The Conversation

What Catholic Church records tell us about America's earliest black history

Written by Jane Landers, Professor of History, Vanderbilt University

St Augustine Catholic Church Archive.David LaFevor, CC BY

For most Americans, black history begins in 1619, when a Dutch ship brought some “20 and odd Negroes” as slaves to the English colony of Jamestown, in Virginia.

Many are not aware that black history in the United States goes back at least a century before this date.

In 1513, a...

3 things schools should teach about America's history of white supremacy

Written by Noelle Hurd, Scully Family Discovery Associate Professor in Psychology, University of Virginia

A Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington, D.C., in 1926.Everett Historical from www.shutterstock.com

When it comes to how deeply embedded racism is in American society, blacks and whites have sharply different views.

For instance, 70 percent of whites believe that individual discrimination is a bigger problem than discrimination built into the...

China is catching up to the US on artificial intelligence research

Written by Thomas H. Davenport, Professor of Information Technology and Management, Babson College

The U.S. may be ahead for now, but not by much.onime/Shutterstock.com

Researchers, companies and countries around the world are racing to explore – and exploit – the possibilities of artificial intelligence technology. China is working on an extremely aggressive multi-billion-dollar plan for government investment into AI research and...

Will terrorism continue to decline in 2019?

Written by Gary LaFree, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland

Lost in the headlines, rapidly accelerating news cycles and the pervasive fear generated by terrorist threats is the fact that terrorist attacks worldwide have actually been declining – in some areas substantially.

Terrorism researchers like me have long noted that the number of terrorist attacks rises and falls in waves – generally...

A Danish word the world needs to combat stress: Pyt

Written by Marie Helweg-Larsen, Professor of Psychology, the Glenn E. & Mary Line Todd Chair in the Social Sciences, Dickinson College

Instead of overreacting to minor slights, it's healthier to just say, 'pyt.'Ezume Images/Shutterstock.com

Danes are some of the happiest people in the world, and they also happen to have a lot of cool words for ways to be happy.

You may have heard about “hygge,” which has been the subject of countless books, articles and commercials....

Cuba expands rights but rejects radical change in updated constitution

Written by María Isabel Alfonso, Professor of Spanish, St. Joseph's College of New York

Cuba has rejected a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in its new and revised constitution, a move that disappointed some gay rights activists.

An article that would have redefined marriage as a “union between two people” – rather than a “union between a man and a woman” – was eliminated from a proposed new...

Cultured meat seems gross? It's much better than animal agriculture

Written by Matti Wilks, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Psychology, Yale University

World's first lab-grown beef burger. Would you eat it?David Parry / PA Wire, CC BY-ND

The world is in the grips of a food-tech revolution. One of the most compelling new developments is cultured meat, also known as clean, cell-based or slaughter-free meat. It’s grown from stem cells taken from a live animal without the need for slaughter.

Propo...

Newly discovered cold-tolerant plants from Siberia could promote clean bioenergy

Written by Charles Pignon, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

A stand of _Miscanthus_ x _giganteus_ at the University of Illinois's Energy Farm. Brian Stauffer/University of Illinois, CC BY-SA

Climate change is an urgent threat to societies around the world, driven by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels such as oil. One of the most effective ways to curb emissions is to replace these energy sources...

Robocalls are unstoppable – 3 questions answered about why your phone won't quit ringing

Written by Raymond Huahong Tu, Assistant Clinical Professor in Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, and Computer Science, University of Maryland

Caller ID won't always tell you it's a robot doing the dialing.LightField Studios/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: When your phone rings, there’s about a 50 percent chance it’s a spam robocall. That’s not probability – it’s what the U.S. government agency regulating telecommunications says. U.S. mobile phone users...

WTO offers Trump a solution to enforcing a trade deal with a China that breaks promises

Written by Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology

Optimism is growing that China and the U.S. will be able reach a deal to end the year-old trade war, with President Donald Trump extending his March 2 deadline.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks between the two countries has been a lack of trust, a key to any successful negotiation. The Trump administration has insisted it will make a strong...