The Conversation

Rights of the dead and the living clash when scientists extract DNA from human remains

Written by Chip Colwell, Lecturer on Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver

Who gets to decide for the dead, such as this Egyptian mummy? AP Photo/Ric Feld

The remains of a 6-inch long mummy from Chile are not those of a space alien, according to recently reported research. The tiny body with its strange features – a pointed head, elongated bones – had been the subject of fierce debate over whether a UFO might...

Colombia's murder rate is at an all-time low but its activists keep getting killed

Written by Fabio Andres Diaz, Researcher on Conflict, Peace and Development, International Institute of Social Studies

A 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was supposed to bring peace to this South American country after a 52-year civil war that killed 220,000 people.

Instead, nearly 300 community organizers and activists have been murdered since the accords were signed in...

For many US towns and cities, deciding which streets to name after MLK reflects his unfinished work

Written by Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee

Where Davis meets King.Editor, CC BY-SA

More than 1,000 streets in the world bear the name of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

At least 955 of those streets can be found in the U.S. They’re in 41 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Martin Luther King streets cross a diversity of neighborhoods – rural and...

How to deal with life's risks more rationally

Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Economist and Research Scientist, The Ohio State University

People are bad at weighing risk, which is why so many Americans don't get flu shots. AP Photo/David Goldman

The world is an uncertain and risky place. The news constantly bombards us with scary situations from school shootings to gruesome murders.

Risk is everywhere and associated with everything. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and...

Government fuel economy standards for cars and trucks have worked

Written by James M. Sallee, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley

Customers line up to buy gasoline in San Jose, California, on March 15, 1974, during an Arab oil embargo. The crisis spurred enactment of the first U.S. vehicle fuel economy standards.AP

U.S. cars are twice as fuel-efficient today as they were 40 years ago. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are a major reason why.

These standards are...

Why is it so stressful to talk politics with the other side?

Written by Melanie Green, Associate Professor of Communication, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

The prospect alone can make you want to avoid the person altogether.faber1893/Shutterstock.com

People disagree all the time, but not all disagreements lead to the same levels of stress.

Even though people can be passionate about their favorite sport teams, they can argue about which basketball team is the best without destroying friendships. In the...

American broadcasting has always been closely intertwined with American politics

Written by Michael J. Socolow, Associate professor, communication and journalism, University of Maine

Louisiana's populist politician Huey Long, giving an address on CBS Radio in 1934Louisiana State University, CC BY-SA

Local television viewers around the United States were recently alerted to a “troubling trend” that’s “extremely dangerous to democracy.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of America’s dominant...

Understanding Facebook's data crisis: 5 essential reads

Written by Jeff Inglis, Science + Technology Editor, The Conversation US

What will Mark Zuckerberg say to Congress?AP Photo/Noah Berger

Most of Facebook’s 2 billion users have likely had their data collected by third parties, the company revealed April 4. That follows reports that 87 million users’ data were used to target online political advertising in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

As...

Howard University student protest: 3 questions answered

Written by Marybeth Gasman, Professor of Higher Education and Director Penn Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, University of Pennsylvania

Students have been protesting conditions at Howard University for several days.en.wikipedia.org

Editor’s note: In order to gain more perspective on the underlying issues of the student-led protest at Howard University, which is now in its seventh day, The Conversation reached out to Marybeth Gasman, a leading scholar on historically black...

Stronger fuel standards make sense, even when gas prices are low

Written by John DeCicco, Research Professor, University of Michigan

Staffers listen to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt discuss this policy reversal AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

It’s official: The Trump administration is reversing steps its predecessor had taken to curb gasoline and diesel consumption through stricter car pollution and fuel economy standards.

Rather than heed growing concerns about climate change,...