The Conversation

Would Brexit be followed by breakup of the United Kingdom?

Written by Seth Jolly, Associate Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University

An uncertain future... Union Jack via www.shutterstock.com

British voters head to the polls this week to decide whether to “remain” in the European Union or “leave” it. The most recent surveys suggest the outcome is too close to call, with those favoring an exit holding a slight lead and many undecided.

The campaign has been...

Sandy Hook lawsuit is latest effort to hold gun makers liable for mass shootings

Written by Timothy D. Lytton, Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law, Georgia State University

Last year families of the Sandy Hook shooting filed a potentially precedent-setting lawsuit. They sued the manufacturer of the AR-15 rifle that Adam Lanza used to gun down 20 schoolchildren and their teachers in a small town in Connecticut in 2012.

On June 20, lawyers for the gun manufacturers tried to dismiss the suit, arguing that federal law...

2016: the proving ground for political data

Written by Daniel Kreiss, Assistant Professor of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Will campaigns' data use help determine the election?Pie chart via shutterstock.com

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump recently argued that data profiling of prospective voters was “overrated.” He said he plans only “limited” use of data in his quest for the presidency, believing voters care more about...

To fight antibiotic resistance, we need to fight bad prescribing habits

Written by John Gums, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Professor of Pharmacy and Medicine, University of Florida

shutterstockAntibiotics image via www.shutterstock.com.

May’s announcement that a strain of bacteria with genes conferring resistance to colistin, our antibiotic of last resort, was identified in the United States, is just the latest report highlighting the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is driven by many...

Expand the draft to women – or repeal it? A long constitutional debate continues

Written by Nicholas Mosvick, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Mississippi

The military draft has surfaced again as a source of national debate, as it has throughout American history.

On June 15, the Senate passed a proposal to require women to register with the Selective Service. In the same bill, Senator Rand Paul took the opportunity to introduce an amendment to eliminate the draft entirely.

As a Ph.D. candidate...

Of bears and biases: scientific judgment and the fate of Yellowstone's grizzlies

Written by Jeremy T. Bruskotter, Associate Professor of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University

The grizzly, or brown, bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is posed to lose protections under the Endangered Species Act. Jim Peaco, Yellowstone National Park

In March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced its intent to remove protections afforded by the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) to grizzly bears in the Greater...

Love it or leave it: why the U.K.'s Brexit vote should matter to Americans

Written by Terrence Guay, Clinical Professor of International Business, Pennsylvania State University

On June 23, citizens of the United Kingdom will go to the polls to vote on whether their country will remain a member of the European Union. While the outcome will have the greatest impact on residents of Europe, it will also affect the U.S. as well.

And with the latest polls putting the “leave” campaign ahead of those for remaining in...

Why the first Olympic refugee team may not be the last

Written by María Cristina García, Howard A. Newman Professor of American Studies, Department of History and Latino Studies Program, Cornell University

Ten refugee athletes will march into the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, August 5, 2016. Unlike the other athletes there, they will not represent the countries of their birth, heritage or citizenship. These athletes will comprise the first-ever Olympic refugee team, and they will march under the Olympic flag.

“We want to...

Big data jobs are out there – are you ready?

Written by Jungwoo Ryoo, Associate Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at Altoona campus, Pennsylvania State University

Perhaps your career path is paved with big data.Steve Johnson, CC BY

Big data is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Network security companies use it to improve the accuracy of their intrusion detection services. Dating services use it to help clients find soulmates. It can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of fraud detection, in turn...

An epidemic of children dying in hot cars: a tragedy that can be prevented

Written by David Diamond, Professor of Psychology, Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Director, Neuroscience Collaborative Program and Center for Preclinical and Clinical Research on PTSD, University of South Florida

Child in a car seat via ShutterstockCC BY-SA

I have been studying the brain and memory since 1980, but I was baffled when a news reporter asked me in 2004 how parents can forget that their children are in the car with them. It seemed incomprehensible that parents could leave a child in a car and then go about their daily activities, as their child...