The Conversation

Cities are booming but progress is uneven and, to some, too costly

Written by The Conversation Contributor

On the rebound: a number of cities, including Chicago, are becoming magnets for a growing number of professionals. Jamie McCaffrey/flickr, CC BY-SA

This year and this day – the United Nations' World Cities Day – we should remember that the city is back. Across the globe there is an urban resurgence. In fact,...

Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human perception

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Did you hear that?Rob and Stephanie Levy, CC BY

Nontrivial numbers of Americans believe in the paranormal. These beliefs have spawned thousands of groups dedicated to investigating paranormal phenomena and a proliferation of ghost-hunting entries in the reality television market. Anecdotal evidence even suggests that ghost-hunting reality shows...

Is one of the largest real estate deals in American history a requiem for middle-class New York?

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village border the FDR Drive in Lower Manhattan.NBC New York

It’s easy to overlook the brick residential towers of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village on Manhattan’s East Side.

Designed to be uniform and rather bland, the 80-acre development gives little outward sign of the fierce conflicts over housing...

Why mayors are looking for ideas outside the city limits

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Los Angeles looks abroad. Cesarexpo, CC BY-SA

When our dear colleague and cofounder of the Initiative on Cities program at Boston University, former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, passed away one year ago, letters poured in to our offices at Boston University.

The intimate condolences from Boston’s many neighborhoods – Hyde Park, Roslindale,...

Can innovators build a future that's both disruptive and just?

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Bicycles fueling change in KenyaThomas Mukoya/Reuters

Today – October 30 – MIT’s Media Lab celebrates its 30th anniversary.

The Media Lab is a place that takes very seriously the idea that we can invent a better future and have it spread around the globe. It’s a place that’s helped invent things that are very serious,...

They might sound gross, but intestinal worms can actually be good for you

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Four rat tapeworms harvested from a single laboratory rat are shown in a six-well plate. The worms don’t harm the rats. Each worm, between two and three feet long, can produce more than 1,000 eggs per day. William Parker, CC BY-NC-SA

Intestinal worms have an incredibly bad reputation. The thought of them sneaking around inside our bodies and...

What gets students motivated to work harder? Not money

Written by The Conversation Contributor

What motivates kids?woodleywonderworks, CC BY

Rewarding teachers financially for student achievement is an increasingly common practice, despite mixed evidence as to whether it improves results. Some scholars have instead suggested paying students.

But giving kids cash for grades and scores hasn’t proved straightforward either. So maybe the...

Paul Ryan just accepted the worst job in politics

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Ryan wields brand new speaker's gavel, October 29 2015. Gary Cameron/REUTERS

Republicans voted overwhelmingly to make Paul Ryan the new speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday, but the Wisconsin congressman has no reason to celebrate. He just got the worst job in American politics.

In theory, the House speaker is an immensely powerful...

Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Former New York Governor George Pataki: "I think part of the problem is the...way Republicans think about climate change."Rick Wilking/Reuters

The tide is finally turning. In last night’s third Republican debates, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York Governor George Pataki both acknowledged the scientific consensus that...

What should we make of Paul Ryan’s fondness for Ayn Rand?

Written by The Conversation Contributor

Representative Paul Ryan arrives to talk to the media after being nominated for speaker of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington October 28 2015.Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Paul Ryan, the Republican congressman from Wisconsin who was just elected speaker of the US House of Representatives, has acknowledged his admiration for novelist...