The Conversation

Website privacy options aren't much of a choice since they're hard to find and use

Written by Hana Habib, Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Software Research, Carnegie Mellon University

If only it were as easy as pushing a button.REDPIXEL.PL/Shutterstock.com

You’ve probably encountered a pair of shoes that won’t stop following you around the internet, appearing in advertisements on different sites for weeks.

Today, the vast majority of advertising is targeted – that is, you see an ad because an advertiser thinks...

Curious Kids: Why does pizza taste so good?

Written by Jeffrey Miller, Associate Professor, Hospitality Management, Colorado State University

One slice is never enough.Radu Bercan/Shutterstock.com

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Why does pizza taste so good? – Annika, age 5, Oneonta, New York

Pizza is one of the world’s most popular foods.

In the U.S., 350...

Will the NCAA's move to let college athletes get paid endorsements make a difference? 3 questions answered

Written by Jasmine Harris, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ursinus College

The NCAA has moved to permit college athletes to seek endorsement deals. under new rules to be adopted by 2021.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Editor’s note: The NCAA moved on Oct. 29 to allow student-athletes to profit from their image and likeness – something the association had opposed until California passed a law to allow the...

Monsanto wins $7.7b lawsuit in Brazil – but farmers' fight to stop its ‘amoral’ royalty system will continue

Written by Karine Eliane Peschard, Anthropologist and Research Associate, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)

Soybean farmers in Brazil sued Monsanto for a royalty collection system that they say violates their planting rights. A soybean harvest in Mato Grosso, Brazil, March 27, 2012. AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

A Brazilian appeals court has decided in favor of Monsanto, the global agribusiness conglomerate, in a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by...

How much of a difference does the number of kids in a classroom make?

Written by Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Professor of Education and Social Policy; Director of the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Chicago's teachers say they are seeking a better deal for their students too.AP Photo/Teresa Crawford

Chicago’s teachers are on a strike that has suspended instruction for the city’s public school students since Oct. 17.

Educators in the nation’s third-largest school district want higher pay and improved benefits. But they also...

Impeachment resolution: 3 reasons the House voted even though the Constitution doesn't require it

Written by Jennifer Selin, Kinder Institute Assistant Professor of Constitutional Democracy, University of Missouri-Columbia

The Capitol on the morning after Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the House of Representatives will vote on a resolution to affirm the impeachment investigation.AP/J. Scott Applewhite

For something with such important consequences, the Constitution is surprisingly vague when it comes to impeachment.

Most of the language in the...

Could Congress reverse Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria?

Written by Sarah Burns, Associate Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology

U.S. forces are still in Syria, but their role has changed substantially in recent weeks.AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad

The political and humanitarian outcry condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria came soon after he made the announcement.

Trump’s actions paved the way for Turkish troops to attack...

Why the Fed has no choice but to keep cutting interest rates – if it wants to avoid a financial crisis

Written by Andreas Kern, Associate Teaching Professor, Georgetown University

This is what a financial crisis looks like on Wall Street.AP Photo/Richard Drew

The U.S. Federal Reserve is stuck between an apparently booming economy and a financial crisis that might be right around the corner.

That’s why its decision to cut interest rates by another quarter point on Oct. 30 – its third reduction in as many months &nda...

What a boycott that never happened can reveal about blame, consumer psychology and the free-market system

Written by Brandon Reich, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Portland State University

United Airlines officials testify after United physically forced a customer off a Chicago flight.Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Imagine that a passenger is asked to leave an overbooked flight. When the passenger refuses, saying he is needed for important work, he is physically assaulted and dragged off the flight.

Imagine that the American public directed...

Super-soldier T-cells fight cancer better after a transformational DNA delivery

Written by Andy Tay, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University

Delivering DNA to immune cells is the trickiest part of developing new gene-based therapies.SAK Design/SHutterstock.com

I enjoy online shopping. However, I often find myself fussing about the delivery options during checkout. This is because not all delivery services are equally efficient and stress-free.

This personal experience has also inspired...