The Conversation

It's OK to feed wild birds – here are some tips for doing it the right way

Written by Julian Avery, Assistant Research Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Pennsylvania State University

Costa's Hummingbirds are frequent visitors at feeders in Arizona and southern California.Julian Avery, CC BY-ND

Millions of Americans enjoy feeding and watching backyard birds. Many people make a point of putting food out in winter, when birds needs extra energy, and spring, when many species build nests and raise young.

As a wildlife ecologist and...

Emotional support animals can endanger the public and make life harder for people like me who rely on service dogs

Written by Deni Elliott, Eleanor Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics and Press Policy; Co-Chief Project Officer on the National Ethics Project, University of South Florida

The U.S. currently has no system to differentiate real service dogs from pets.Cheryl Paz/Shutterstock.com

In 2017, Marlin Jackson boarded a cross-country flight. When he got to his row, another passenger was already in the middle seat with an emotional support dog in his lap.

According to Mr. Jackson’s attorney, “The approximately...

Why do Americans say 'bay-zle' and the English say 'baa-zle'?

Written by Christine Mallinson, Professor of Language, Literacy and Culture and Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Depending on where you're from, you say words like 'basil' a specific way.Leonie Broekstra/Shutterstock.com

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.

Why do Americans say “bay-zle” and the English say “baa-zle”?...

Tutoring kids who don't need it is a booming business in affluent areas where parents want to stack the deck

Written by Pawan Dhingra, Professor of Sociology and American Studies, Amherst College

Many families shell out $200 monthly on private 'learning centers.'Beanosity, CC BY-SA

Many relatively well-off parents drive their kids to special activities after school. On top of trips to soccer practices and games or piano lessons and recitals, they increasingly make one more stop: a trip to their local after-school tutoring center.

In most...

A brief history of invisibility on screen

Written by Marc Longenecker, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Film Studies, Wesleyan University

Elisabeth Moss stars in the latest adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel.Universal Pictures

What would you do if you could be invisible? Would this newfound power bring out the best in you, instilling you with the courage to discreetly sabotage the efforts of evildoers? Or would the ability to slip in and out of rooms unnoticed tap into darker impulses?

Th...

US successfully planned for the 'endless frontier' of science research in 1945 – now it’s time to plan the next 75 years

Written by Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College

It's time to forge a new path forward. yangyang/Moment via Getty Images

The U.S. has been the most productive country for science and technology for decades. Many of the basic policy tenets that supported American prowess date back 75 years, to a document called “Science: The Endless Frontier.” Released by the first U.S. presidential...

Black women prefer hair products marketed with them in mind

Written by Yewande O. Addie, Doctoral Candidate, College of Journalism and Communication, University of Florida

Black female consumers outpace other consumer groups in a number of spending categories, notably personal care and hair products, but feel unappreciated by top brands.Peathegee Inc/Getty Images

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

The big idea

Marketing reports indicate that black consumers long to feel authentically...

Librarians could be jailed and fined under a proposed censorship law

Written by Nicole Cooke, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina

A sign of the timesGeraldine Wilkins/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A bill pending in Missouri’s legislature takes aim at libraries and librarians who are making “age-inappropriate sexual material” available to children.

The measure, championed by Ben Baker, a Republican lawmaker, calls for establishing review boards who would...

The problem with health care price transparency: We don't have cost transparency

Written by Michael Williams, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Integration; Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the UVA Center for Health Policy, University of Virginia

In the U.S. health care industry, price and cost are often conflated.Getty Images / Johnny Greig

US$2.4 million. $1.5 million. $2.28 million. These are the amounts of money the health system where I work, teach and receive health care spent purchasing a PET scanner, a CT scanner and a three-month supply of pembrolizumab, a drug that treats a...

How one man fought South Carolina Democrats to end whites-only primaries – and why that matters now

Written by Bobby J. Donaldson, Associate Professor of History; Director Center for Civil Rights History and Research, University of South Carolina

George and Laura Elmore (left) voting after wining a landmark case ending white-only primaries in South CarolinaUniversity of South Carolina Civil Rights Center, CC BY

A rusting chain-link fence represents a “color line” for the dead in Columbia, South Carolina. In Randolph Cemetery, separated by the barrier from the well-manicured lawn...