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The candidate you like is the one you think is most electable

  • Written by Marjorie Hershey, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, Indiana University
Most people vote for the candidate they think is the most electable. Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Electability has been the single most important force motivating voters in the 2020 Democratic primaries.

But what is it? What makes one candidate seem like they could get votes from a majority of Americans while another one...

Read more: The candidate you like is the one you think is most electable

From border security to climate change, national emergency declarations raise hard questions about presidential power

  • Written by Daniel Farber, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley
Global Climate Strike NYC in New York, Sept. 20, 2019.Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch /IPX via AP Photo

As wildfires, storms and other climate-driven disasters grow larger and more damaging, climate change is a major concern for many Democratic voters, who are in the midst of a primary fight that has come down to two major candidates: Bernie Sanders and...

Read more: From border security to climate change, national emergency declarations raise hard questions about...

How technology can combat the rising tide of fake science

  • Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
A crop circle in Switzerland.Jabberocky/Wikimedia Commons

Science gets a lot of respect these days. Unfortunately, it’s also getting a lot of competition from misinformation. Seven in 10 Americans think the benefits from science outweigh the harms, and nine in 10 think science and technology will create more opportunities for future...

Read more: How technology can combat the rising tide of fake science

I was in China doing research when I saw my Uighur friends disappear

  • Written by Sarah Tynen, Instructor, University of Colorado Boulder
An Uighur woman rests near a barricaded structure and heavily armed Chinese policemen in Urumqi.Ng Han Guan/AP Photo

Recently leakedChinese government documents reveal how local officials targeted Muslim minorities in China. Satellite images show that many of them have been held in detention camps across the vast Uighur homeland in northwest China.

C...

Read more: I was in China doing research when I saw my Uighur friends disappear

Dung beetles help rainforests regrow – but extreme drought and wildfires in the Amazon are killing them off

  • Written by Filipe França, Researcher, Tropical Ecology, Federal University of Pará
An Amazon forest in Brazil's Para state after deforestation and wildfires March 9, 2019. Unlike in some tropical forests, the animals of the Amazon are not adapted to survive fire.Gustavo Basso/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The dung beetle may eat and nest in poop, but its role in nature is anything but humble.

These hardshelled scarabs live on every...

Read more: Dung beetles help rainforests regrow – but extreme drought and wildfires in the Amazon are killing...

Should you listen to music when you work?

  • Written by Manuel F. Gonzalez, PhD Candidate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Baruch College, CUNY
Distraction or performance enhancer?H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock via Getty Images

Do you like to listen to music when you work?

Pose this question at a party, and you’ll probably get some polarizing responses. Some will say they love it, claiming that it improves their performance; others will say they find it distracting and cannot work...

Read more: Should you listen to music when you work?

What's the difference between pandemic, epidemic and outbreak?

  • Written by Rebecca S.B. Fischer, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Texas A&M University
It's a matter of scale.(Edward A. "Doc" Rogers/Library of Congress via AP

The coronavirus is on everyone’s minds. As an epidemiologist, I find it interesting to hear people using technical terms – like quarantine or super spreader or reproductive number – that my colleagues and I use in our work every day.

But I’m also...

Read more: What's the difference between pandemic, epidemic and outbreak?

Speeches, both scripted and off the cuff, turn Biden's campaign around

  • Written by David A. Frank, Professor of Rhetoric, University of Oregon
Joe Biden speaks at a rally before Super Tuesday, the day his campaign roared back to life.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

In late February, Joe Biden got emotional about the deaths of family members, in a strikingly moving conversation with Rev. Anthony Thompson, whose wife Myra was killed by a white supremacist.

Three days later, Biden delivered a...

Read more: Speeches, both scripted and off the cuff, turn Biden's campaign around

How big will the coronavirus epidemic be? An epidemiologist updates his concerns

  • Written by Maciej F. Boni, Associate Professor of Biology, Pennsylvania State University
A security guard wears gloves while holding a basketball during halftime of an NBA game in Houston on March 5, 2020. The NBA has told players to avoid high-fiving fans and to avoid taking any item for autographs. AP Photo/David J. Phillip

The Harvard historian Jill Lepore recounted recently in The New Yorker magazine that when democracies sink into...

