The Conversation

Democrat or Republican, Americans are angry, frustrated and overwhelmed

Written by María Celeste Wagner, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, University of Pennsylvania

More Americans say they now avoid the news altogether.Christo/Shutterstock.com

As the country looks ahead to President Donald Trump’s possible impeachment proceedings, as social scientists, we anticipate that not only will the Americans’ opinions be polarized, but so will their emotions.

Based on our research, we believe that...

At these championship-winning schools, coaches sacrifice time and money for players to beat the odds

Written by Rob Book, PhD Candidate, Lecturer, University of Southern Denmark

Coaches say dedication and sacrifice can help low-resource schools overcome the odds.www.shutterstock.com

When high schools compete against each other in sports, often the winner is not the school with the best talent, it’s the one with the most financial resources to help develop and support its athletes.

Perhaps nowhere is that stark reality...

'The Current War: Director's Cut' shows how the electric power system we take for granted came to be

Written by Jay Apt, Professor, Tepper School of Business, Engineering and Public Policy and Co-Director, Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center, Carnegie Mellon University

Buildings at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, illuminated by George Westinghouse's alternating current.Field Museum Library/Wikipedia, CC BY

Many experts view the electric power grid as the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century. But if Thomas Edison, inventor of the first commercial power plant, had had his way, the...

Is it ethical for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to accept a $1 million prize? Yes, but it's hard to explain

Written by Steven Lubet, Williams Memorial Professor of Law, Northwestern University

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her Supreme Court chambers in Washington. AP/Cliff Owen, File

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will donate to charity the US$1 million Berggruen Prize for Culture and Philosophy she recently won.

The prize is given annually to a “thinker whose ideas are shaping human self-understanding to advance...

What western states can learn from Native American wildfire management strategies

Written by Kari Marie Norgaard, Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, University of Oregon

Aja Conrad, the Karuk Tribe's workforce and internships coordinator, lights a prescribed fire in Orleans, California.Jenny Staats, CC BY-ND

For several months in 2019, it seemed wildfires wouldn’t rage across the West as they had in recent years. But then came the dry autumn and California’s Santa Ana and Diablo winds, which can drive...

Rabies' horrifying symptoms inspired folktales of humans turned into werewolves, vampires and other monsters

Written by Jessica Wang, Associate Professor of U.S. History, University of British Columbia

A rabid dog's bite can make a person seem to have animal characteristics.Taras Verkhovynets/Shutterstock.com

In 1855, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the gruesome murder of a bride by her new husband. The story came from the French countryside, where the woman’s parents had initially prevented the couple’s engagement “on...

Is the US losing the artificial intelligence arms race?

Written by James Johnson, Postdoctoral Fellow in Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies

The U.S.-China rivalry extends to digital weapons.Khanh Tran, CC BY

The U.S. government, long a proponent of advancing technology for military purposes, sees artificial intelligence as key to the next generation of fighting tools.

Several recent investments and Pentagon initiatives show that military leaders are concerned about keeping up with &ndas...

The EPA disbanded our clean air science panel. We met anyway – and found that particle pollution regulations aren't protecting public health

Written by H. Christopher Frey, Glenn E. Futrell Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University

Vehicles are a major source of particulate air pollution.Deliris/Shutterstock

Since 1980, emissions of six common air pollutants have decreased by 67%, thanks largely to government regulation. At the same time, U.S. gross domestic product has increased by 165%. While some assert that regulation acts as a drag on the economy, this record indicates...

Before Martin Luther, there was Erasmus – a Dutch theologian who paved the way for the Protestant Reformation

Written by Katherine Little, Professor of English Literature, University of Colorado Boulder

Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch humanist and theologian.Quentin Matsys

Martin Luther, a German theologian, is often credited with starting the Protestant Reformation. When he nailed his 95 Theses onto the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517, dramatically demanding an end to church corruption, he split Christianity into...

Lebanon uprising unites people across faiths, defying deep sectarian divides

Written by Mira Assaf Kafantaris, Senior Lecturer in English, The Ohio State University

Lebanese protesters formed a 105-mile human chain connecting geographically and religiously diverse cities across the country, Oct. 27. 2019. AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

Religion has shaped Lebanon since it gained independence from France in 1943. In this multicultural country of Muslims, Christians and Druze – a medieval faith derived from Islam &...