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The Conversation

The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender inclusion

  • Written by Anjali Vats, Associate Professor of Communication and African and African Diaspora Studies and Associate Professor of Law (By Courtesy), Boston College
imageThomas Edison remains the poster child of American invention 89 years after his death.Underwood & Underwood via the Library of Congress

When President Barack Obama signed the America Invents Act in 2011, he was surrounded by a group of people of diverse ages, genders and races. The speech he delivered about the legislation, which changed the...

Read more: The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender...

Nigerians got their abusive SARS police force abolished – but elation soon turned to frustration

  • Written by Samuel Fury Childs Daly, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies, Duke University
imageA police officer in Lagos, Nigeria, Nov. 3. Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

For a brief moment in October, it seemed that youthful protesters calling to “abolish” a police force had succeeded. After weeks of mass demonstrations against police brutality, the government agreed to disband a widely hated police unit.

This was...

Read more: Nigerians got their abusive SARS police force abolished – but elation soon turned to frustration

The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan

  • Written by Hanif Sufizada, Education and Outreach Program Coordinator, University of Nebraska Omaha
imageTaliban militants and Afghan civilians celebrate the signing of a peace deal with the United States on March 2.Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)imageCC BY-ND

The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001.

In the fiscal year that ended in March...

Read more: The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan

How remote learning is making educational inequities worse

  • Written by Hernán Galperin, Associate Professor of Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
imageMany students lack the technology and parental guidance to complete homework remotely during the pandemic. Pollyana Ventura/E+ via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

The widespread reliance on remote learning is harming students of color from low-income households more than kids who are from...

Read more: How remote learning is making educational inequities worse

Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth's atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development

  • Written by Julie Loisel, Assistant Professor of Geography, Texas A&M University
imageMore valuable than it looks.David Stanley/Flickr, CC BY

Peatlands are a type of wetland where dead plant material doesn’t fully decompose because it’s too soggy. In these ecosystems, peat builds up as spongy dark soil that’s sometimes referred to as sod or turf. Over thousands of years, yards-thick layers of peat accumulate and...

Read more: Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth's atmosphere, but that could end with warming and...

Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease

  • Written by Mo Ebrahimkhani, Associate Professor of Pathology and Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh
imageA cross section of lab-grown human liver tissue. The green shows the network of blood vessels.Velazquez et al. Cell Systems , CC BY-SA

Takeaways

  • Scientists have made progress growing human liver in the lab.

  • The challenge has been to direct stems cells to grow into a mature, functioning adult organ.

  • This study shows that stem cells can be programmed,...

Read more: Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice...

We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes

  • Written by Seth M. Weinberg, Associate Professor in the Departments of Oral Biology, Human Genetics, and Anthropology. Co-Director of the Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
imageUsing 3-D facial images researchers have identified changes in the DNA that contribute to variation in facial features. Julie D. White, CC BY-SA

Takeaways

  • A new study reveals more than 130 regions in human DNA play a role in sculpting facial features.

  • The nose is the facial feature most influenced by your genes.

  • Understanding the link between specific...

Read more: We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes

From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic

  • Written by Karen Lloyd, Associate Professor of Microbiology, University of Tennessee
imageMissing a field season can be devastating if your research subject is melting away.Karen Lloyd, CC BY-ND

What do you do when COVID-19 safety protocols and travel restrictions mean you can’t do your research? That’s what these three scientists have had to figure out this year, as the global pandemic has kept them from their fieldwork.

A...

Read more: From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19...

Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one

  • Written by Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of Maine
imageAuthor Andrew Sullivan has gone from blogging to writing for mainstream publications to blogging again, this time on Substack.T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images

If you haven’t heard of Substack – you probably will soon.

Since 2017, the platform has provided aspiring web pundits with a one-stop service for distributing their work and...

