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The Conversation

Mermaids aren't real – but they've fascinated people around the world for ages

  • Written by Peter Goggin, Associate Professor of English, Arizona State University
imageSuperstition or wishful thinking could trick you into thinking you saw one of these mythical creatures.AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarezimage

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Are mermaids real? – Verona, age 9, Owensboro,...

Read more: Mermaids aren't real – but they've fascinated people around the world for ages

My university will be getting COVID-19 vaccines soon – here's how my team will get doses into arms

  • Written by Desi Kotis, Associate Dean and Professor of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco
imageAfter receiving the vaccine, health systems have a complicated job ahead of them.AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

In late October, I received an email from a member of the California Department of Public Health. I called the number in the email and a bright happy voice answered and asked if the University of California, San Francisco would be interested in the...

Read more: My university will be getting COVID-19 vaccines soon – here's how my team will get doses into arms

Masks and mandates: How individual rights and government regulation are both necessary for a free society

  • Written by Martha Ackelsberg, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government, emerita, Smith College
imageResidents line up in their cars in late November at a food distribution site in Clermont, Florida, where many are hungry because of the pandemic. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

I’ve been thinking a lot, recently, about the tension between demanding “individual rights” – in the sense of deciding...

Read more: Masks and mandates: How individual rights and government regulation are both necessary for a free...

From the White House to ancient Athens: Hypocrisy is no match for partisanship

  • Written by Raman Sachdev, Visiting Instructor of Philosophy, University of South Florida
imagePresident Donald Trump plays a round of golf on July 15, 2018 in Turnberry, Scotland. Leon Neal/Getty Images

Donald Trump has spent a lot of time on golf courses during his presidency.

That may come across as hypocritical if many of us consider how Trump criticized Barack Obama for playing golf during his presidency instead of attending to the...

Read more: From the White House to ancient Athens: Hypocrisy is no match for partisanship

Biden's chance to revive US tradition of inserting ethics in foreign policy

  • Written by David Mayers, Professor of History and Political Science, Boston University
imageBiden's is entrusting Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken to set U.S. foreign policy on a different course.Mark Makela/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s foreign policy has, in the judgment of many analysts, damaged U.S. moral standing around the world. During four years of “America First,” the Trump administration has gotten cozy...

Read more: Biden's chance to revive US tradition of inserting ethics in foreign policy

What is a neural network? A computer scientist explains

  • Written by Tam Nguyen, Assistant Professor, University of Dayton
imageNeural networks try to simulate the brain by processing data through layers of artificial neurons.MF3d / E+ via Getty Images

Editor’s note: One of the central technologies of artificial intelligence is neural networks. In this interview, Tam Nguyen, a professor of computer science at the University of Dayton, explains how neural networks,...

Read more: What is a neural network? A computer scientist explains

Why do so few clergy serve in Congress?

  • Written by Robert Speel, Associate Professor of Political Science, Erie Campus, Penn State
imageRev. Raphael G. Warnock delivers a eulogy at Ebenezer Baptist Church.Curtis Compton/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

While campaigning for Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins – a former pastor – attacked her opponent, Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, for his...

Read more: Why do so few clergy serve in Congress?

Arecibo telescope's fall is indicative of global divide around funding science infrastructure

  • Written by Raquel Velho, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
imageOnce featured in movies, TV shows and video games, the Arecibo Observatory was the pride of Puerto Rico.RICARDO ARDUENGO / Contributor / AFP via Getty Images

A mere two weeks after the National Science Foundation declared it would close the Arecibo single-dish radio telescope – once the largest in the world – the observatory took a...

Read more: Arecibo telescope's fall is indicative of global divide around funding science infrastructure

The Marshall Islands could be wiped out by climate change – and their colonial history limits their ability to save themselves

  • Written by Autumn Bordner, Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley
imageThe Marshall Islands and other small island nations are urgently threatened by rising seas.Stefan Lins/Flickr, CC BY

Along U.S. coastlines, from California to Florida, residents are getting increasingly accustomed to “king tides.” These extra-high tides cause flooding and wreak havoc on affected communities. As climate change raises sea...

Read more: The Marshall Islands could be wiped out by climate change – and their colonial history limits...

Why paying people to get the coronavirus vaccine won't work

  • Written by Ana Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis University
imageAlthough monetary incentives work, there are potential drawbacks.Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images

The first COVID-19 vaccine to gain emergency use authorization in the U.S. could roll out within days, as Pfizer and BioNTech’s candidate was endorsed by an external advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 10. Two days earlier,...

Read more: Why paying people to get the coronavirus vaccine won't work

More Articles ...

  1. Scientists suggest US embassies were hit with high-power microwaves – here's how the weapons work
  2. Why does the Electoral College exist, and how does it work? 5 essential reads
  3. Why shielding businesses from coronavirus liability is a bad idea
  4. 5 years after Paris: How countries’ climate policies match up to their promises, and who's aiming for net zero emissions
  5. Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here's why voters passed this groundbreaking reform
  6. Why do scientists care about worms?
  7. America's hidden world of handmade pornography
  8. Why we're so bad at counting the calories we eat, drink or burn
  9. Why the Virgin of Guadalupe is more than a religious icon to Catholics in Mexico
  10. Latinos are especially reluctant to get flu shots – how a small clinic in Indiana found ways to overcome that
  11. We discovered a 115,000-year-old iguana nest fossil in the Bahamas
  12. Kids want to learn more about mental illness and how to cope with parents who live with it
  13. Foreign policy is Biden's best bet for bipartisan action, experts say – but GOP is unlikely to join him on climate change
  14. Workers are looking for direction from management – and any map is better than no map
  15. Bitter battles between stinkbugs and carnivorous mice could hold clues for controlling human pain
  16. Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe
  17. The Electoral College system isn't 'one person, one vote'
  18. Daily DIY sniff checks could catch many cases of COVID-19
  19. 4 ways to close the COVID-19 racial health gap
  20. Computer science jobs pay well and are growing fast. Why are they out of reach for so many of America's students?
  21. When can children get the COVID-19 vaccine? 5 questions parents are asking
  22. Can Joe Biden win the transition?
  23. In 'The Queen's Gambit' and beyond, chess holds up a mirror to life
  24. The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender inclusion
  25. Nigerians got their abusive SARS police force abolished – but elation soon turned to frustration
  26. The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan
  27. How remote learning is making educational inequities worse
  28. Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth's atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development
  29. Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease
  30. We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes
  31. From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic
  32. Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one
  33. New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair
  34. Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths
  35. How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us
  36. Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad
  37. Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 vaccine, undermining a century of progress toward universal inoculation
  38. The Atlantic: The driving force behind ocean circulation and our taste for cod
  39. Why Biden will find it hard to undo Trump's costly 'America first' trade policy
  40. Intimate partner violence has increased during pandemic, emerging evidence suggests
  41. How do archaeologists know where to dig?
  42. I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there – but UFO sightings aren't persuasive
  43. How Hanukkah came to be an annual White House celebration
  44. This DIY contact tracing app helps people exposed to COVID-19 remember who they met
  45. Wisconsin's not so white anymore – and in some rapidly diversifying cities like Kenosha there's fear and unrest
  46. As the pandemic rages, the US could use a little bit more 'samfundssind'
  47. How COVID-19 vaccines will get from the factory to your local pharmacy
  48. How to fight Holocaust denial in social media – with the evidence of what really happened
  49. Trump plan to revive the gallows, electric chair, gas chamber and firing squad recalls a troubled history
  50. What are emergency use authorizations, and do they guarantee that a vaccine or drug is safe?