The Conversation

Governments continue losing efforts to gain backdoor access to secure communications

Written by Richard Forno, Teaching Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Signal is the poster child for strong encryption apps.AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato

Reports that prominent American national security officials used a freely available encrypted messaging app, coupled with the rise of authoritarian policies around the world, have led to a surge in interest in encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp. These apps prevent...

Placenta bandages have far more health benefits than risky placenta pills − a bioengineer explains

Written by Marley Dewey, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

With some bioengineering, placentas can be recycled for various medical treatments.mikroman6/Moment via Getty Images

Eating a placenta may not give you the health benefits some people want you to believe it has, but using it as a bandage might.

The placenta is an organ created during pregnancy that provides nutrients to a growing fetus through an...

Birthright citizenship case at Supreme Court reveals deeper questions about judicial authority to halt unlawful policies

Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether a single federal judge should have the power to temporarily halt presidential policies across the entire country.Rudy Sulgan, The Image Bank/Getty Images

When one judge blocks a president’s policies nationwide, alarm bells ring. Should a single judge wield this much power? Can they halt policies...

Disarming Hezbollah is key to Lebanon’s recovery − but task is complicated by regional shifts, ceasefire violations

Written by Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Francophone and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Dickinson College

Slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah looms large in Lebanon.Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Within a span of two weeks from late April to early May 2025, Israel launched two aerial attacks ostensibly targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon: The first, on April 27, struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs; the second, an assault in...

Disarming Hezbollah is key to Lebanon’s recovery − but the task is complicated by regional shifts, ceasefire violations

Written by Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Francophone and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Dickinson College

Slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah looms large in Lebanon.Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Unprecedented cuts to the National Science Foundation endanger research that improves economic growth, national security and your life

Written by Paul Bierman, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Vermont

The National Science Foundation funds America's next great innovations, including space-related research.Heritage Space/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Look closely at your mobile phone or tablet. Touch-screen technology, speech recognition, digital sound recording and the internet were all developed using funding from the U.S. National Science...

What Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms and motto reveal about his dedication to the ideals of St. Augustine − an art historian explains

Written by Virginia Raguin, Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita, College of the Holy Cross

A 17th-century stained glass image of St. Augustine.Artist Tobias Müller, 1622. Michel M. Raguin, with the permission of the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton NJ, U.S.

Pope Leo XIV has announced his motto and coat of arms – a long-held tradition for those in the ranks of bishops, cardinals and popes. The choice of symbols and...

Hurricane disaster planning with aging parents should start now, before the storm: 5 tips

Written by Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, Clinical Assistant Professor of Education, Health and Behavior Studies, University of North Dakota

When I lived in Florida, I had a neighbor named Ms. Carmen. She was in her late 70s, fiercely independent and lived alone with her two dogs and one cat, which were her closest companions.

Each hurricane season, she would anxiously ask if I would check on her when the winds began to pick up. She once told me: I’m more afraid of being forgotten...

Congress began losing power decades ago − and now it’s giving away what remains to Trump

Written by Charlie Hunt, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

Where did Congress go?Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg Creative via Getty Images

Republicans in Congress have been making behind-the-scenes efforts to pass major domestic legislation via the federal budget process. They include potential cuts to Medicaid and extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts.

But even though it’s Congress’ job to pass a budget...

Algebra is more than alphabet soup – it’s the language of algorithms and relationships

Written by Courtney Gibbons, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Hamilton College

Algebra often involves manipulating numbers or other objects using operations like addition and multiplication.Flavio Coelho/Moment via Getty Images

You scrambled up a Rubik’s cube, and now you want to put it back in order. What sequence of moves should you make?

Surprise: You can answer this question with modern algebra.

Most folks who have...