The Conversation

How to tell if a conspiracy theory is probably false

Written by H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Research Professor of Social Psychology, Louisiana State University

Conspiracy theories can muddle people's thinking.Natalie_/iStock / Getty Images Plus

Conspiracy theories are everywhere, and they can involve just about anything.

People believe false conspiracy theories for a wide range of reasons – including the fact that there are real conspiracies, like efforts by the Sackler family to profit by concealing...

Future pandemics will have the same human causes as ancient outbreaks − lessons from anthropology can help prevent them

Written by Ron Barrett, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Macalester College

The changes that came with the transition from foraging to farming paved the way for disease.Nastasic/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

The last pandemic was bad, but COVID-19 is only one of many infectious diseases that emerged since the turn of this century.

Since 2000, the world has experienced 15 novel Ebola epidemics, the global spread of...

Lung cancer is the deadliest of all cancers, and screening could save many lives − if more people could access it

Written by Nina Thomas, Assistant Professor of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Lung cancer screening can save lives, but it isn't accessible to everyone at risk of developing the disease.sudok1/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Many medical organizations have been recommending lung cancer screening for decades for those at high risk of developing the disease.

But in 2022, less than 6% of people in the U.S. eligible for screening...

Voting in unconstitutional districts: US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing the congressional districts first

Written by Sam D. Hayes, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Law, Trinity College

Overturning decades of tradition, the Supreme Court in 2022 let Alabama use voting districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens.Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of...

Homeschooled kids face unique college challenges − here are 3 ways they can be overcome

Written by Kenneth V. Anthony, Associate Professor of Elementary Education, Mississippi State University

Homeschooled children don't always get a well-rounded curriculum. miniseries via Getty Images

Homeschooling is the fastest-growing education setting in the United States. More than 3 million students were educated at home in the 2021-22 school year, up from 2.5 million in the spring of 2019. Current estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate...

Artists created images of Christ that focused not on historical accuracy but on reflecting different communities − a scholar of religious history explains

Written by Virginia Raguin, Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita, Visual Arts, College of the Holy Cross

'Christ of the New Jerusalem' − created in 1915 for the Uranienborg Church, Oslo, by Emanuel Vigeland.Michel M. Raguin, CC BY

In 1915, Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland, one of the most respected Scandinavian artists of his time, created an image of Christ with golden hair and fair skin.

Vigeland was well aware of a widely popular Bible...

3 reasons the UAW is having success in organizing Southern workers – with two Mercedes plants in Alabama the next face-off

Written by Stephen J. Silvia, Professor of International Relations, American University School of International Service

A Volkswagen autoworker waits for the results of a union vote on April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. AP Photo/George Walker IV

Workers at two Mercedes plants near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will soon vote for the first time on whether they want to join a union.

Until recently, it would have been safe to presume that a majority of the 5,200 people...

Palestinian writers have long explored the horrors of amputation

Written by Graham Liddell, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Hope College

A Palestinian boy from Gaza at a temporary housing compound in Doha, Qatar, in April 2024.Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Words fail as 2,000-pound bombs shred lives and limbs.

The sheer number of children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza is devastating – at least 13,000 children in the first six months of the war. But somehow...

Venus is losing water faster than previously thought – here’s what that could mean for the early planet’s habitability

Written by Eryn Cangi, Research Scientist in Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

An artist's illustration of hydrogen disappearing from Venus. Aurore Simonnet/ Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/ University of Colorado Boulder

Today, the atmosphere of our neighbor planet Venus is as hot as a pizza oven and drier than the driest desert on Earth – but it wasn’t always that way.

Billions of years ago, Venus...

Neediest areas are being shortchanged on government funds − even with programs designed to benefit poor communities

Written by Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. And you would typically be right.

This is the case even with programs that have been specifically designed to benefit low-income communities. Over the long run, federal funds...