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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

Scientists suggest US embassies were hit with high-power microwaves – here's how the weapons work

  • Written by Edl Schamiloglu, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, School of Engineering, University of New Mexico, University of New Mexico
imageThis U.S. Air Force microwave weapon is designed to knock down drones by frying their electronics.AFRL Directed Energy Directorate

The mystery ailment that has afflicted U.S. embassy staff and CIA officers off and on over the last four years in Cuba, China, Russia and other countries appears to have been caused by high-power microwaves, according...

Read more: Scientists suggest US embassies were hit with high-power microwaves – here's how the weapons work

Why does the Electoral College exist, and how does it work? 5 essential reads

  • Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US
imageMissouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt signs an official tally of the Electoral College votes from the 2016 presidential election, in January 2017.AP Photo/Zach Gibson

On Dec. 14, the members of the Electoral College will meet in state capitols across the country and cast their ballots for president and vice president. The expected vote total: 306 for...

Read more: Why does the Electoral College exist, and how does it work? 5 essential reads

Why shielding businesses from coronavirus liability is a bad idea

  • Written by Timothy D. Lytton, Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law, Georgia State University
imagePosting signs like this are often enough to avoid liability. AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Congress may be close to a deal on another coronavirus bailout, but Senate Republican demands for liability protections for businesses remain a major obstacle.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has long warned of an “avalanche” of lawsuits that...

Read more: Why shielding businesses from coronavirus liability is a bad idea

5 years after Paris: How countries’ climate policies match up to their promises, and who's aiming for net zero emissions

  • Written by Morgan Bazilian, Professor of Public Policy and Director, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines
imageEven if every country meets its commitments, the world will still be on track to warm by more than 3 degrees Celsius this century, a new UNEP report shows.Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate agreement – the commitment by almost every country to try to keep global warming well below 2 degrees...

Read more: 5 years after Paris: How countries’ climate policies match up to their promises, and who's aiming...

Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here's why voters passed this groundbreaking reform

  • Written by Scott Akins, Professor, Sociology Department, Oregon State University
imageAccording to Oregon law, possessing a small amount of drugs for personal consumption is now a civil – rather than criminal – offense. Peter Dazeley via Getty

Oregon became the first state in the United States to decriminalize the possession of all drugs on Nov. 3, 2020.

Measure 110, a ballot initiative funded by the Drug Policy...

Read more: Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here's why voters passed this groundbreaking reform

More Articles ...

  1. Why do scientists care about worms?
  2. America's hidden world of handmade pornography
  3. Why we're so bad at counting the calories we eat, drink or burn
  4. Why the Virgin of Guadalupe is more than a religious icon to Catholics in Mexico
  5. Latinos are especially reluctant to get flu shots – how a small clinic in Indiana found ways to overcome that
  6. We discovered a 115,000-year-old iguana nest fossil in the Bahamas
  7. Kids want to learn more about mental illness and how to cope with parents who live with it
  8. Foreign policy is Biden's best bet for bipartisan action, experts say – but GOP is unlikely to join him on climate change
  9. Workers are looking for direction from management – and any map is better than no map
  10. Bitter battles between stinkbugs and carnivorous mice could hold clues for controlling human pain
  11. Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe
  12. The Electoral College system isn't 'one person, one vote'
  13. Daily DIY sniff checks could catch many cases of COVID-19
  14. 4 ways to close the COVID-19 racial health gap
  15. Computer science jobs pay well and are growing fast. Why are they out of reach for so many of America's students?
  16. When can children get the COVID-19 vaccine? 5 questions parents are asking
  17. Can Joe Biden win the transition?
  18. In 'The Queen's Gambit' and beyond, chess holds up a mirror to life
  19. The iconic American inventor is still a white male – and that's an obstacle to race and gender inclusion
  20. Nigerians got their abusive SARS police force abolished – but elation soon turned to frustration
  21. The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan
  22. How remote learning is making educational inequities worse
  23. Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth's atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development
  24. Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease
  25. We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes
  26. From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic
  27. Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one
  28. New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair
  29. Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths
  30. How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us
  31. Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad
  32. Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 vaccine, undermining a century of progress toward universal inoculation
  33. The Atlantic: The driving force behind ocean circulation and our taste for cod
  34. Why Biden will find it hard to undo Trump's costly 'America first' trade policy
  35. Intimate partner violence has increased during pandemic, emerging evidence suggests
  36. How do archaeologists know where to dig?
  37. I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there – but UFO sightings aren't persuasive
  38. How Hanukkah came to be an annual White House celebration
  39. This DIY contact tracing app helps people exposed to COVID-19 remember who they met
  40. Wisconsin's not so white anymore – and in some rapidly diversifying cities like Kenosha there's fear and unrest
  41. As the pandemic rages, the US could use a little bit more 'samfundssind'
  42. How COVID-19 vaccines will get from the factory to your local pharmacy
  43. How to fight Holocaust denial in social media – with the evidence of what really happened
  44. Trump plan to revive the gallows, electric chair, gas chamber and firing squad recalls a troubled history
  45. What are emergency use authorizations, and do they guarantee that a vaccine or drug is safe?
  46. How TikTok is upending workplace social media policies – and giving us rebel nurses and dancing cops
  47. In a year of Black Lives Matter protests, Dutch wrestle (again) with the tradition of Black Pete
  48. Tiny treetop flowers foster incredible beetle biodiversity
  49. How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses
  50. What makes the world's biggest surfable waves?