Read more: Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one

New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair

  • Written by Jon X. Eguia, Professor of Economics, Michigan State University
imageDrawing congressional district boundaries can be complicated.AP Photo/Gerry Broome

When the results of the 2020 U.S. Census are released, states will use the figures to draw new electoral district maps for the U.S. House of Representatives and for state legislatures. This process has been controversial since the very early days of the nation...

Read more: New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair

More Articles ...

  1. Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths
  2. How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us
  3. Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad
  4. Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 vaccine, undermining a century of progress toward universal inoculation
  5. The Atlantic: The driving force behind ocean circulation and our taste for cod
  6. Why Biden will find it hard to undo Trump's costly 'America first' trade policy
  7. Intimate partner violence has increased during pandemic, emerging evidence suggests
  8. How do archaeologists know where to dig?
  9. I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there – but UFO sightings aren't persuasive
  10. How Hanukkah came to be an annual White House celebration
  11. This DIY contact tracing app helps people exposed to COVID-19 remember who they met
  12. Wisconsin's not so white anymore – and in some rapidly diversifying cities like Kenosha there's fear and unrest
  13. As the pandemic rages, the US could use a little bit more 'samfundssind'
  14. How COVID-19 vaccines will get from the factory to your local pharmacy
  15. How to fight Holocaust denial in social media – with the evidence of what really happened
  16. Trump plan to revive the gallows, electric chair, gas chamber and firing squad recalls a troubled history
  17. What are emergency use authorizations, and do they guarantee that a vaccine or drug is safe?
  18. How TikTok is upending workplace social media policies – and giving us rebel nurses and dancing cops
  19. In a year of Black Lives Matter protests, Dutch wrestle (again) with the tradition of Black Pete
  20. Tiny treetop flowers foster incredible beetle biodiversity
  21. How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses
  22. What makes the world's biggest surfable waves?
  23. The chattering classes got the 'Hillbilly Elegy' book wrong – and they're getting the movie wrong, too
  24. Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 will have side effects – that's a good thing
  25. How a troop drawdown in Afghanistan signals American weakness and could send Afghan allies into the Taliban's arms
  26. A better way for billionaires who want to make massive donations to benefit society
  27. Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that resonate in today's pandemic
  28. Tribes mount organized responses to COVID-19, in contrast to state and federal governments
  29. AI makes huge progress predicting how proteins fold – one of biology's greatest challenges – promising rapid drug development
  30. The morality of canceling student debt
  31. Global disabilities map visualizes the strength and power of millions of athletes around the world
  32. Socialism is a trigger word on social media – but real discussion is going on amid the screaming
  33. Your brain's built-in biases insulate your beliefs from contradictory facts
  34. Peru's democracy faces greatest trial since Fujimori dictatorship after two presidents are ousted in one week
  35. Rapid COVID-19 tests can be useful – but there are far too few to put a dent in the pandemic
  36. Reckoning with slavery: What a revolt's archives tell us about who owns the past
  37. James Baker's masterful legal strategies won George W. Bush a contested election – unlike Rudy Giuliani's string of losses
  38. NCAA amateurism appears immune to COVID-19 – despite tide in public support for paying athletes having turned
  39. Fences have big effects on land and wildlife around the world that are rarely measured
  40. Nonprofits are struggling to do more with less money, but donors and volunteers can help: 5 questions answered
  41. Why waiters give Black customers poor service
  42. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-breaker, and it's raising more concerns about climate change
  43. How Taiwan uses Buddhist literature for environmental education
  44. Parler is bringing together mainstream conservatives, anti-Semites and white supremacists as the social media platform attracts millions of Trump supporters
  45. 57 años después del asesinato de Kennedy, las pistas en México se agotan
  46. 'Constructive arguing' can help keep the peace at your Thanksgiving table
  47. This type of sexual harassment on campus often goes overlooked
  48. Homeless patients with COVID-19 often go back to life on the streets after hospital care, but there's a better way
  49. Will there be a monument to the COVID-19 pandemic?
  50. Janet Yellen and Kamala Harris keep shattering glass ceilings – but global elite boys club remains