The Conversation

Climate-friendly farming strategies can improve the land and generate income for farmers

Written by Lisa Schulte Moore, Professor of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University

A prairie strip filled with flowers and wild rye grass between soybean fields on Tim Smith's farm near Eagle Grove, Iowa, reduces greenhouse gases and stores carbon in the soil.The Washington Post via Getty Images

Agriculture has not been a central part of U.S. climate policy in the past, even though climate change is altering weather patterns that...

Space tourism – 20 years in the making – is finally ready for launch

Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies

Space tourism has been slow to get off the ground. Nadia Bormotova/iStock via Getty Images Plus

For most people, getting to the stars is nothing more than a dream. On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito achieved that lifelong goal – but he wasn’t a typical astronaut. Tito, a wealthy businessman, paid US$20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz s...

Scarred by Zika and fearing new COVID-19 variants, Brazilian women say no to another pandemic pregnancy

Written by Letícia Marteleto, Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts

A field hospital in São Paulo state, Brazil, on March 26, 2021. Brazil keeps setting new COVID-19 records, with up to 4,000 people dying daily. Miguel Schincariol/AFP via Getty Images

“We have to avoid a pregnancy,” said Rosa, about the possibility of getting pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic. “My feeling is that I...

Why states didn't go broke from the pandemic

Written by Raymond Scheppach, Professor of Public Policy, University of Virginia

The predictions were for a massive downturn in state finances because of COVID-19 ... but the predictions were wrong. tang90246/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

During the summer of 2020, there were many news reports about the impending state fiscal crisis due to the pandemic. A July 7 article on CNBC with the headline “Cuts to basic services...

Wind farms bring windfalls for rural schools, but school finance laws limit how money is spent

Written by Eric Brunner, Professor of Economics and Policy, University of Connecticut

Texas has collected and spent more money on wind energy than any other state. Daxis/flickr, CC BY-ND

On the website for the local school district in Blackwell – a town of just over 300 people in rural Texas – school Superintendent Abe Gott says: “We believe that no matter your dreams, you can achieve them from Blackwell, Texas.&rdq...

How a professor learned to bring compassion to engineering and design

Written by Tahira Reid, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Tahira Reid leads a lab focused on human-centered design. Over her career, she’s gone outside the “traditional engineering box” and integrated compassion for the users of products and services into the design process – what she and colleagues refer to as “compassionate...

Cancel culture looks a lot like old-fashioned church discipline

Written by Christopher Schelin, Assistant Professor of Practical and Political Theologies, Starr King School for the Ministry

Baptist preachers canceled by opponents.Library of Congress

Blink and you may have missed one of the more recent controversies over cancel culture.

On March 23, 2021, columnist Hemal Jhaveri published an opinion piece at For The Win, a sports commentary website operated by USA Today. In it, she remarked on the “Cinderella story” then...

Ancient Christian thinkers made a case for reparations that has striking relevance today

Written by David Lincicum, Associate Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

Some ancient theologians argued that the Israelites deserved a share of Egypt's wealth after being enslaved for centuries.Culture Club/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Reparations to Black Americans for centuries of slavery and oppression have been discussed for a long time. But ever since journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case...

Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters who are more politically conservative get slightly higher ratings and tips

Written by Alexander Davidson, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Wayne State University

Do your driver's political beliefs affect the service he provides?AP Photo/Anita Snow

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Customers give higher ratings and tips to politically conservative Airbnb hosts, Uber drivers and waiters than to ones with more liberal leanings, according to new peer-reviewed research...

If China's middle class continues to thrive and grow, what will it mean for the rest of the world?

Written by Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology

Over the past few decades, hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens have become part of the middle class.AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

China’s large and impressive accomplishments over the past four decades have spurred scholars and politicians to debate whether the decline of the West – including the United States – as the world’s...