Anyone who’s dug into the 2008 financial crisis knows the role that bundling and selling subprime housing loans played in bringing the world to the brink of economic collapse – out-of-control behaviors well-depicted in the movie “The Big Short.”

But one thing I hope “The Big Short” doesn’t do is further...

Last month, Tom Porton, an award-winning, veteran Bronx high school teacher, handed in his resignation after colliding with the school’s principal. Porton had distributed HIV/AIDS education fliers listing nonsexual ways of “Making Love...

The Flint water crisis and the sad story of Freddie Gray’s lead poisoning have catalyzed a broader discussion about lead poisoning in the United States. What are the risks? Who is most vulnerable? Who is responsible?

Lead is an enormous and pervasive threat to public...

Each week in the United States, about 300 children are diagnosed with cancer. Many of them will be offered treatment as part of a clinical trial that tests different drugs or different ways to give standard drugs.

The dramatic...

During President Obama’s final State of the Union address, he called for reforms to the voting process, saying, “We’ve got to make it easier to vote, not harder. We need to modernize it for the way we live now.”

Just ahead of Super Tuesday and in the midst of the presidential primaries – where we’ve already...

Man on a velocipede, circa 1870.State Library of South Australia, CC BY

Humans have been riding bicycle-like machines for close to 200 years, beginning with the Draisine or “velocipede” in 1817.

While riding and balancing a bicycle can seem simple and...

Donald Trump’s path to the Republican nomination gained crucial momentum in Nevada on Tuesday night.

Trump won the Nevada caucuses with 46 percent of the vote and defeated his closest challengers by more than 20 points, his largest victory margin yet. Trump’s third straight win in the GOP presidential race makes clear that the New York...

What makes human morality unique?

One important answer is that we care when other people are harmed. While many animals retaliate when directly mistreated, humans also get outraged at transgressions against others. And this...

My grandmother, Christine Johanna Hoffman, was born in 1894 and died in 1990. In the course of her lifetime, she witnessed the advent of indoor plumbing and home electrification, the Wright Brothers' first flight, the debut of the Ford Model T and man landing on the moon, just to name a few.

What changes will my students see in their lifetimes? A...

Last week, The New York Timesrevealed that the Obama administration had prepared a cyberattack plan to be carried out against Iran in the event diplomatic negotiations failed to limit that country’s nuclear weapons...