The Conversation

Using the placenta to understand how complex organs evolve

Written by Oliver Griffith, Postdoctoral Associate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University

Developing lizard embryo beneath placental tissues.Oliver Griffith, CC BY-ND

Considering how different they look from the outside, it might be surprising that all vertebrates – animals with a backbone – share the same, conserved set of organs. Chickens, fish, human beings – all have hearts, livers, brains, kidneys and so on. Each...

How a study about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was doctored, adding to pain and stigma

Written by Steven Lubet, Williams Memorial Professor of Law, Northwestern University

Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton, who has worked with those who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, spoke to an open committee at the Institute of Medicine in February 2015 about the biomedical nature of CFS. Susan Walsh/AP

The public relies on scientists to report their findings accurately and completely, but that does not always happen. Too often, researchers...

What's the point of an ethics course?

Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University

Research shows that regular ethics training helps.O'Riordan Images, CC BY-NC

Earlier in March, news broke that the White House had declined to award a contract for an ethics course aimed at senior staffers, Cabinet nominees and others holding political appointments in the Trump administration.

The decision made news because the Trump administration...

Why polls seem to struggle to get it right – on elections and everything else

Written by Daniel Alexander, Professor of Mathematics, Drake University

Where are the people really going?kewl/flickr, CC BY

I am a professor of mathematics, so my ears perk up when I hear someone say that polls seem inaccurate.

The public understandably focuses on polling results and how much these results seem to vary. Take two presidential approval polls from March 21. Polling firm Rasmussen Reports reported that 50...

Immigrants deported under Obama share stories of terror and rights violations

Written by Tanya Golash-Boza, Professor, University of California, Merced

Marlene Mosqueda's father was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February.AP Photo/Nick Ut, File

Although it is difficult to get exact numbers, some estimates show Immigration and Customs Enforcement home raids have never resulted in more than 30,000 apprehensions in any given year. At that rate, it could take 366 years for...

The age of hacking brings a return to the physical key

Written by Jungwoo Ryoo, Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at Altoona campus, Pennsylvania State University

Have hackers driven us back to the age of the physical key?Bautsch

With all the news about Yahoo accounts being hacked and other breaches of digital security, it’s easy to wonder if there’s any real way to keep unauthorized users out of our email and social media accounts.

Everyone knows not to use the same username and password...

3-D printing turns nanomachines into life-size workers

Written by Chenfeng Ke, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Dartmouth College

Molecular machines are ready to join forces and take on real-world work.Chenfeng Ke, CC BY-ND

Nanomachines are tiny molecules – more than 10,000 lined up side by side would be narrower than the diameter of a human hair – that can move when they receive an external stimulus. They can already deliver medication within a body and serve as c...

Children understand far more about other minds than long believed

Written by Henrike Moll, Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Don't underestimate what I get about the world around me.Baby image via www.shutterstock.com.

Until a few decades ago, scholars believed that young children know very little, if anything, about what others are thinking. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who is credited with founding the scientific study of children’s thinking, was convinced...

Reducing and reusing wastewater: Six essential reads for World Water Day

Written by Jennifer Weeks, Editor, Environment and Energy, The Conversation

Last year's Olympic Games in Rio highlighted the health perils of contaminated waters. AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo

Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of archival stories.

Every year on March 22, the United Nations observes World Water Day to highlight the global water crisis. This year the focus is on reducing and reusing wastewater from...

Video games encourage Indigenous cultural expression

Written by Elizabeth LaPensée, Assistant Professor of Media and Information and Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures, Michigan State University

Indigenous games like 'Honour Water' can teach Indigenous values and ceremonial practices.Honour Water/Elizabeth LaPensée, CC BY-ND

Video games are robust forms of creative expression merging design, code, art and sound. Unfortunately, many games misrepresent or appropriate from Indigenous communities by falling back on stereotypes or...