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What's really behind baseball's home run surge?

  • Written by Brian J. Love, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
Some pitchers are convinced the balls are being messed with behind the scenes.Aspen Photo/Shutterstock.com

At the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander griped that too many home runs had been hit so far this season. He accused the league of altering, or “juicing,” the balls, making it easier...

Read more: What's really behind baseball's home run surge?

What is at stake in the Strait of Hormuz?

  • Written by Rockford Weitz, Professor of Practice & Director, Fletcher Maritime Studies Program, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Tensions between the United States, Iran and other countries are flaring again in the Strait of Hormuz.

There are competing explanations for what’s going on in the narrow seaway through which 21% of the world’s crude oil currently passes.

Most of the reports of attacked tankers, smuggled oil and downed drones involve Iran and the United...

Read more: What is at stake in the Strait of Hormuz?

Smokey (the) Bear is still keeping his watchful eye on America's forests after 75 years on the job

  • Written by Wendy Melillo, Associate Professor, American University School of Communication
The PSA star, deployed in the wildJoseph Sohm/Shutterstock.com

Smokey Bear turns 75 on Aug. 9.

The star of the longest-running public-service advertising campaign in U.S. history is now big on social media, with Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Americans are also still sending the imaginary character loads of real mail. The postal...

Read more: Smokey (the) Bear is still keeping his watchful eye on America's forests after 75 years on the job

What Amazon's decision to retrain a third of its employees means for the future of work

  • Written by Scott F. Latham, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Amazon’s announcement that it will invest US$700 million to retrain 100,000 employees – a third of its U.S. workforce – in new technologies is the latest reminder that the much-heralded future of work is well underway.

Policymakers, analysts and scholars trying to discern the retailer’s motives and objectives chalked it up...

Read more: What Amazon's decision to retrain a third of its employees means for the future of work

Curious Kids: Why do birds sing?

  • Written by David Steadman, Curator of Ornithology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
A male Olive-backed Euphonia (_Euphonia gouldi_), photographed in Costa Rica.Andy Morffew, CC BY

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.

Birds are some of the most attractive creatures on earth. Who doesn’t like to watch a Blue...

Read more: Curious Kids: Why do birds sing?

Why do birds sing?

  • Written by David Steadman, Curator of Ornithology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
A male Olive-backed Euphonia (_Euphonia gouldi_), photographed in Costa Rica.Andy Morffew, CC BY

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.

Birds are some of the most attractive creatures on earth. Who doesn’t like to watch a Blue...

Read more: Why do birds sing?

Yes, I'm searching for aliens – and no, I won't be going to Area 51 to look for them

  • Written by Jason Wright, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University
A Sept. 20 citizen "raid" on Area 51, a secretive military installation long fancied to hold alien remains, has drawn worldwide interest.Fer Gregory/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: What started as an internet joke has generated a stern military warning after more than a million people “signed up” to “raid” Area 51...

Read more: Yes, I'm searching for aliens – and no, I won't be going to Area 51 to look for them

Brain-machine interfaces are getting better and better – and Neuralink's new brain implant pushes the pace

  • Written by Robert Gaunt, Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh
Existing BMIs focus on restoring function for people with mobility or communication issues.UPMC/Pitt Health Sciences, CC BY-NC-ND

Elon Musk grabbed a lotof attention with his July 16 announcement that his company Neuralink plans to implant electrodes into the brains of people with paralysis by next year. Their first goal is to create assistive...

Read more: Brain-machine interfaces are getting better and better – and Neuralink's new brain implant pushes...

Are Syrian refugees a danger to the West?

  • Written by Arie Kruglanski, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland
A Syrian family loads their belongings as they evacuate an informal refugee camp in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, June 9, 2019. AP/Hussein Malla

While today’s news is full of stories about refugees and migrants to the U.S. from Central America, the plight of those particular refugees is only part of an international migration crisis that has...

Read more: Are Syrian refugees a danger to the West?

