The Conversation

Why the next two years are critical for the Paris climate deal's survival

Written by Henry D. Jacoby, Professor of Management (Emeritus) and Joint Program the Science and Policy of Global Change, MIT Sloan School of Management

Work cut out for them: Climate negotiators need to ensure the Paris Agreement can still hold.United Nations Climate Change, CC BY-NC

A mounting sense of urgency will greet negotiators as they arrive at this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland. In 2015, after 20 years of trying and failing to reach a global accord on...

I dig through archives to unearth hidden stories from African-American history

Written by Jane Landers, Professor of History, Vanderbilt University

Team member Felix Knight looks through archives at the Church of Espiritu Santo in Havana, Cuba.David LaFevor, CC BY-SA

Many years ago, as a graduate student searching in the archives of Spanish Florida, I discovered the first “underground railroad” of enslaved Africans escaping from Protestant Carolina to find religious sanctuary in...

CRISPR babies and other ethical missteps in science threaten China's global standing

Written by Caroline Wagner, Milton & Roslyn Wolf Chair in International Affairs, The Ohio State University

China's military may bear the brunt of hits to the country's scientific reputation.Roman Pilipey/Pool Photo via AP

“What happened this time was an ethics disaster for the world,” according to Wang Yuedan, a professor of immunology at Peking University, as quoted in The New York Times. He was talking about the recent claim by...

Spending too much time on your phone? Behavioral science has an app for that

Written by Ashley Whillans, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Just sitting on a park bench, completely ignoring each other.Vlad Teodor/shutterstock.com

We’re squandering increasing amounts of time distracted by our phones. And that’s taking a serious toll on our mental and physical well-being.

In 2017, U.S. adults spent an average of three hours and 20 minutes a day using their smartphones and...

Criticism of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's clothes echoes attacks against early female labor activists

Written by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Visiting Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Twenty-nine-year-old Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to be elected to Congress, talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.AP Photo/Susan Walsh

As the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has attracted much media attention.

A young outspoken woman who defines herself as...

Este activista alemán luchó por los derechos gay y trans hace cien años

Written by Elizabeth Heineman, Professor of History and Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa

Magnus Hirschfeld, a la derecha, junto a su compañero Tao Li en la cuarta conferencia de la Liga Mundial para la Reforma Sexual de 1932.Wellcome Images, CC BY

El gobierno de Trump continúa arremetiendo contra los derechos de las personas transgénero.

En julio de 2017, Trump intentó impedir que las personas...

Scientist at work: To take atomic-scale pictures of tiny crystals, use a huge, kilometer-long synchrotron

Written by Kerry Rippy, Ph.D. Candidate in Chemistry, Colorado State University

It takes a giant piece of equipment to look deep inside a tiny atom.Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab

It’s 4 a.m., and I’ve been up for about 20 hours straight. A loud alarm is blaring, accompanied by red strobe lights flashing. A stern voice announces, “Searching station B. Exit immediately.” It feels like an...

George H.W. Bush laid the foundation for education reform

Written by Jack Schneider, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

President George H.W. Bush in 1990.Mark Reinstein/www.shutterstock.com

George H.W. Bush fulfilled his desire – articulated late in his 1988 campaign for president – to be “the education president.” It just took three decades.

It’s true that Bush passed no education bills during his one term as president.

His next three...

How where you're born influences the person you become

Written by Samuel Putnam, Professor of Psychology, Bowdoin College

In some societies, kids are taught that they're in control of their own happiness – which makes them more indulgent.Oleksii Synelnykov/Shutterstock.com

As early as the fifth century, the Greek philosopher Thucydides contrasted the self-control and stoicism of Spartans with the more indulgent and free-thinking citizens of Athens.

Today, unique...

Deepwater corals thrive at the bottom of the ocean, but can't escape human impacts

Written by Sandra Brooke, Associate Research Faculty, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, Florida State University

Deep sea corals off Florida. NOAA

When people think of coral reefs, they typically picture warm, clear waters with brightly colored corals and fishes. But other corals live in deep, dark, cold waters, often far from shore in remote locations. These varieties are just as ecologically important as their shallow water counterparts. They also are just...