The Conversation

US complicity in the Saudi-led genocide in Yemen spans Obama, Trump administrations

Written by Jeff Bachman, Professorial Lecturer in Human Rights; Director, Ethics, Peace, and Human Rights MA Program, American University School of International Service

A Saudi-led coalition of states has been aggressively bombing Yemen and imposing an air and naval blockade of its ports for more than three years, leading U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to describe Yemen as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

Guterres put the crisis in stark perspective, emphasizing the near complete...

Climate change is driving wildfires, and not just in California

Written by Jonathan Overpeck, Samual A. Graham Dean, and William B. Stapp Collegiate Professor of Environmental Education, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Smoke billows from the High Park wildfire west of Fort Collins, Colo., on June 11, 2012, a year of historic drought across much of the western United States.AP Photo/Ed Andrieski

Rains in northern California have helped firefighters contain the Camp Fire, which now ranks as the state’s most deadly wildfire. But unfortunately, all signs point...

When you're grateful, your brain becomes more charitable

Written by Christina Karns, Research Associate in Psychology and the Center for Brain Injury Research and Training; Director of Emotions and Neuroplasticity Project, University of Oregon

Volunteering at a food bank is one way people feel rewarded by giving.AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

‘Tis the season when the conversation shifts to what you’re thankful for. Gathered with family and friends around a holiday feast, for instance, people may recount some of the biggies – like their health or their children – or...

Inspired by sci-fi, an airplane with no moving parts and a blue ionic glow

Written by Steven Barrett, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A time-lapse image showing the plane flying across a gymnasium.Steven Barrett, MIT, CC BY-ND

Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines. But watching science fiction movies like the “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” and “Back to the...

La publicidad diseñó el Día de Acción de Gracias tal y como se conoce hoy

Written by Samantha N. N. Cross, Associate Professor of Marketing, Iowa State University

Para las marcas que venden pastel de calabaza, como Borden’s, Snowfrift y Mrs. Smith, el Día de Acción de Gracias es un mercado importante.Jean Beaufort

Siempre he sentido curiosidad por el Día de Acción de Gracias: por las tradiciones, la comida y la idea de un día festivo en Estados Unidos que trata...

Virtual reality tours give rural students a glimpse of college life

Written by Carol Cutler White, Assistant Professor, Community College Leadership, Mississippi State University

Students at Person High School use cardboard goggles to take a virtual tour of University of North Carolina campuses. Person County Schools, Author provided

The first time that Nyah visited the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for a campus tour, there wasn’t much of a chance to see what takes place inside the classrooms.

“We...

The government aims to boost ethanol without evidence that it saves money or helps the environment

Written by André Boehman, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Director, W.E. Lay Automotive Laboratory, University of Michigan

A fan of fuel blends that contain as much as 85 percent ethanol.AP Photo/Jim Mone

President Donald Trump has promised his supporters in Iowa that the federal government will take a step that may increase corn ethanol sales.

This plant-derived fuel, which comprises about 10 percent of the 143 billion gallons of gasoline Americans buy each year,...

Why bigotry is a public health problem

Written by Ronald W. Pies, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Lecturer on Bioethics & Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts University

Mourners wait to attend the funeral of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 16, 2017 after Heyer was killed attending a rally to protest white nationalism. Julia Rendleman/AP Photo

Over a decade ago, I wrote a piece for a psychiatric journal entitled “Is Bigotry a Mental Illness?” At the time, some psychiatrists were...

Amazon's move will gentrify neighborhoods – at what social cost?

Written by Alexandra Staub, Associate Professor of Architecture; Affiliate Faculty, Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

The largest public housing complex in the country, Queensbridge Houses, is located near the spot where Amazon plans to put a new headquarters.AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

When large companies move into an area, politicians often proclaim how the new business will create jobs, increase tax revenues, and thus lead to economic growth. This is one reason...

Rock 'n' roll is dying in Bangladesh

Written by Mubashar Hasan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo

'It's really difficult to live as a rock musician in Bangladesh," says Samir Hafiz, a guitarist in the heavy metal band Warfaze. Facebook

The seeds of rock ‘n’ roll culture were planted in Bangladesh during the birth of the country in 1971, after a war for liberation separated this majority-Muslim territory from Pakistan.

For most of...