The Conversation

Marie Tharp pioneered mapping the bottom of the ocean 6 decades ago – scientists are still learning about Earth's last frontier

Written by Suzanne OConnell, Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University

Tharp with an undersea map at her desk. Rolled sonar profiles of the ocean floor are on the shelf behind her.Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the estate of Marie Tharp

Despite all the deep-sea expeditions and samples taken from the seabed over the past 100 years, humans still know very little about the ocean’s deepest reaches. And there...

Many students with the potential to excel in STEM fields struggle in school

Written by Joni Lakin, Associate Professor of Educational Studies, University of Alabama

What else might she build someday?Kobyakov/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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

The big idea

Students who have the kinds of talent scientists and engineers need to solve problems by visualizing how objects could be rotated, combined or changed in three dimensions often struggle at school....

Companies are struggling to engage with today's activists – a new survey explores why

Written by Fred Cook, Director, Center for Public Relations, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Companies are having trouble keeping up with the recent rise of activism.AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Dozens of companies with no track record of activism have made statements in recent weeks in support of Black Lives Matter following what I believe is unprecedented pressure from racial justice protesters.

It may have come as a surprise to some...

Cómo Jesús llegó a parecerse a un europeo blanco

Written by Anna Swartwood House, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of South Carolina

Pintura que representa la transfiguración de Jesús, un evento narrado en el Nuevo Testamento en el que Jesús se vuelve radiante sobre una montaña.Artist Raphael /Collections Hallwyl Museum, CC BY-SA

La representación de Jesús como un hombre blanco y europeo vuelve a estar en el punto de mira durante este...

When a winner becomes a loser: Winston Churchill was kicked out of office in the British election of 1945

Written by Klaus W. Larres, Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor; Adjunct Professor of the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Winston Churchill giving his final address, during the 1945 election campaign, at Walthamstow Stadium, East London.Wikipedia, the collections of the Imperial War Museums

The end of World War II in Europe and the defeat of Hitler and Nazi Germany in early May 1945 turned British Prime Minister Winston Churchill into the world’s most eminent...

4 lawsuits that challenge Trump's federal agents in Portland test issues other cities will likely face

Written by Sarah J. Adams-Schoen, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Oregon

Federal officers using large amounts of tear gas against protesters in Portland, Oregon on July 21.John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. Department of Justice will send a “surge of federal law enforcement” into American cities run by “extreme politicians” who are on an...

At the evangelical Creation Museum, dinosaurs lived alongside humans and the world is 6,000 years old

Written by William Trollinger, Professor of History, University of Dayton

Christian fundamentalists like Ken A. Ham, CEO of the evangelical group that owns the Creation Museum, believe dinosaurs were among the animals rescued on Noah's Ark.Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images

Summer travel in the United States has slowed but not stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Among those destinations that have recently reopened is,...

Urban planning as a tool of white supremacy – the other lesson from Minneapolis

Written by Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University

Minneapolis, a city still split along racial lines.Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The legacy of structural racism in Minneapolis was laid bare to the world at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street, the location where George Floyd’s neck was pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee. But it is...

What are the origins of cathedrals and chapels?

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder

Mosaic in San Vitale Basilica, Ravenna, Italynimu1956/Collection E+ via Getty images

Cathedrals and chapels have played vital roles in the development of Christian culture.

As a scholar of the Bible, Judaism and Christianity, I have come to learn the historic importance of these structures and the pivotal role they play in the practice of many...

Video: Slowing deforestation is the key to preventing the next pandemic – but what does that cost?

Written by Les Kaufman, Professor of Biology, Boston University, Boston University

Reducing deforestation of tropical forests and supporting the communities that live there can reduce the risk of future pandemics.AFP via Getty Images

In a recent journal article, a team of biologists, medical scientists, environmental scientists and conservationists proposed a number of measures to reduce the likelihood of future pandemics, many...