The Conversation

Stemming the tide of trash: 5 essential reads on recycling

Written by Jennifer Weeks, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation

Where does it go from here?spwidoff/Shutterstock.com

A year after China upended global materials markets by banning imports of much solid waste, the effects are still rippling around the globe. Many U.S. recyclers are awash in materials they formerly sent to China for processing. Some cities with few options are burning recyclables in incinerators....

Can we tweak marine chemistry to help stave off climate change?

Written by Wil Burns, Professor of Research & Co-Director, Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy, American University School of International Service

Trapping carbon dioxide in minerals happens naturally over thousands of years. Can humans speed it up – safely?Simon Clancy, CC BY-SA

The world’s nations are nowhere near to meeting the global Paris Agreement’s goals on climate change of holding global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius compared to 19th-century averages,...

Beyond blackface: How college yearbooks captured protest and change

Written by John R. Thelin, University Research Professor, University of Kentucky

College yearbook editors in the 1960s juxtaposed pictures of traditional campus activities, such as Greek Life, alongside images of protests and marches.The Kentuckian, 1968

Ever since a photograph surfaced of someone in blackface – and another dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe – on the medical college yearbook page of Virginia Gov. Ralph...

US military steps up cyberwarfare effort

Written by Benjamin Jensen, Associate Professor of International Relations, Marine Corps University; Scholar-in-Residence, American University School of International Service

The U.S. military is shifting the focus of its cyberwarfare forces.U.S. Air Force

The U.S. military has the capability, the willingness and, perhaps for the first time, the official permission to preemptively engage in active cyberwarfare against foreign targets. The first known action happened as the 2018 midterm elections approached: U.S. Cyber...

What lessons can the clergy sex abuse crisis draw from a 4th-century church schism?

Written by Cavan W. Concannon, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Following the recent revelations about sex abuse, many Christian communities are facing a crisis of trust.AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis

A string of sex abuse scandals have rocked Christian communities recently: In the Roman Catholic Church, revelations related to sex abuse by priests continue to unfold across the globe. Within the Southern Baptist...

Humans and machines can improve accuracy when they work together

Written by Davide Valeriani, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Multimodal Neuroimaging and Machine Learning, Harvard University

Let's work together.Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock.com

Whether artificial intelligence systems steal humans’ jobs or create new work opportunities, people will need to work together with them.

In my research I use sensors and computers to monitor how the brain itself processes decision-making. Together with another brain-computer interface...

Pregnant women shouldn't have to choose between a job and a healthy baby

Written by Jeannette Cox, Professor of Law, University of Dayton

Employers are required to accommodate the needs of pregnant women only in limited circumstances. FotoAndalucia/Shutterstock.com

Pregnant women in low-income work often face an unappealing choice: lose their job or perform duties that endanger their health and that of their baby.

Walmart, the biggest private employer in the U.S., is a case in point....

Ancient DNA is a powerful tool for studying the past – when archaeologists and geneticists work together

Written by Elizabeth Sawchuk, Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)

New technology means accessing new information from ancient human remains, some which have been in collections for decades.Elizabeth Sawchuk, CC BY-ND

DNA has moved beyond esoteric science and into the center of everyday conversations about identity, culture and politics. It’s also reshaping stories about the past as advances allow scientists...

Underwater mudslides are the biggest threat to offshore drilling, and energy companies aren't ready for them

Written by Ian MacDonald, Professor of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University

Oil sheen drifting from the site of the former Taylor Energy oil rig in the Gulf of MexicoAP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File

Like generals planning for the last war, oil company managers and government inspectors tend to believe that because they survived the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, they are ready for all contingencies. Today they are...

Millennials are US$1 trillion in debt – but they're better at saving than previous generations

Written by Jimmie Lenz, Adjunct Professor of Finance, University of South Carolina

Millennials carry more student loan debt than previous generations.Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

New findings from the New York Federal Reserve reveal that millennials have now racked up over US$1 trillion of debt.

This troubling amount of debt, an increase of over 22 percent in just five years, is more than any other generation in history. This...