The Conversation

Supreme Court geofencing case weighs constitutionality of digital dragnets – and how far your rights go in the data Big Tech collects on you

Written by Anne Toomey McKenna, Affiliated Faculty Member, Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, Penn State

Police got cellphone data for many people who happened to be in this area near the time of a bank robbery.AP Photo/Steve Helber

Google tracks the vast majority of cellphones in the United States, collecting your location, usage and device data through installed software and apps. The tracking occurs by various autonomous processes you cannot see or...

Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling makes it harder to protect minority voting power and alters the landscape of future elections

Written by Sam D. Hayes, Assistant professor of politics and policy, Simmons University

President Lyndon Johnson hands a pen to civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the signing of the Voting Rights Act in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 6, 1965. Hulton Archive, Washington Bureau/Getty Images

In a major ruling that would permit weakening the voting power of minorities in the United States, the Supreme Court on April 29,...

Students are taught to hide in closets and under tables if there is a school shooting – but does practicing for this possibility keep kids safe?

Written by James Densley, Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University

Most schools do lockdown drills, but there is not any federal guidance on the best approach to this practice. TW Farlow/iStock/Getty Images Plus

There have been 63 school shootings – meaning any time there is gunfire on a school campus – so far in 2026.

They happen so often that preparing for one has become normal. Students as young as...

Can the nearly $1 trillion-a-year US military really be depleting key weapons in Iran?

Written by Michael A. Allen, Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

The guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. fires a Tomahawk missile during Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, 2026. U.S. Navy via AP

The fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire announced on April 7, 2026, after 40 days of war came at an opportune time for the United States. Several reports indicate it is running out of weapons amid the conflict.

As a...

What courage is, how to build it and why you should take a risk

Written by Gregory Crawford, President, Miami University

Courage demands that we evaluate an action's goals and risks.Elisa Schu/picture alliance via Getty Images

From ancient epics to contemporary headlines, humans have spent centuries canonizing courage as a rare and admirable virtue. Aristotle writes, “You will never do anything in this world without courage.” But what does it really mean...

Reclassification of marijuana opens doors for much-needed medical research into the benefits and risks of the drug

Written by Carey S. Cadieux, Associate Professor of Nursing, Binghamton University, State University of New York

The new federal classification of marijuana regulates only medical use; recreational use is still determined by state laws.tvirbickis/iStock via Getty Images Plus

When the U.S. Department of Justice moved to reclassify medical marijuana to a Schedule III drug on April 23, 2026, it set the stage for a vast amount of medical research that has been...

Stockings once worn by Philly’s wealthiest man show the value of women’s mending in early America

Written by Emily J. Whitted, Ph.D. Candidate in Early American History, UMass Amherst

At the time of his death in 1831, Stephen Girard – a Philadelphia merchant, banker and philanthropist – was the wealthiest man in the United States. In his will, he left the city of Philadelphia an extraordinary gift of roughly US$6 million, which is almost $227 million today.

Girard also left instructions to use a portion of this gift...

Thousands of employed Colorado workers need SNAP benefits to make ends meet

Written by Jennifer C. Greenfield, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Denver

In Colorado, even as the minimum wage has increased, thousands of workers still need food assistance.Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images

In Colorado, more than 600,000 workers received benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, in October 2025. This federal program protects low-income children, disabled adults and...

Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown may sound sensible, but it could harm Americans who require long-term care

Written by Marc Cohen, Professor of Gerontology, UMass Boston

U.S. Vice President JD Vance listens as Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, speaks about healthcare fraud.Alex Wong/Getty Images

Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator, is ordering all states to step up their efforts to crack down on Medicaid fraud.

His April 21, 2026,...

The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor

Written by Abraham Nunbogu, Researcher, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWa, United Nations University

An artisanal miner holds a cobalt stone at a mine near Kolwezi, Congo, in 2022. About 20,000 people work there among toxic materials.Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images

There is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies – everything from AI to wind turbines,...