully’s character in 'The X-Files,' half say Scully increased their interest in STEM fields, according to a report. Photos are courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Insects, those creepy, crawly residents of nature’s demi-monde, were not what the girls in my high...

25 Years after The X-Files premiered, Dana Scully is still inspiring women to pursue STEM careers

Written by Jessica Ware, Associate Professor of Biology, Rutgers University Newark

Insects, those creepy, crawly residents of nature’s demi-monde, were not what the girls in my high...

Violence against the media isn't new – history shows why it largely disappeared and has now returned

Written by Jennifer E. Moore, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Minnesota Duluth

The Capital Gazette in Annapolis lost five staffers in a shootingAP/Patrick Semansky

Another news outlet has been attacked in the United States.

A man rammed his car repeatedly into Fox affiliate KDFW in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 5. We can now add this to the growing list of recent attacks on — and violent threats to — the media.

A man...

Green Bay Packers fans love that their team doesn't have an owner – just don't call it 'communism'

Written by Alan J. Kellner, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Northwestern University

In July, I was walking with my parents through the newly constructed Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a new community development across the street from Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers play their home games. It features a local brewpub, a boutique hotel, free outdoor games like foosball and shuffleboard and a large practice...

Kavanaugh's 'judge as umpire' metaphor sounds neutral but it's deeply conservative

Written by William Blake, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh invoked baseball to explain his judicial philosophy at his confirmation hearing.

“A good judge,” he said in his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 4, “must be an umpire – a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy.”

This is...

Ten years of Large Hadron Collider discoveries are just the start of decoding the universe

Written by Todd Adams, Professor of Physics, Florida State University

The activity during a high-energy collision at the CMS control room of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, at their headquarters outside Geneva, Switzerland. AP Photo

Ten years! Ten years since the start of operations for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), one of the most complex machines ever created. The LHC is the world’s...

Consejos para preparar almuerzos saludables para niños, sin estrés

Written by Molly Paulson, Clinical Instructor, Georgia State University

Un plato principal de carbohidratos y proteínas complejos es importante para el almuerzo de los niños; se puede complementar con frutas, vegetales y agua.baibaz/Shutterstock.com

Con el comienzo del curso escolar, es hora de comenzar a pensar cómo preparar el almuerzo que su hijo llevará a la escuela.

Para muchos padres...

How passports evolved to help governments regulate your movement

Written by John Torpey, Presidential Professor of Sociology and History, City University of New York

A security officer checks a traveler's passport.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

The Trump administration is denying passports to U.S. citizens who live in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to news reports.

The administration is accusing applicants of having inadequate documentation of their birth on U.S. soil, and refusing to issue them...

Key internet connections and locations at risk from rising seas

Written by Carol Barford, Associate Scientist; Director, Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The process of laying internet cables on the sea floor is particularly sensitive at the coastlines.Gail Johnson/Shutterstock.com

Despite whimsical ads about computing “in the cloud,” the internet lives on the ground. Data centers are built on land, and most of the physical elements of the internet – such as the cables that connect...

Canada will be part of Trump's new NAFTA – corporate lobbyists on both sides of the border will ensure it

Written by Christina Fattore, Associate Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University

The announcement last month that the U.S. and Mexico had reached an agreement to replace NAFTA without Canada surprised trade experts around the globe. A deadline of Aug. 31 was set for the Canadians to join or be left out in the cold – and hit with fresh tariffs.

The news was stunning because negotiators for all three countries had been...