The Conversation

This commencement speech had nothing but questions

Written by James Glaser, Professor, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, Tufts University

Students hug after a ceremony at Tufts University May 3. The ceremony celebrated 58 students who are the first in their family to receive a college degree.Anna Miller/Tufts University

Editors note: At a special ceremony for first-generation college graduates at Tufts University, James Glaser, dean of the school of arts and sciences, gave a...

A new type of laser uses sound waves to help to detect weak forces

Written by Mishkat Bhattacharya, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology

The crests (bright) and troughs (dark) of waves spread out after they were produced. The picture applies to both light and sound waves.Titima Ongkantong

Most people are familiar with optical lasers through their experience with laser pointers. But what about a laser made from sound waves?

What makes optical laser light different from a light bulb or...

Why parents should think twice about tracking apps for their kids

Written by Joel Michael Reynolds, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Are tracking technologies changing parenting?Trendsetter Images

The use of self-tracking and personal surveillance technologies has grown considerably over the last decade. There are now apps to monitor people’s movement, health, mindfulness, sleep, eating habits and even sexual activity.

Some of the more thorny problems arise from apps...

New Gates-funded commission aims to put a value on a college education

Written by Nicholas Tampio, Professor of Political Science, Fordham University

A growing movement is forming to focus on the economic benefits of a college degree.Alex Oakenman from www.shutterstock.com

The Gates Foundation is poised to disrupt American higher education with a new Postsecondary Value Commission. As its name suggests, the commission aims to define the value of a college degree.

Among other things, the...

US fertility keeps dropping – but that's not a reason to panic

Written by Caroline Sten Hartnett, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of South Carolina

In 2018, the national birth rate hit a 32-year low.Pixel-Shot/shutterstock.com

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on May 15 that the number of births in the U.S. is down 2% – “the lowest number of births in 32 years.”

These reports were met with surprise and alarm. USA Today, for example, led with the headline &...

Is Trump’s trade war saving American jobs – or killing them?

Written by Jeffrey Kucik, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Arizona

The Trump administration says its trade policy saved the U.S. steel industry.AP Photo/Jim Mone

With the U.S.-China trade war intensifying, there is a lot of talk about whether tariffs save American jobs – as President Donald Trump claims – or destroy them.

On May 14, for example, Trump said his tariffs helped save the U.S. steel...

Your internet data is rotting

Written by Paul Royster, Coordinator of Scholarly Communications, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The internet is growing, but old information continues to disappear daily.wk1003mike/shutterstock.com

Many MySpace users were dismayed to discover earlier this year that the social media platform lost 50 million files uploaded between 2003 and 2015.

The failure of MySpace to care for and preserve its users’ content should serve as a reminder...

Secrecy versus sunshine: Efforts to hide government records never stop

Written by Brent Walth, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon

Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen testifies in February at a public hearing at the Washington legislature against limiting legislative branch disclosure. AP/Ted S. Warren

It’s spring, and in America’s state capitals legislatures are winding up their business and, too often, bringing out the padlocks.

All 50 states give the public...

Retired oil rigs off the California coast could find new lives as artificial reefs

Written by Ann Scarborough Bull, Visiting Researcher, Marine Science institute, University of California, Santa Barbara

A school of juvenile bocaccio in the midwaters of Platform Gilda, Santa Barbara Channel, Calif.Scott Gietler, CC BY-ND

Offshore oil and gas drilling has been a contentious issue in California for 50 years, ever since a rig ruptured and spilled 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil off Santa Barbara in 1969. Today it’s spurring a new debate:...

We’re just beginning to grasp the toll of the Islamic State's archaeological looting in Syria

Written by Fiona Greenland, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia

A Syrian archeologist holds an artifact that was transported to Damascus for safe-keeping during the Syrian Civil War.AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

The Islamic State surrendered its last scrap of territory, in Baghouz, Syria, this past March.

While some argue that celebrations of IS’s demise are premature, there’s no question that the terrorist...