The Conversation

Simple blood test could read people's internal clock

Written by Rosemary Braun, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Preventive Medicine and Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University

The circadian rhythm is present in every single cell of your body, guided by the central clock that resides in the brain. Creations/Shutterstock.com

In life, timing is everything.

Your body’s internal clock – the circadian rhythm – regulates an enormous variety of processes: when you sleep and wake, when you’re hungry, when...

The 19th-century tumult over climate change – and why it matters today

Written by Deborah Coen, Professor of History and Chair of the Program in History of Science and Medicine, Yale University

Weather towers like this one in a park in Vienna were a popular way for the 19th-century public to track the influence of weather on their lives.Source: Wikimedia

Back in the 19th century, when tractors were still pulled by horses and the word “computer” meant a person hired to carry out tedious calculations, climate science made...

Nonprofit newsrooms are reaching bigger audiences by teaming up with other outlets

Written by Magda Konieczna, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Temple University

NBC News intern Cassie Semyon, dashing to beat the competitionAP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

When images of NBC intern Cassie Semyon sprinting out of the Paul Manafort trial to deliver the verdict to her newsroom went viral, questions bubbled up on social media. Is she a trained runner? Was she barefoot? What was she holding?

What no one asked was, why...

If Trump were a CEO, his board would have fired him by now

Written by Bert Spector, Associate Professor of International Business and Strategy at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University

The Trump White House has endured a lot of bad publicity in its short lifespan, but recent disclosures may be among the worst.

On Sept. 4, an early account of Bob Woodward’s new book revealed the “nervous breakdown” unfolding within the Trump administration. Then, the next afternoon, a “senior official” went public...

Why the anonymous op-ed sets a dangerous precedent

Written by Michael Blake, Professor of Philosophy, Public Policy, and Governance, University of Washington

What are the ethics of anonymous resistance?Vincent Diamante, CC BY-SA

The New York Times recently published an anonymous op-ed from a “senior official” in the Trump administration. In the op-ed, the unnamed author describes President Donald Trump as “impetuous, adversarial, petty, and ineffective.” He or she depicts a...

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...