The Conversation

Will a merged Tesla-SolarCity put a solar-powered battery in every home?

Written by W. Rocky Newman, Professor of Management, Farmer School of Business, Miami University

The linchpin to Tesla's proposed merger with SolarCity is the Gigafactory and whether it can lower costs and improve battery performance.Tesla Motors

One year ago Tesla Motors announced plans to build its Gigafactory to produce huge numbers of batteries, giving life to the old saying, “if you want something done right, do it yourself.”

By...

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids sold as counterfeits in deadly new trend

Written by Samuel Banister, Research Fellow, Stanford University

In March and April, 56 people in the Sacramento area were hospitalized after taking Norco brand hydrocodone pills. Fifteen died.

But, as we discovered, these pills were not pharmaceutical hydrocodone at all. They were counterfeits containing fentanyl that were purchased on the street. Fentanyl is an opioid far more powerful than hydrocodone....

How men benefit from family-friendly tenure policies

Written by Kelly Bedard, Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara

Why aren't there as many female tenured professors?Sarah, CC BY-NC

On Friday, August 26, as we celebrate Women’s Equality Day – a day marking the 96th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote – it is a time to reflect both on the progress that has been made on gender equality and on how much work...

Failed coup in Turkey means thousands are voting with their feet

Written by Ibrahim Sirkeci, Professor of Transnational Studies and Marketing & Director of Regent's Centre for Transnational Studies, Regent's University London

Turkey is facing a new danger – brain drain.

On July 15, a group within the Turkish military staged a coup.

It failed. But since then, the Turkish government has restricted rights and freedoms of its people. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stepped up the pressure on Fethullah Gulen and his supporters. Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim...

Scientists at work: Public archaeologists dig before the construction crews do

Written by Nina M. Versaggi, Director of the Public Archaeology Facility and Associate Professor,Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Archaeologists on the front lines.Jonathan Cohen/Binghamton University, CC BY-ND

Armed with my sharpened trowel, 3-meter tape, shovel, shaker screen and peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I joined my first dig as part of Binghamton University’s Public Archaeology Facility back in 1975. Crews of archaeologists were shovel testing the proposed...

Russia's aggressive power is resurgent, online and off

Written by Frank J. Cilluffo, Director, Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, George Washington University

Russia is flexing its cyberattack muscles.Glove with Russian-flag keyboard via shutterstock.com

The Bear is back. It’s happening on the ground in and around Ukraine, inside the virtual inboxes of the Democratic National Committee and at American news organizations. Russian cyberattacks are yielding eye-popping headlines warning not only of a...

Polio eradication effort challenged, but not derailed

Written by Walt Orenstein, Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Global Health, and Epidemiology, Emory University

Decades of innovation, collaboration and old-fashioned sweat and tears have yielded the fewest polio cases to date, with the world on the cusp of complete eradication of polio. Yet to date, smallpox is the only disease that has been eradicated.

Those of us who work to eradicate polio have been extremely pleased that the number of polio cases has...

Rebuilding ground zero: How twin mandates of revival and remembrance reshaped Lower Manhattan

Written by Lynne B. Sagalyn, Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor Emerita of Real Estate at Columbia Business School, Columbia University

Lower Manhattan's new skyline.NYC skyline via www.shutterstock.com

From the beginning, rebuilding ground zero was fraught with strategic consequence, for the city of New York and for the nation.

The original World Trade Center complex, completed in 1973, represented the culmination of a decades-long effort to revitalize the city’s founding...

Corporate sponsors at Yosemite? The case against privatizing national parks

Written by John Freemuth, Professor of Public Policy and Senior Fellow Cecil Andrus Center for Public Policy, Boise State University

Camping under the Milky Way, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.Emily Ogden, National Park Service/Flickr, CC BY

The centennial of the National Park Service is inspiring an impressive amount of soul-searching about the agency and the lands for which it is responsible. This is timely and appropriate, as the NPS faces serious challenges that affect the...

The real reason the EpiPen and other off-patents are so expensive

Written by Timothy Holbrook, Professor of Law, Emory University

An injectable medication.From www.shutterstock.com

The rising price for EpiPens, a drug delivery system that is crucial for persons experiencing potentially life-threatening allergic reactions, has resulted in outrage. The price increase, from about US$94 for a two-pack of injectable epinephrine to more than $600 in just nine years, has members of...