The Conversation

Federal investigation into Smith College probes whether transgender students can attend women’s schools – challenging the evolving mission of women’s education

Written by Alex C. Lange, Assistant Professor, Higher Education, Colorado State University

The Smith College campus in Northampton, Mass., in October 2025. Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Within the past decade, most women’s colleges in the United States – including Smith College, a liberal arts college in Northampton, Massachusetts – have expanded their admissions policies, allowing transgender students...

Recreational fishing in the US catches far more fish than previously estimated

Written by Matthew Robertson, Research Scientist, Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Fishing is recreational, but it's also an inexpensive way to add protein to people's diets.Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

One of the United States’ largest fisheries is hiding in plain sight. Recreational freshwater anglers in the lower 48 states catch – and keep – far more fish than any official body has...

Protestant leaders once championed birth control – not to liberate women, but as part of ‘responsible parenthood’

Written by Samira Mehta, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies & Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Birth control pills have helped American women control their own bodies, but that wasn't the main reason for religious leaders' support.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Mother’s Day seems like a strange time to celebrate birth control, which, on its most basic level, is about helping people to not become mothers – or not become mothers again....

Fire is transforming the US West’s public lands – research shows overlooked cost to recreation

Written by Kyle Manley, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Colorado Boulder

Large-scale wildfires seem to turn visitors away, while prescribed burning may have the opposite effect. Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Colorado’s two largest fires on record, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires, burned hundreds of thousands of acres across some of the state’s most visited...

Using diesel generators to power the AI revolution would kill hundreds of Americans a year

Written by Peter Adams, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Diesel generators sit outside a data center in Ashburn, Va.Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post via Getty Images

With U.S. electricity demand starting to rise quickly and expected to continue rising, largely because of the power needed for data centers that process artificial intelligence, people are looking for almost any potential...

US violent crime is at its lowest in more than a century – but the funding that helped reduce it is disappearing

Written by Andrea Hagan, Instructor of Criminology & Justice, Loyola University New Orleans

Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025.South_agency/Getty Images

The United States is experiencing one of the steepest declines in violent crime in modern history, including a murder rate at its lowest point in more than a century.

Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer people killed....

After the execution of James G. Broadnax in Texas, questions persist over use of rap lyrics as evidence

Written by A.D. Carson, Associate Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia

Despite a flurry of last-minute appeals and amicus briefs, James G. Broadnax was executed on April 30, 2026.Partisan Defense League/X

After languishing on death row in Texas for nearly two decades, James G. Broadnax was executed on April 30, 2026.

In 2009, a nearly all-white jury convicted him of robbery and double murder. Broadnax’s lawyers...

So your new ‘co-worker’ is an AI agent – here’s how to make the best of your human-machine relationship

Written by Nigel Melville, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Michigan

Meet your new colleague.AndreyPopov/iStock via Getty Images

Judging by a slew of recent corporate announcements, your next “co-worker” might be an artificial intelligence agent – doing the work of an assistant, job scheduler, morning debriefer, learning coach and more.

JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, describes a clear vision...

Sleep apnea compromises far more than a good night’s rest – 2 neuroscientists outline the risks and the need for better diagnosis

Written by Erika Yamazaki, PhD candidate in Neuroscience, Northwestern University

Snoring can be − but isn't always − a symptom of sleep apnea. PeopleImages/iStock via Getty Images

Annual medical checkups typically cover the basics: diet, exercise and mental state. Surprisingly, many primary care providers fail to ask about one of the fundamental contributors to well-being: sleep.

We are two neuroscientists who study...

Clinical trials that are actually marketing ploys targeting doctors – how seeding trials put profit over patients

Written by Sukhun Kang, Assistant Professor of Technology Management, University of California, Santa Barbara

Marketing trials aren't conducted for scientific knowledge or the benefit of patients.Ekin Kizilkaya/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Some clinical trials aren’t designed to answer scientific questions. They’re designed to market drugs. In our recently published research, my team and I analyzed over 34,000 industry-funded trials and found...