The Conversation

AI more accurate than animal testing for spotting toxic chemicals

Written by Thomas Hartung, Professor of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

These rats are in special cages for urine collection. Every year, millions of animals are used for testing chemicals that are used in industrial products.By unoL/shutterstock.com

Most consumers would be dismayed with how little we know about the majority of chemicals. Only 3 percent of industrial chemicals – mostly drugs and pesticides...

40 years after the birth of IVF, researchers push boundaries to preserve fertility in women, men and children

Written by Marie Menke, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh

New procedures are enabling men and women to preserve their fertility until they are ready or able to have children.By kristiillustra/shutterstock.com

Tears are a regular occurrence in a fertility clinic. Tears of joy, tears of frustration, tears of loss happen almost daily. For some, those tears are the tears of “what if.” What if I...

Why it's hard to hold contractors accountable for the suffering of immigrant children

Written by Susan M. Sterett, Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Students and community activists at Northeastern University called on the school to nix an ICE contract.AP Photo/Sarah Betancourt

Public outrage over the Trump administration’s detention of children, including babies, brought across the border when their families arrived seeking asylum is still simmering, as the number of lawsuits over this...

Russians hacked into US electric utilities: 6 essential reads

Written by Jeff Inglis, Science + Technology Editor, The Conversation US

Who's in control of what's flowing in these wires?D Sharon Pruitt, CC BY

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has revealed that Russian government hackers have gained deep access to hundreds of U.S. electrical utility companies, gaining far more access to the operations of many more companies than previously disclosed by federal officials.

Securi...

Money, politics and Justice Anthony Kennedy: Revisiting Citizens United

Written by Michael T. Morley, Assistant Professor of Law, Florida State University

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is one of retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s most maligned rulings. Many condemn the opinion for treating corporations as people, money as speech, and elections as commodities to be sold to the highest bidder.

President Barack Obama lambasted Citizens United in a State of the...

FBI brought down foreign agents in the past

Written by Douglas M. Charles, Associate Professor of History, Pennsylvania State University

The public has recently gained an opportunity for deeper insight into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and the FBI’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

On July 21, the Trump administration released the FBI’s application for a warrant to begin electronic surveillance of former Donald Trump campaign...

What's the value of a clean beach? Here's how economists do the numbers

Written by Timothy Haab, Professor of Environmental Economics, The Ohio State University

How much would you pay to make this disappear?Emilian Robert Vicol, CC BY

Millions of Americans head outdoors in the summer, whether for a day at a nearby lake or a monthlong road trip. For environmental economists like me, decisions by vacationers and outdoor recreators offer clues to a challenging puzzle: estimating what environmental resources...

Mexican anti-poverty program targeting poor women may help men most, study finds

Written by Nora Haenn, Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Studies, North Carolina State University

Economic empowerment programs that target women may have an unintended effect: They help men instead.

A growing number of economic development programs worldwide provide cash specifically to women in poor communities. Giving women access to money empowers them, the theory goes.

And empowered women – especially mothers – can lift entire...

Why does my phone battery die so fast?

Written by Steve W. Martin, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University

Already out of charge – again?!fizkes/Shutterstock.com

Why do batteries die? And, why can they only be recharged so many times before they won’t hold a useful amount of charge? My young son asked me about that years ago when his battery-powered toy car stopped moving, wondering about what he called an “everlasting battery.”...

Lending a helping paw: Dogs will aid their crying human

Written by Julia Meyers-Manor, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Ripon College

I'll try to be there for you 100 percent.Chris Gladis, CC BY-ND

From Lassie to Balto, pop culture loves stories of a dog coming to a person’s rescue. Anecdotally, people experience their dogs coming to their aid every day, like when one of us found herself “trapped” by her children under a pile of pillows only to be...