The Conversation

Restoring soil can help address climate change

Written by David R. Montgomery, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington

No-till farming conserves soil by greatly reducing erosion.USDA NRCS South Dakota/Eric Barsness, CC BY-SA

It’s time to take soil seriously. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states with very high confidence in its latest report, land degradation represents “one of the biggest and most urgent challenges” that...

Guatemala's next president has few plans for fixing rampant corruption, crime and injustice

Written by Naomi Roht-Arriaza, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings

Alejandro Giammattei is a former prison official whose tenure was tainted by the 2006 mass killing of seven prisoners. He was accused but never indicted on conspiracy charges in those deaths.AP Photo/ Santiago Billy

Guatemala’s next leader will be Alejandro Giammattei, a right-wing former national prison director.

With 58% of votes,...

I'm one of hundreds of archaeologists exiled from Syria who's mourning what the war is costing us

Written by Lubna Omar, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York

I used to be a Near Eastern archaeologist working in Syria. Nowadays, I am stuck in academic purgatory, observing from a great distance as the country burns, unable to help protect its history or its present.

Syria sits within what’s known as the cradle of civilization. It’s part of the area archaeologists call the Fertile Crescent that...

A neuroscience-based action plan to deal with stress after El Paso and Dayton shootings

Written by Laurel Mellin, Associate Clinical Professor of Family & Community Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco

The tragedies in El Paso and Dayton bring sadness, grief and stress to many people. Ash T Productions/Shutterstock.com

After the mass murders in El Paso and Dayton, discussions about improving mental health and strengthening gun control laws may be comforting.

Neither affords a plan, however, to address the stress that comes with these events to the...

Making money off of politics isn't new – it was business as usual in the Gilded Age

Written by Jeff Broxmeyer, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Toledo

The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., whose profits go to the president and his family business.AP/Alex Brandon

When the political leader “Boss” Tweed was arrested in New York on corruption charges in the fall of 1871, among his many assets was a luxury hotel.

Located up the road from City Hall, the Metropolitan was a...

The journalist who exposed the Jeffrey Epsteins of Victorian London

Written by LeeAnne M. Richardson, Associate Professor of English, Georgia State University

W.T. Stead's series of articles detailing a sordid sex ring rocked London.W.T. Stead Resource Site, CC BY-SA

Wealthy men soliciting underage girls for sex. Girls lured to expensive homes by promises of good-paying jobs. Captains of commerce and heads of state reveling in debauchery. Officials looking the other way.

A newspaper exposé written...

New climate change report underscores the need to manage land for the short and long term

Written by Chris E. Forest, Professor of Climate Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University

Undeveloped regions such as the Amazon rainforest are critical resources for slowing climate change.lubasi/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change describes how agriculture, deforestation, and other human activities have altered 70% of the land on Earth’s surface.

These changes are significantly...

Why the 2020 census matters for rural Americans

Written by John J. Green, Professor of Sociology, University of Mississippi

Families in rural areas are harder for the Census Bureau to reach.Rafa artphoto/Shutterstock.com

As director of the University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies, I regularly talk to people about how they can use data to help their communities thrive.

The decennial census is particularly important – and the next one is less than a...

Talking about Charlottesville with alt-right students

Written by Jennifer Rich, Assistant Professor; Director, Rowan Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Rowan University

Pivotal. A turning point. A venue for strong ideas.

These are some of the terms that college students used to describe the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that claimed the life of Heather Heyer, a counter-protester who died when a man drove his car into a crowd.

Some students, who used these terms during interviews I...

Remote control for brain cells: scientists use ultrasound waves to activate neurons

Written by Sreekanth Chalasani, Associate Professor of Molecular Neurobiology (Salk Institute) and Assistant Adjunct Professor of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego

Sound waves are displayed as an oscillating glow light.natrot/Shutterstock.com

What if you didn’t need surgery to implant a pacemaker on a faulty heart? What if you could control your blood sugar levels without an injection of insulin, or mitigate the onset of a seizure without even pushing a button?

I and a team of scientists in my laboratory...