The Conversation

How recycling more steel and aluminum could slash imports without a trade war

Written by Daniel Cooper, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan

A jumble of steel scrapDaniel Cooper, CC BY-SA

Many economists expect President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to increase what American companies and consumers pay for those metals and the goods made from them. Dozens of companies have already said they will have to fire workers or even go out of business. And, as the r...

A Father's Day reminder from science: Your kids aren't really growing up quickly

Written by Keith Payne, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

They only seem to grow up so fast.VCoscaron/Shutterstock.com

I am one of those men for whom it is impossible to find Father’s Day gifts.

I don’t wear ties. My socks are all the same, in the interest of efficiency. I enjoy cooking, which would seem to open up some possibilities. But I have an annoying habit of buying useful gadgets as I...

Mexico seeks to become 'country of refuge' as US cracks down on migrants

Written by Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong

Mexico has been doing the U.S.'s 'dirty work' on immigration for too long, says the front-runner in the country's July 1 presidential election.AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo

Mexico is often considered a transit country for migrants. It’s the territory Central Americans must cross to get to the United States.

But many generations of migrants have...

El nuevo aeropuerto de la Ciudad de México es un desastre ambiental que podría ser un gran parque natural

Written by Gabriel Diaz Montemayor, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Texas at Austin

El nuevo aeropuerto diseñado por Norman Foster en la Ciudad de México, visto aquí en una representación de computadora, es visualmente impactante pero ambientalmente problemático.Presidencia de la República Mexicana CC-by-2.0, CC BY

Read in English.

Hace tiempo que la Ciudad de México le ha quedado...

To avoid humans, more wildlife now work the night shift

Written by Kaitlyn Gaynor, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley

Red fox under cover of darkness in LondonJamie Hall. For use only with this article.

For their first 100 million years on planet Earth, our mammal ancestors relied on the cover of darkness to escape their dinosaur predators and competitors. Only after the meteor-induced mass extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago could these nocturnal mammals...

Fathers forgotten when it comes to services to help them be good parents, new study finds

Written by Joyce Y. Lee, PhD Student in Social Work and Psychology, University of Michigan

Fathers want to be more involved but often feel sidelined, studies suggest.George Rudy/Shutterstock.com

Fathers have a significant impact on their children’s well-being – an impact that begins even before the child is born. In fact, studies have shown that fathers who are involved during pregnancy have healthier children.

During the...

Why black women's experiences of #MeToo are different

Written by Yolonda Wilson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Howard University

Actress Nicolle Rochelle, who appeared on several episodes of 'The Cosby Show.'AP Photo/Corey Perrine, File

In April, a 25-year-old black woman named Chikesia Clemons was violently arrested by police at a Waffle House restaurant in Alabama.

A video of the arrest that went viral shows police pulling Clemons from her chair and throwing her to the...

Suicide nation: What's behind the need to numb and to seek a final escape?

Written by Monica H. Swahn, Professor, epidemiology and public health, Georgia State University

Paramedics and firefighters in Cincinnati respond to a possible opioid overdose at a hotel on Nov. 2, 2017.John Minchillo/AP Photo

Suicide rates in the U.S. have increased nearly 30 percent in less than 20 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported June 7. These mind-numbing statistics were released the same week two very...

Lessons on political polarization from Lincoln's 'House Divided' speech, 160 years later

Written by Bradford Vivian, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and Director of the Center for Democratic Deliberation, Pennsylvania State University

The nation was bitterly divided over slavery in 1860, when this political cartoon was publishedLibrary of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

The idea of “two Americas,” or “red” and “blue” states, now dominates public discussion. “Political polarization,” the Pew Research Center reports,...

Four campus free speech problems solved

Written by David Moshman, Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

'Free speech zones' and other efforts to limit free speech on campus are igniting controversies across the nation.Chad Zuber/www.shutterstock.com

Concerns about free speech in higher education have reached the point where at least 30 state legislatures have considered, and nearly a dozen – including Arizona and Virginia – have passed, la...