The Conversation

Why it's time to curb widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides

Written by John F. Tooker, Associate Professor of Entomology and Extension Specialist, Pennsylvania State University

Soybean seeds treated with neonicotinoids (blue) and treated corn seeds (red) versus untreated seeds.Ian Grettenberger/PennState University, CC BY-ND

Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. corn belt is drawing to a close. As they plant, farmers are participating in what is likely to be one of the largest deployments of insecticides...

For many immigrant families, the fight for reunification is just beginning

Written by Marcia Zug, Professor of Family Law, University of South Carolina

President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 20 purporting to end immigrant family separations at U.S. border with Mexico. Four days later, the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services announced a plan to reunite approximately 2,000 children who were taken from their parents at the border between April and the time...

Searching for diversity in Silicon Valley tech firms – and finding some

Written by Donald T. Tomaskovic-Devey, Professor of Sociology; Director, Center for Employment Equity, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Many voices mean many viewpoints.nito/Shutterstock.com

Silicon Valley technology firms have had serious problems with demographic diversity, including accusations of hostile climates toward women and minority employees. A new analysis of company-level employment data I helped conduct finds, however, that some firms seem to have figured out how to...

The latest blood pressure guidelines: What they mean for you

Written by John Warner, Executive Vice President, Health Affairs, UT Southwestern Medical Center

An accurate reading is essential to detect high blood pressure. This photo shows optimal procedures, including the supported arm, no clothing on the arm and uncrossed legs.The American Heart Association., CC BY-SA

Updated blood pressure guidelines from the American Heart Association mean that many more Americans, notably older people, are now...

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is in trouble – but the ground beneath it may buy some time

Written by Richard Aster, Professor of Geophysics and Department Head, Colorado State University

As the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melts, the land beneath rebounds – at a faster rate than thought. NASA, CC BY-NC-ND

Working in West Antarctica is profoundly humbling. We scientists work from tiny field camps incongruously airdropped onto a vast plain of kilometers-thick glacial ice extending from horizon to horizon. It is initially difficult...

How immigration court works

Written by Fatma Marouf, Professor of Law, Texas A&M University

When Attorney General Jeff Sessions on June 11 overruled the decision in a controversial immigration case called Matter of A-B-, he made it harder for women escaping sexual and physical abuse to qualify for asylum in the United States.

Can the U.S. attorney general unilaterally overturn a court case?

Yes, because, as I teach my surprised law...

School safety commission should not worry about violence in entertainment media

Written by Christopher J. Ferguson, Professor of Psychology, Stetson University

Strong link lacking between violence in entertainment and violence in society. Mike Focus/www.shutterstock.com

On June 21, I testified before Education Secretary Betsy Devos’s school safety commission on the impact that violence in entertainment media has on violence in society.

I’m a psychologist who has studied violent media for 15...

Social impact bonds, explained

Written by Sheela Pandey, Assistant Professor of Management, School of Business Administration, Harrisburg campus, Pennsylvania State University

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, front, after she signed a law that allows pay-for-success funding for projects aiming to reduce female incarceration rates.AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

A new approach to fighting poverty and solving some of society’s other big problems is emerging at a time when the federal government and states are cutting back on...

How colleges must collaborate to lift up the communities just outside their door

Written by Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, Rutgers University Newark

Contrasting cityscapes, similar challenges from www.shutterstock.com

From the editors: Universities teach and research, but what impact do they – and should they – have on their local communities?

We asked the leaders of Rutgers University - Newark and West Virginia University to explain their take on this issue given the considerable...

Helping plants remove natural toxins could boost crop yields by 47 percent

Written by Paul South, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Genetically engineered tobacco plants growing in a greenhouse.Paul South, CC BY-ND

Can you imagine the entire population of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom and France going hungry?

You don’t need to imagine. That is exactly what happens every day when an estimated 815 million people around the globe go hungry....