Modeled by artificial intelligence: The Roberts Court, 2010-2016.Steve Petteway, US Supreme CourtThe lifetime tenure of each of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine justices means they have long-lasting influences on the country’s affairs. How a justice votes in a case is a reflection of his or her judicial temperament, personal philosophy...
In her iconic rendition of “Proud Mary,” Tina Turner begins with a sultry hiss:
Sometimes we like to do things nice and easy. But we never like to do things completely nice and easy, because sometimes we like to do things nice…and rough!
The same may be said when it comes to analyzing public survey data about the Supreme Court (to...
Successful group outcomes aren't guaranteed by the simple recipe of 'Just add diversity.'Talking image via www.shutterstoc.com.You’d be forgiven for assuming a quick and sure way to multiply profits and amplify organizational success is to increase the gender and racial diversity of any group. According to claims in the mainstream media, the...
Are lax guns laws changing how people interact in the Show-Me State?RebelAt of English Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SAMissouri is poised to become the latest state to allow guns into college classrooms.
The Republican-led state senate is currently finalizing deliberations on a bill that, if passed, would remove restrictions on carrying...
Read more: Are looser gun laws changing the social fabric of Missouri?
Is a fact-bound science curriculum enough to become a good scientist?Illinois Springfield, CC BY-NC-NDAt a time when states are proposing to cut funding to nudge students away from the humanities toward “more job-friendly” STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects, I want to make a confession: I am the love child of an...
Read more: Do polygamous marriages among liberal arts disciplines produce better scientists?
A molecular beam epitaxy machine used to create semiconductor samples.John C. Bean (University of Virginia) and Tom Vandervelde (Tufts University), CC BY-NDOur modern world is based on semiconductors. In addition to your computer, cellphones and digital cameras, semiconductors are a critical component of a growing number of devices. Think of the...
Read more: Beyond silicon: the search for new semiconductors
The strangest and most volatile presidential race in modern history got even more unpredictable on Tuesday night.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump overcame a relentless wave of establishment attacks to win Mississippi, Michigan and Hawaii by large margins. Trump’s only defeat of the night was by Ted Cruz in the Idaho caucuses.
On the...
Read more: Why March 15 will be make-or-break for the presidential candidates
As a retired military officer, I do not publicly endorse candidates.
But as someone who served as a judge advocate, or military lawyer, for 34 years, I do think it can be helpful to examine in a nonpartisan way the legal aspects of Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric on the use of force against the Islamic State, or ISIS.
Here are two recent...
Read more: Trump's campaign rhetoric, ISIS and the law of war
Fortified. Melissa Wiese, CC BYImagine that scientists find an indisputable link between microcephaly and the Zika virus. Then imagine that they find a simple way to prevent it, but that the solution is not implemented.
A similar scenario is playing out with neural tube defects. We have known for decades that folic acid can prevent most common...
The U.S. is currently in a decade-long hurricane “drought”: no major hurricanes of category 3 or higher have made landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Wilma hit Florida in 2005. With damage costs for U.S. hurricanes from 1970 to 2002 estimated at US$57 billion (in 2015 dollars), this landfall drought is fortuitous for coastal...