What school segregation looks like in the US today, in 4 charts

  • Written by Erica Frankenberg, Professor of Education and Demography, Pennsylvania State University
Many kids in the U.S. today attend public schools composed mostly of students of the same race.Aksinia Abiagam/Shutterstock.com

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a senator from California, has spoken about how she benefited from attending Berkeley’s desegregated schools.

“There was a little girl in California who was part...

Read more: What school segregation looks like in the US today, in 4 charts

More Articles ...

  1. Cartel kingpin El Chapo is jailed for life, but the US-Mexico drug trade is booming
  2. Adapting cities to a hotter world: 3 essential reads
  3. Heat stroke: A doctor offers tips to stay safe as temperatures soar
  4. Why the federal government isn't prosecuting the officer who choked Eric Garner
  5. Washington state's big bet on 'free college'
  6. Better design could make mobile devices easier for seniors to use
  7. The dysfunctional debt ceiling and why we should kill it: 5 questions answered
  8. A giant leap for humankind -- future Moon missions will include diverse astronauts and more partners
  9. Home birth may start babies off with health-promoting microbes
  10. How the Volkswagen Beetle sparked America's art car movement
  11. Justice Stevens, Babe Ruth and the best law clerk assignment ever
  12. Voices from an age of uncertain work – Americans miss stability and a shared sense of purpose in their jobs
  13. Trump wasn't the first president to confront the Supreme Court – and back down
  14. Robert Hooke: The 'English Leonardo' who was a 17th-century scientific superstar
  15. 5 things parents need to know about 'summer loss'
  16. Counting 11 million undocumented immigrants is easier than Trump thinks
  17. How immigrants give American companies a powerful boost against Chinese rivals
  18. Can protecting land promote employment? In New England, the answer is yes
  19. The Bible says to welcome refugees
  20. 3 myths to bust about breaking up 'big tech'
  21. Americans focus on responding to earthquake damage, not preventing it, because they're unaware of their risk
  22. Did we mishear Neil Armstrong's famous first words on the Moon?
  23. As flood risks increase across the US, it's time to recognize the limits of levees
  24. War's physical toll can last for generations, as it has for the children of the Vietnam War
  25. When migrants go home, they bring back money, skills and ideas that can change a country
  26. Young Americans deserve a 21st-century Moonshot to Mars
  27. What is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? Here's why it's still important
  28. Mapping the Moon for Apollo
  29. University of California's showdown with the biggest academic publisher aims to change scholarly publishing for good
  30. How do lithium-ion batteries work?
  31. The real midlife crisis confronting many Americans
  32. In divided Alaska, the choice is between paying for government or giving residents bigger oil wealth checks
  33. The ‘giant sucking sound’ of NAFTA: Ross Perot was ridiculed as alarmist in 1992 but his warning turned out to be prescient
  34. Trump's order for more action on kidney disease may shrink organ transplant waitlists
  35. Erdoğan's control over Turkey is ending – what comes next?
  36. Ticks spread plenty more for you to worry about beyond Lyme disease
  37. Could black philanthropy help solve the black student debt crisis?
  38. The Trump administration wants to dismantle the agency overseeing 2 million federal workers – and weaken safeguards against partisanship
  39. Long before Armstrong and Aldrin, artists were stoking dreams of space travel
  40. DNA testing companies offer telomere testing – but what does it tell you about aging and disease risk?
  41. How your diet contributes to nutrient pollution and dead zones in lakes and bays
  42. Commercial supersonic aircraft could return to the skies
  43. Why states and cities should stop handing out billions in economic incentives to companies
  44. How much is your data worth to tech companies? Lawmakers want to tell you, but it's not that easy to calculate
  45. How did people clean their teeth in the olden days?
  46. 'The Farewell' highlights tough conversations families face when confronted with death
  47. An invisible government agency produces crucial national security intelligence, but is anyone listening?
  48. Mexican president López Obrador has a woman problem
  49. Western states buy time with a 7-year Colorado River drought plan, but face a hotter, drier future
  50. At least 2% of US public water systems are like Flint's – Americans just don't hear about them