The Conversation

Coral reef recovery could get a boost from an unlikely source: Sea cucumbers, the janitors of the seafloor

Written by Mark Hay, Professor of Environmental Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology

Sea cucumbers convert organic material that accumulates on the seafloor into biomass.Philip Wade/Flickr, CC BY-NC

Sea cucumbers, scavengers of the seafloor that resemble the cylindrical vegetable, have been consumed as a delicacy in Asia for centuries. But in recent decades, they’ve been severely overharvested to a point that they are now...

Biden and Trump may forget names or personal details, but here is what really matters in assessing whether they’re cognitively up for the job

Written by Leo Gugerty, Professor Emeritus in Psychology, Clemson University

This image of Trump and Biden was taken during the 2020 presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn.Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Some Americans are questioning whether elderly people like Joe Biden and Donald Trump are cognitively competent to be president amid reports of the candidates mixing up names while speaking and having...

The warming ocean is leaving coastal economies in hot water

Written by Charles Colgan, Director of Research for the Center for the Blue Economy, Middlebury Institute of International Studies

Warm water expands, raising sea levels, which worsens storm surge during hurricanes. It's only one risk from warming oceans.AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Ocean-related tourism and recreation supports more than 320,000 jobs and US$13.5 billion in goods and services in Florida. But a swim in the ocean became much less attractive in the summer of 2023, when...

How DEI rollbacks at colleges and universities set back learning

Written by JT Torres, Director of the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning, Washington and Lee University

DEI programs can foster a stronger sense of belonging among college students from minority groups. Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Just four years ago, following the murder of George Floyd, almost every college and university in the U.S. had at least one diversity, equity and inclusion – or DEI – program. Many had existed...

American slavery wasn’t just a white man’s business − new research shows how white women profited, too

Written by Trevon Logan, Professor of Economics, The Ohio State University

As the United States continues to confront the realities and legacy of slavery, Americans continue to challenge myths about the country’s history. One enduring myth is that slavery was a largely male endeavor — that, for the most part, the buying, selling, trading and profiting from enslavement were carried out by white men alone.

While...

NASA’s asteroid sample mission gave scientists around the world the rare opportunity to study an artificial meteor

Written by Brian Elbing, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University

Collecting the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule. NASA/Keegan Barber, CC BY

Earth is constantly bombarded by fragments of rock and ice, also known as meteoroids, from outer space. Most of the meteoroids are as tiny as grains of sand and small pebbles, and they completely burn up high in the atmosphere. You can see meteoroids larger than about a golf...

How do you build tunnels and bridges underwater? A geotechnical engineer explains the construction tricks

Written by Ari Perez, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Quinnipiac University

Construction underway at China's Lingdingyang Bridge.Deng Hua/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

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.

How do they build things like tunnels and bridges underwater? – Helen, age 10,...

Indian election was awash in deepfakes – but AI was a net positive for democracy

Written by Vandinika Shukla, Fellow, Practicing Democracy Project, Harvard Kennedy School

An Indian AI media company maps Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face.Himanshu Sharma/picture alliance via Getty Images

As India concluded the world’s largest election on June 5, 2024, with over 640 million votes counted, observers could assess how the various parties and factions used artificial intelligence technologies – and what...

How much do you need to know about how your spouse spends money? Maybe less than you think

Written by Scott Rick, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan

Wedding planning involves major conversations about finances – but certainly not the couple's last.simarik/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Love is in the air, and wedding season is upon us.

Like many elder millennials, I grew up watching sitcoms in the 1980s and ‘90s. Whenever those series needed a ratings boost, they would feature a...

2020’s ‘fake elector’ schemes will be harder to try in 2024 – but not impossible

Written by Derek T. Muller, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, center, of the North Carolina Supreme Court swears in state presidential electors to cast their votes on Dec. 14, 2020. AP Photo/Gerry Broome

Electors will gather across the United States in December 2024, just weeks after the election, and formally cast votes for president and vice president. They will send their...