The Conversation

The future of electronics is light

Written by Arnab Hazari, Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering, University of Michigan

For the past four decades, the electronics industry has been driven by what is called “Moore’s Law,” which is not a law but more an axiom or observation. Effectively, it suggests that the electronic devices double in speed and capability about every two years. And indeed, every year tech companies come up with new, faster,...

Flakka is a dangerous drug, but it doesn't turn you into a zombie

Written by Joseph Palamar, Assistant Professor of Population Health, New York University Langone Medical Center

"Bath salts," or synthetic street drugs with amphetamines. Via DEA.DEA

Stories of horrific crimes resulting from drug use have been propagated by the media for over a century. Such stories began with cocaine in 1914 and were followed by “reefer madness” stories in the 1930s and reports of “LSD murders” in the 1960s. Our...

She phubbs me, she phubbs me not: Smartphones could be ruining your love life

Written by James A. Roberts, Professor of Marketing, Baylor University

Where do your allegiances lie – with your smartphone or with your partner?'Date' via www.shutterstock.com

The majority of our relationships are in shambles.

The U.S. divorce rate hovers at 40 percent, but that’s not the whole story. Many intact relationships are on life support. According to a survey by the National Opinion Research...

Why literature matters in debate about race and immigrants

Written by Rajini Srikanth, Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts Dean, Honors College, University of Massachusetts Boston

The people who voted for Donald Trump did so for a variety of reasons, but chief among them was the sense of their having been economically abandoned for several decades. Trump has promised to restore their economic dignity. That is a laudable goal.

However, through his corrosive campaign rhetoric, Trump has also made it acceptable to speak in...

What China's 'export machine' can teach Trump about globalization

Written by Penelope B. Prime, Clinical Professor of International Business, & Director, China Research Center, Georgia State University

Chinese goods seem to be everywhere these days.

Consider this: At the Olympics in Rio this summer, Chinese companies supplied the mascot dolls, much of the sports equipment, the security surveillance system and the uniforms for the volunteers, technical personnel and even the torch-bearers.

Do you own a personal computer or air conditioner? Or a pa...

Mexicans are migrating, just not across the US border

Written by Jeffrey H. Cohen, Professor of Anthropology, The Ohio State University

Mexican migration to the U.S. is in decline. The Pew Hispanic Research Center has found that since 2009, more than one million native-born Mexicans living in the U.S. returned to Mexico. But many other Mexicans never crossed the U.S.-Mexican border in the first place.

Why are some Mexican migrants choosing to stay home? What does it mean for the...

Misinformation on social media: Can technology save us?

Written by Filippo Menczer, Professor of Computer Science and Informatics; Director of the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, Indiana University, Bloomington

Sharing election hashtags: Dots are Twitter accounts; lines show retweeting; larger dots are retweeted more. Red dots are likely bots; blue ones are likely humans.Clayton Davis, CC BY-ND

If you get your news from social media, as most Americans do, you are exposed to a daily dose of hoaxes, rumors, conspiracy theories and misleading news. When...

Dear Mr. Trump: Climate policy puts lives in your hands

Written by Travis N. Rieder, Research Scholar at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University

Drought, which affects food production, will become more common as the Earth heats up, which can cause deaths and destabilize societies. cafodphotolibrary/flickr, CC BY-NC

President-elect Donald Trump has been unclear so far on how many of his campaign pledges he actually intends to see through. Hopeful Democrats and moderates have clung to this...

Why so many people regain weight after dieting

Written by Kenneth McLeod, Entrepreneur in Residence & Director - Clinical Science and Engineering Research Laboratory, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Metabolism can change after weight loss. Women measuring waist image via www.shutterstock.com.

Anyone who has tried to lose weight and keep it off knows how difficult the task can be. It seems like it should be simple: Just exercise to burn more calories and reduce your calorie intake. But many studies have shown that this simple strategy...

100 years of the 'gender gap' in American politics

Written by Anya Jabour, Regents Professor of History, The University of Montana

Men and women did not vote the same way in 2016.

In fact, the Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton contest yielded the largest gender gap – the difference between women’s and men’s voting behavior – in U.S. history. Clinton won women by 12 points and lost men by the same amount – a 24-point gap. The gap is growing....