The Conversation

Controlling weeds on playing fields, parks and lawns without herbicides

Written by Jason Henderson, Associate Professor of Turfgrass and Soil Sciences, University of Connecticut

Grass surfaces require a lot of maintenance, especially in high-traffic areas.Jason Henderson, CC BY-ND

Turfgrass covers more than 40 million acres of land in the continental United States, including lawns, parks, commercial landscapes, sports fields and golf courses. It is the single largest irrigated crop in the nation.

Turfgrasses are grass...

Liberals and conservatives have wildly different TV-viewing habits – but these 5 shows bring everyone together

Written by Johanna Blakley, Managing Director, The Norman Lear Center, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Political fissures extend to the TV screen.vilax/Shutterstock.com

There’s been a lot of concern about how conservatives and liberals consume their news from sources that merely confirm their preexisting beliefs. The result, supposedly, has been a disintegration of a shared reality and a fracturing of the nation’s political life.

But...

How can you tell if another person, animal or thing is conscious? Try these 3 tests

Written by Tam Hunt, Affiliate Guest in Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Researchers have ideas how to probe consciousness in another.agsandrew/Shutterstock.com

How can you know that any animal, other human beings, or anything that seems conscious, isn’t just faking it? Does it enjoy an internal subjective experience, complete with sensations and emotions like hunger, joy, or sadness? After all, the only...

Why the Supreme Court asked for an explanation of the 2020 census citizenship question

Written by Kevin Johnson, Dean and Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Davis

Immediately before the Supreme Court’s summer recess each year, it releases decisions in some of its most challenging and significant cases.

This year was no different.

On June 27, the last day of the term, the Supreme Court decided Department of Commerce v. New York, a case exploring legal issues surrounding the addition of the question,...

Democrats debate the repeal of Section 1325 – what you need to know about the immigration law that criminalizes unauthorized border crossings

Written by Kit Johnson, Associate Professor of Law, University of Oklahoma

Julián Castro skewered the immigration provision during the first Democratic debate. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

During the first Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 race, former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro challenged all candidates to join his call for the repeal of a controversial immigration law.

The law, S...

Sequencing the genome of newborns in the US: Are we ready?

Written by Tom Diacovo, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of UPMC Division of Newborn Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

Every child born in the U.S. has a blood sample taken to screen for genetic diseases. Helen Sushitskaya/Shutterstock.com

Twenty-four to 48 hours after birth, every newborn in the U.S. will have a few drops of blood drawn and sent to a lab to be screened for hidden and potentially life-threatening disorders. This process, known as universal newborn...

Fighting words for a New Gilded Age - Democratic candidates are sounding a lot like Teddy Roosevelt

Written by Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication, Texas A&M University

There was a Republican on the Democratic Party debate stage – a Progressive Republican who sometimes liked to “speak softly, and carry a big stick.” Did you notice him?

“When I say that I am for the square deal,” said the politician, “I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the...

Young LGBT Americans are more politically engaged than the rest of Generation Z

Written by Melissa Deckman, Professor of Political Science, Washington College

Young LGBT Americans score higher on political engagement surveys.Ink Drop/shutterstock.com

Last year’s midterm elections were a “rainbow wave,” with more openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people elected to public office than at any other time in American history.

According to the Victory Fund, a PAC that supports LGBT...

I went on a Voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti

Written by Guilberly Louissaint, Anthropology Ph.d Student, University of California, Irvine

Haiti's black saint known as Grann Sainte Anne Charitable in her European Catholic form and Ti Saint Anne, in Vodoo form.Guilberly Louissaint, CC BY

In July, hundreds of pilgrims will make their way to an isolated town in the northwest of Haiti, called Anse-à-Foleur or Ansafolè. The journey celebrates a black saint known as Gran'n...

Ack! I need chocolate! The science of PMS food cravings

Written by Sara Twogood, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Southern California

What makes chips and chocolate so appealing at certain times of the month?Ken Tannenbaum/Shutterstock.com

Premenstrual food cravings are the punchline of endless jokes. Like most good jokes, they’re funny because they’re true.

Certain parts of a woman’s menstrual cycle do seem to go hand in hand with the desire for chocolate ice...