The Conversation

¿Por qué nuestro cerebro siempre encuentra problemas?

Written by David Levari, Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychology, Harvard University

¿Cómo puede alguien saber si está progresando en la resolución de un problema, si el cerebro humano está diseñado para continuamente redefinir las condiciones de esa resolución?ra2studio/www.shutterstock.com

¿Por qué en la vida se nos presentan tantos problemas que parecen aferrarse a...

How 'story maps' redraw the world using people's real-life experiences

Written by Lauren Drakopulos, PhD Candidate, Department of Georgaphy, University of Washington

Story maps like this one can help policymakers better understand and respond to the needs of recently resettled refugees. S. Juneja, Author provided

Maps are an important part of our everyday lives.

We use them for driving directions, to look up restaurants or stores and parse election data. We can even use smartphone maps to locate friends when...

Profit, not free speech, governs media companies' decisions on controversy

Written by Amanda Lotz, Fellow, Peabody Media Center; Professor of Media Studies, University of Michigan

What causes a media business to bar the door?yanin kongurai/Shutterstock.com

For decades, U.S. media companies have limited the content they’ve offered based on what’s good for business. The decisions by Apple, Spotify, Facebook and YouTube to remove content from commentator Alex Jones and his InfoWars platform follow this same pattern.

M...

Apple's $1 trillion value doesn't mean it's the 'biggest' company

Written by Jerry Davis, Professor of Management and Sociology, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

On Aug. 2, Apple became the first U.S. public corporation to achieve a US$1 trillion valuation, making it the largest company in the world – by one measure at least.

A New York Times article proclaimed that this milestone “reflects the rise of powerful megacompanies” that control a large and growing share of all corporate...

Why Trump shouldn't leverage the government's emergency oil supply to bolster the GOP

Written by Peter Shulman, Associate Professor of History, Case Western Reserve University

President Gerald Ford discussing plans for a Strategic Petroleum Reserve with workers in California in 1975Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum

President Donald Trump has publicly griped about the prices of oil and gasoline, which are at their highest levels in four years.

If oil supplies were to suddenly grow, those prices might well...

What is causing Florida's algae crisis? 5 questions answered

Written by Karl Havens, Professor, Director of Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida

Algae cover the surface of the Caloosahatchee River at the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam, July 12, 2018, in Alva, Florida. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Editor’s note: Two large-scale algae outbreaks in Florida are killing fish and threatening public health. Along the southwest coast, one of the longest-lasting red tide outbreaks in the state’s...

Climate change and wildfires – how do we know if there is a link?

Written by Kevin Trenberth, Distinguished Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research

A firefighter runs after trying to save a home in Lakeport, California, suffering its biggest fires ever.AP Photo/Noah Berger

Once again, the summer of 2018 in the Northern Hemisphere has brought us an epidemic of major wildfires.

These burn forests, houses and other structures, displace thousands of people and animals, and cause major disruptions...

From breast implants to ice cube trays: How silicone took over our kitchens

Written by Kiersten Muenchinger, Tim and Mary Boyle Chair in Material Studies and Product Design, University of Oregon

One plastic is particularly well-suited for the kitchen's extreme temperatures.Oksana Shufrych

One of my ice cube trays is a small, yellow novelty tray that, when placed in the freezer, molds water into little duck-shaped pieces of ice.

You’ve probably seen ice cube trays like this in all types of shapes, from airplanes to superhero logos.

Whi...

Flip a switch and shut down seizures? New research suggests how to turn off out-of-control signaling in the brain

Written by Rochelle Hines, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

In an epileptic brain, the neurons fire wildly.Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com

The brain is a precision instrument. Its function depends on finely calibrated electrical activity triggering the release of chemical messages between neurons.

But sometimes the brain’s careful balance is knocked out of control, as in epilepsy....

Argentina rejects legal abortion — and not all Catholics are celebrating

Written by Verónica Giménez Béliveau, Religion and Society Professor, Universidad de Buenos Aires

An abortion rights advocate after Argentina's Senate rejected a bill to legalize abortion, 38-31.AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

Unswayed by the estimated 2 million abortion rights activists gathered outside its doors, Argentina’s conservative-leaning Senate on August 9 rejected a bill that would have made abortion legal up to 14 weeks of...