Authors: The Conversation
The EPA Clean Power Plan imposes limits on power plants' carbon emissions. ataferner/flickr, CC BY-NCDemocrats (myself included) enjoy ridiculing Republicans who deny the scientific consensus behind climate change. But we then deny the inconvenient truth behind our own preferred climate policies: they will have regressive...
Authors: The Conversation
Workers are still feeling a little pinched.Empty wallet via www.shutterstock.comThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that in July, the economy created 215,000 jobs, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3% and hourly wages over the past 12 months grew by 2.1%. Meanwhile, consumer prices are up only...
Authors: The Conversation
Angry messages taped up outside Palmer's dental office were repeated thousands of times online.Eric Miller/ReutersUS trophy hunter Walter Palmer must be the world’s most hated dentist.
News that Palmer had killed Cecil, a handsome and well-known lion in Zimbabwe, sparked outrage both online and off.
Palmer quickly...
Read more: The shaming of Walter Palmer for killing Cecil the Lion
Authors: The Conversation
The stage is set for the Republican debate.Brian Snyder/ReutersTen of the most popular Republican presidential candidates gathered in Cleveland on the evening of August 6 for two hours clearly designed to be fast-paced and entertaining.
It wasn’t a debate, exactly.
The three moderators fired off one hard-nosed question...
Authors: The Conversation
Two months after the bombing at Hiroshima. US Department of DefenseThe atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years ago, is one of the most studied events in modern history. And yet significant aspects of that bombing are still not well known.
I recently published a social history of US censorship in the aftermath of...
Read more: The little-known history of secrecy and censorship in wake of atomic bombings
Authors: The Conversation
Information overload?Leo Hidalgo, CC BY-NCIn today’s mobile media environment, an incredible amount of information is available to every one of us, every minute of every day.
With our cell phones close by, we can easily search for answers to trivia questions, word definitions or find the perfect recipe for the...
Read more: Can't seem to stop those ads following you around? Why not become 'metaliterate'?
Authors: The Conversation
Calvin Klein is known for its especially sexy ads.Susan Sermoneta/Flickr, CC BY-NC-NDA shirtless man lounges on a large couch while two attractive young women recline next to him. A text message appears: “Hahah a light threesome never hurt anyone.” Where might this scene be from? An adult novel, an X-rated...
Read more: Calvin Klein's new sexting ads are not only unethical, they may not even be effective
Authors: The Conversation
Astronaut Cady Coleman harvests one of our plants on Space Shuttle Columbia.NASA, CC BYGravity is a constant for all organisms on Earth. It acts on every aspect of our physiology, behavior and development – no matter what you are, you evolved in an environment where gravity roots us firmly to the ground.
But what...
Read more: Taking plants off planet – how do they grow in zero gravity?
Authors: The Conversation
Off to another gig Mario Anzuoni/ReutersJon Stewart opened his final episode of The Daily Show with “full-team coverage” of Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, featuring current and returning Daily Show correspondents from throughout Stewart’s tenure, including Stephen Colbert.
Before...
Read more: The curtain falls on Jon Stewart, America's favorite jester
Authors: The Conversation
Hiroshima, August 6 1945, and Nagasaki, August 9 1945. CC BY-SASeventy years ago this week, the US military revealed the greatest (and best-kept) secret of the Allied effort to win World War II.
The use of the atomic bomb proved to the world that it was indeed possible to make one.
But how had it been possible to keep the...
Read more: How American journalists covered the first use of the atomic bomb
#/media/File:AtomicEffects-Hiroshima.jpg){kind=link}