Read more: How big will the coronavirus epidemic be? An epidemiologist updates his concerns

Why some Americans don't trust the census

  • Written by Jessica Stanford, Demographic Analyst, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fears of the census may have informed the Bureau's 2020 tagline.U.S. Census Bureau

More than 4 million Americans may not be represented in the upcoming 2020 census.

This is a problem, as the once-every-10-year census affects everything from federal funding to political representation to research projects that rely on accurate census data, like the...

Read more: Why some Americans don't trust the census

More Articles ...

  1. Crisis communication researcher shares 5 key principles that officials should use in coronavirus
  2. Washington's recession-fighting toolbox is nearly empty as US economy braces for possible coronavirus outbreak
  3. 'Internet of things' could be an unseen threat to elections
  4. Why having fewer OSHA inspectors matters
  5. How to stop using food to reward and punish your kids
  6. How women dress for other women
  7. Autonomous vehicles can be fooled to 'see' nonexistent obstacles
  8. Coronavirus fears put a halt to the Muslim pilgrimage of umrah – but not yet the hajj
  9. Love in the time of the coronavirus: Do you turn your back when someone offers you a hand, a kiss or a hug?
  10. Why it took Congress 40 years to pass a bill acknowledging the Armenian genocide
  11. Americans still trust doctors and scientists during a public health crisis
  12. What The Satanic Temple is and why it's opening a debate about religion
  13. Do wasps have a queen like bees do?
  14. ​Tornadoes that strike at night are more deadly and require more effective warning systems
  15. Less than one-fifth of reported rapes and sexual assaults lead to arrests
  16. Biden's resurrection was unprecedented – and well-timed
  17. What really works to keep coronavirus away? 4 questions answered by a public health professional
  18. Vaccines without needles – new shelf-stable film could revolutionize how medicines are distributed worldwide
  19. Super Tuesday results show how Latino voters, moderate Democrats and Trump supporters are shaping the election
  20. Spring is arriving earlier across the US, and that's not always good news
  21. The Fed's 'surprise' interest rate cut: 5 questions answered
  22. There’s no easy exit for the US in Afghanistan
  23. A simple way to promote HPV vaccination among Asian American women: Storytelling
  24. Why so many epidemics originate in Asia and Africa – and why we can expect more
  25. Why colleges should think twice before punishing student protesters
  26. What schools can do to reduce the risk that teachers and other educators will sexually abuse children
  27. The sharing economy helps women find new economic opportunities in Jordan
  28. If you want to help after the Nashville tornadoes, give cash, not clothing and other stuff
  29. Why hand-washing really is as important as doctors say
  30. Could a dog pick the next president?
  31. Evangelicals downplay religious expression when working with secular groups
  32. Predicting the coronavirus outbreak: How AI connects the dots to warn about disease threats
  33. Why public health officials sound more worried about the coronavirus than the seasonal flu
  34. Even after blocking an ex on Facebook, the platform promotes painful reminders
  35. Humans domesticated horses – new tech could help archaeologists figure out where and when
  36. The worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century: 5 questions on Syria answered
  37. The two-party system is here to stay
  38. Coronavirus unites a divided China in fear, grief and anger at government
  39. Trump treats the military as his own – and the troops could suffer
  40. Coronavirus: A simple way to keep workers – and the economy – from getting sick
  41. It's OK to feed wild birds – here are some tips for doing it the right way
  42. Emotional support animals can endanger the public and make life harder for people like me who rely on service dogs
  43. Why do Americans say 'bay-zle' and the English say 'baa-zle'?
  44. Tutoring kids who don't need it is a booming business in affluent areas where parents want to stack the deck
  45. A brief history of invisibility on screen
  46. US successfully planned for the 'endless frontier' of science research in 1945 – now it’s time to plan the next 75 years
  47. Black women prefer hair products marketed with them in mind
  48. Librarians could be jailed and fined under a proposed censorship law
  49. The problem with health care price transparency: We don't have cost transparency
  50. How one man fought South Carolina Democrats to end whites-only primaries – and why that matters now