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Before the US approves new uranium mining, consider its toxic legacy

  • Written by Stephanie Malin, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Colorado State University
Warning sign at Kerr-McGee uranium mill site near Grants, N.M., December 20, 2007.AP photo/Susan Montoya Bryan

Uranium – the raw material for nuclear power and nuclear weapons – is having a moment in the spotlight.

Companies such as Energy Fuels, Inc. have played well-publicized roles in lobbying the Trump administration to reduce...

Read more: Before the US approves new uranium mining, consider its toxic legacy

Starting with Mother Nature's designs will speed up critical development of new antibiotics

  • Written by Natalie Jones Slivinski, Virology Research Scientist, University of Washington
High-tech ways to scan nature's own creations.Caleb Foster/Shutterstock.com

“I did not invent penicillin. Nature did that. I only discovered it by accident.” - Alexander Fleming

Natural products have been the basis of medicine for centuries. Aspirin is based on a chemical in willow tree bark. Morphine comes from the opium plant....

Read more: Starting with Mother Nature's designs will speed up critical development of new antibiotics

Before hitting the road, self-driving cars should have to pass a driving test

  • Written by Srikanth Saripalli, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University
People have to pass road tests – so should self-driving cars.Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com

What should a self-driving car do when a nearby vehicle is swerving unpredictably back and forth on the road, as if its driver were drunk? What about encountering a vehicle driving the wrong way? Before autonomous cars are on the road, everyone should...

Read more: Before hitting the road, self-driving cars should have to pass a driving test

Why this generation of teens is more likely to care about gun violence

  • Written by Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University

When 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, it was just the latest in a tragic list of mass shootings, many of them at schools.

Then something different happened: Teens began to speak out. The Stoneman Douglas students held a press conference appealing for gun control. Teens in Washington, D.C.,...

Read more: Why this generation of teens is more likely to care about gun violence

Why the 2020 census shouldn't ask about your citizenship status

  • Written by Jennifer Van Hook, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University
A naturalization ceremony, in December 2015.AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File

“Is this person a citizen of the United States?”

In December 2017, the Department of Justice formally proposed adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. This question would ostensibly help to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, census experts, over 10...

Read more: Why the 2020 census shouldn't ask about your citizenship status

Why accountability efforts in higher education often fail

  • Written by Robert Kelchen, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Seton Hall University
Students from 2015 graduating class of Texas Southmost College.Brad Doherty/AP

As the price tag of a college education continues to rise along with questions about academic quality, skepticism about the value of a four-year college degree has grown among the American public.

This has led both the federal government and many state governments to...

Read more: Why accountability efforts in higher education often fail

When the media cover mass shootings, would depicting the carnage make a difference?

  • Written by Nicole Smith Dahmen, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon
Some argue that news coverage of shootings is too sanitized.puriri/Shutterstock.com

Since 20 children were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, we’ve seen public calls for the release of crime scene photos – the idea being that the visceral horror evoked by images of young, brutalized bodies could spur some sort...

Read more: When the media cover mass shootings, would depicting the carnage make a difference?

College students may not be as heart-healthy as they think

  • Written by Wendy DeYoung, Instructor of Exercise Physiology, Colorado State University
College is a fun time for young adults, but it can also become an unhealthy time.oneinchpunch/Shutterstock.com

For many young adults, the college years are filled with excitement, as students gain independence and establish new adult identities and behaviors. However, not all behaviors are healthy. Typical changes in college student behavior...

Read more: College students may not be as heart-healthy as they think

How Billy Graham's legacy lives on in American life

  • Written by David Mislin, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Heritage, Temple University
Evangelist Billy Graham.AP Photo/Nell Redmond

On Feb. 21, Billy Graham, the evangelical Christian minister who was widely regarded as “America’s pastor,” died at the age of 99.

Graham is best known for his global “crusades” – rallies that attracted crowds in the millions – and for the spiritual counsel he...

Read more: How Billy Graham's legacy lives on in American life

Why school leaders fake academic success

  • Written by Stephanie Jones, Assistant Professor of Education, Grinnell College
Several school systems have become engulfed in cheating scandals as of late. Is the pressure to boost school performance becoming too much?Lightspring/Shutterstock

At the beginning of each school year, before the students arrived, teachers from every school in the Atlanta Public Schools district were placed on school buses and taken to the old...

Read more: Why school leaders fake academic success

More Articles ...

  1. How airplane crash investigations can improve cybersecurity
  2. Why is there so little research on guns in the US? 6 questions answered
  3. To slow climate change, the US needs to address nuclear power's dismal economics
  4. What cybersecurity investigators can learn from airplane crashes
  5. The way humans point isn't as universal as you might think
  6. Trump's protectionism continues long history of US rejection of free trade
  7. Why is there a norovirus outbreak at the Winter Olympics? 4 questions answered
  8. 5 questions to ask your aging parents' doctors
  9. Alcohol probably makes it harder to stop sexual violence – so why aren't colleges talking about it?
  10. Parents need to start talking to their tweens about the risks of porn
  11. As the Trump administration retreats on climate change, US cities are moving forward
  12. The other feats US Olympians pull off
  13. North Korea's growing criminal cyberthreat
  14. The American public has power over the gun business – why doesn't it use it?
  15. It's getting harder to prosecute politicians for corruption
  16. It's time to end the debate about video games and violence
  17. How can women feel comfortable saying no when they are told they can't say yes?
  18. Black lung disease on the rise: 5 questions answered
  19. The media need to think twice about how they portray mass shooters
  20. 10 ways schools, parents and communities can prevent school shootings now
  21. What the 5Pointz ruling means for street artists
  22. Outfitting the world's best athletes for the Winter Olympics
  23. Protecting every voter's ballot: 6 essential reads
  24. Why students at prestigious high schools still cheat on exams
  25. From FDR's food stamps to Trump's harvest boxes: The history of helping the poor get enough to eat
  26. Writing's power to deceive
  27. Scaling back Obamacare will make the opioid crisis worse
  28. Congress failed to fix tax woes for gig workers
  29. Trump may owe his 2016 victory to 'fake news,' new study suggests
  30. Why does inflation make stock prices fall?
  31. Wearable technologies help Olympians achieve top performance
  32. When the next generation looks racially different from the last, political tensions rise
  33. Trump budget would undo gains from conservation programs on farms and ranches
  34. Trying to keep up with the 'Dreamers' debate? Here are 6 essential reads
  35. Air pollution from industrial shutdowns and startups worse than thought
  36. Why security measures won't stop school shootings
  37. Corporate America needs to get back to thinking about more than just profits
  38. Caribbean residents see climate change as a severe threat but most in US don't — here's why
  39. Why do Christians wear ashes on Ash Wednesday?
  40. Delivering packages with drones might be good for the environment
  41. Prehistoric wine discovered in inaccessible caves forces a rethink of ancient Sicilian culture
  42. The failed president who almost got ousted
  43. How to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry across North America
  44. The 'real' St. Valentine was no patron of love
  45. Andrew Johnson's failed presidency echoes in Trump's White House
  46. In the DACA debate, which version of America – nice or nasty – will prevail?
  47. It's not just you – politics is stressing out America's youth
  48. What 'merit-based' immigration means in different parts of the world
  49. Consensual sex is key to happiness and good health, science says
  50. Trump's infrastructure plan rests on some rickety assumptions