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

The big idea

While people tend to contribute more to a virtual public good if they see others doing the same, this effect reverses if...

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.

Could a human enter a black hole to study it?...

Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his team have stunned the Russian government again, forcing President Vladimir Putin and his allies to confront significant protest led...

Many of us will recall the American comedy film “Groundhog Day.”

Originally released in 1993, it stars the incomparable Bill Murray as Phil Conners, an insufferable Pittsburgh weatherman. A minor local celebrity who believes himself...

Editor’s note: From time to time, The Conversation asks leaders in America’s colleges and universities to address some of the most pressing issues in our nation. Here we ask Earl Lewis, director and founder of the University...

Until recently, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was an obscure part of the U.S. Constitution.

The amendment is better known for its first section, which guaranteed individual rights and equality...

For many people, the lesson from the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 – and more broadly from the experience of the last four years – is that American democracy...

In the wake of the major espionage operation in which people alleged to be Russian government agents infiltrated the digital networks of the U.S. Defense, Treasury and Homeland Security...

President Joe Biden’s Cabinet and top appointees will likely be the most diverse in U.S. history. He says they were purposely chosen to “look like America.”

As a scholar of...

Many people associate a fresh snowfall with pleasures like hot chocolate and winter sports. But for city dwellers, it can also mean caked-on salt that sticks to shoes, clothing hems and cars. That’s because...