The Conversation

Here's a better way to regulate carbon – and change the tired environment-versus-economy debate

Written by Nives Dolsak, Professor of Environmental Policy, University of Washington

If carbon regulations restrict how much a company can pollute where it's located, it could move operations (and jobs) to another country – with no reduction in emissions. billy_wilson/flickr, CC BY-NC

Is it possible to reduce carbon emissions without hurting economic growth and destroying jobs?

The recent spate of executive orders, including...

I'm a US doctor just back from Sudan, where hospitality from Muslims greeted me everywhere

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

Many Americans have never visited a predominantly Muslim country and may know relatively little about the faith of Islam. This is relevant in light of the Trump administration’s recent executive order attempting to reduce terrorist threats to the U.S. by halting the issuance of visas to travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Hav...

Three ways you can just say no to antibiotic drug abuse

Written by Debra A. Goff, Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University

Woman resisting pills. Via Shutterstock.From www.shutterstock.com,

Nevada officials in January reported the death of a woman from an infection resistant to every antibiotic available in the U.S, the type of news we will likely hear more about in the future unless health care providers and consumers change their ways.

A high-level report in 2014...

For endangered species, the road to recovery can be winding and bumpy

Written by Peter Alagona, Associate Professor of History, Geography and Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Bald eagles are the best-known example of a successful recovery under the Endangered Species Act.Jerry McFarland/Flickr, CC BY-NC

Anyone who has ever undergone a medical procedure knows that it’s tough to say when you’re fully recovered. The doctor claims you’ll be up and around in three hours, but three days later you feel worse...

How Florida is helping train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals

Written by Sri Sridharan, Managing Director, Florida Center for Cybersecurity, University of South Florida

Students via shutterstock.com

Our increasingly connected and digital world is vulnerable to attack and needs more skilled professionals who know how to defend it. As connected devices proliferate, particularly smart devices creating what has been called the “Internet of Things,” the problem is getting worse. In 2016, there were 6.4...

What's gone wrong in the seven countries Trump included in his ban? Essential reads

Written by Emily Costello, Senior Editor, Politics + Society, The Conversation

Syrian children remove rubble Aleppo, Syria.AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of archival stories related to Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning citizens from seven countries from entering the U.S. and indefinitely banning...

How Tolstoy’s 'War and Peace' can inspire those who fear Trump’s America

Written by Ani Kokobobo, Assistant Professor of Russian Literature, University of Kansas

A Soviet-era stamp depicts a scene from Leo Tolstoy's 'War and Peace.'Wikimedia Commons

As a professor of Russian literature, I couldn’t help but notice that comedian Aziz Ansari was inadvertently channeling novelist Leo Tolstoy when he claimed that “change doesn’t come from presidents” but from “large groups of angry...

For indigenous communities, fish mean much more than food

Written by Yoshitaka Ota, Director (Policy), Nippon Foundation-UBC Nereus Program and Senior Research Associate, University of British Columbia

Along the arid coastline of northwestern Mexico, indigenous Seri communities, who first resisted Spanish rule and then Mexican extermination efforts, eventually gained formal titles over a small part of their ancestral coastal and marine territories. The ocean has always sustained their livelihood, but now they must contend with outside competition...

How distrust of unbelievers runs deep in American history

Written by Leigh E. Schmidt, Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities, Washington University in St Louis

A new megachurch movement is drawing crowds on the basis of belief in nonbelief.AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama recently raised eyebrows during his confirmation hearing for attorney general when he expressed doubts that secular people respected the truth as much as did those with religious convictions. Even as he insisted...

How anti-LGBT laws foster a culture of exclusion that harms states' economic prosperity

Written by George B. Cunningham, Professor and Associate Dean, Texas A&M University

When it comes to “bathroom bills” and other legislation that curtails the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals, North Carolina was a first actor. But, if some lawmakers have their way, many states, and even the federal government, will quickly follow suit.

So far this year, 11 states have proposed legislat...