The Conversation

I spoke to 99 big thinkers about what our 'world after coronavirus' might look like – this is what I learned

Written by Adil Najam, Dean, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

Adil Najam, international relations professor at Boston University, interviewed 99 experts about what the post-pandemic future will bring.Pardee Center/Boston University, CC BY-SA

Back in March, my colleagues at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University thought that it might be useful to begin...

Through her divisive rhetoric, Education Secretary DeVos leaves a troubled legacy of her own

Written by Mark Hlavacik, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of North Texas

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the daily briefing on COVID-19 on March 27, 2020, in Washington, D.C. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s note: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned from her post effective Jan. 8, 2021, saying there was “no mistaking” the impact that President Donald...

Big Tech's rejection of Parler shuts down a site favored by Trump supporters – and used by participants in the US Capitol insurrection

Written by Alex Newhouse, Research Lead, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies

Parler is similar to Twitter but doesn't control or discourage hate speech or calls to violence.OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Image

Early in the morning of Jan. 11, the social media platform Parler went offline after Amazon withdrew the platform’s web hosting services. Parler sued Amazon in response.

Amazon’s move followed Google and...

How self-proclaimed 'prophets' from a growing Christian movement provided religious motivation for the Jan. 6 events at the US Capitol

Written by Brad Christerson, Professor of Sociology, Biola University

Supporters of President Trump put up a Cross outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,Win McNamee/Getty Images

In addition to symbols of white supremacy, many of the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 carried signs bearing religious messages, such as “Jesus Saves” and “In God We Trust” while others chanted “Jesus is my savior...

Biden plans to fight climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before

Written by Bill Ritter Jr., Director, Center for the New Energy Economy, Colorado State University

Managing climate change requires a systems approach, with strategic coordination across all sectors.Elenabs via Getty Images

Joe Biden is preparing to deal with climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before – by mobilizing his entire administration to take on the challenge from every angle in a strategic, integrated way.

The...

A brief history of the term ‘president-elect’ in the United States

Written by Mark Satta, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Wayne State University

Statue of George Washington in front of Federal Hall in New York City.Getty Images

On Jan. 20, Joe Biden will be sworn in as president of the United States. Until then, he is president-elect of the United States.

But what exactly does it mean to be president-elect of the United States?

As a lawyer and philosopher who studies word meaning, I have...

Executions don't deter murder, despite the Trump administration's push

Written by David P. Barash, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Washington

The federal death chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, as seen in April 1995.AP Photo/Chuck Robinson

Three more federal inmates are slated to be executed before the end of President Donald Trump’s term, though the first received a stay hours before she was slated to die on Jan. 12. Ten have already been put to death since...

Apollo landers, Neil Armstrong's bootprint and other human artifacts on Moon officially protected by new US law

Written by Michelle L.D. Hanlon, Professor of Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi

These astronaut footprints on the Moon aren't protected yet.NASA

It’s hard to care about bootprints sunk in soil 238,900 miles away as humanity suffers the combined burden of an unforgiving virus and a political unease. But how humans treat those bootprints and the historic lunar landing sites upon which they are found will speak volumes...

Some kindergartners are more likely to be heavy users of online tech later, according to new research

Written by Paul L. Morgan, Eberly Fellow, Professor Education and Demography, and Director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research, Penn State

Online activities can squeeze out time for other important parts of growing up.JohnnyGreig/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Specific groups of kindergartners in the U.S. are more likely to be frequent users of social networking, online gaming or messaging by the end of fifth grade, ac...

How does Wi-Fi work? An electrical engineer explains

Written by Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California

The Wi-Fi symbol, like the technology it represents, has become ubiquitous.Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

Though you can’t see them, radio waves are all around you all the time, carrying information. For most people, some of those radio waves are Wi-Fi signals. Wi-Fi is the catchy name an industry alliance came up with to market...