The Conversation

Digital mental health drug raises troubling questions

Written by Anthony Ryan Hatch, Associate Professor of Science in Society, Wesleyan University

Abilify MyCite tracks whether patients are taking their medication. By kaprik/shutterstock.com

Moments after Neo eats the red pill in “The Matrix,” he touches a liquefied mirror that takes over his skin, penetrating the innards of his body with computer code. When I first learned about the controversial new digital drug Abilify MyCite,...

New European rules may give US internet users true privacy choices for the first time

Written by John Rothchild, Associate Professor of Law, Wayne State University

Europe's digital-data regulations are having ripple effects around the world.mixmagic/Shutterstock.com

Europe’s new data privacy rules, the General Data Protection Regulation, have taken effect, but what they actually mean remains to be discovered. And whether the GDPR, as it’s known, really helps protect your private data may depend on...

Why there are so many unsheltered homeless people on the West Coast

Written by Margot Kushel, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

One-quarter of homeless people in the U.S. live in California, despite Californians making up only 12 percent of the population.

Not only is homelessness more common on the West Coast but it is also more visible, because a higher proportion of homeless people are unsheltered. In the U.S., 24 percent of homeless people sleep outside, in vehicles or...

El colapso económico de Venezuela tiene una clara explicación

Written by Henkel Garcia U, Finance Instructor, Professional Studies Extension Programme, Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB)

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Hoy mi país, Venezuela, está en los titulares internacionales casi a diario.

El hambre se extiende debido a la escasez y los altos precios, la gente muere por falta de medicinas y los ciudadanos llevan su cotidianidad en un ambiente de muy elevada inseguridad (Caracas está entre las ciudades más...

Short-term changes in Antarctica's ice shelves are key to predicting their long-term fate

Written by Helen Amanda Fricker, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego

The northeast edge of the Venable Ice Shelf, near Antarctica's Allison Peninsula.NASA/John Sonntag, CC BY

Antarctica’s ice sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by around 180 feet if it all melted. But dramatic, eye-catching changes to Antarctica’s floating ice shelves, such as calving icebergs, are often highlighted in...

On Germany's national soccer stage, why have East Germans gone missing?

Written by Per Urlaub, Associate Dean of the Language Schools and Associate College Professor, Middlebury College

Toni Kroos is the only East German on the German national soccer team.AP Photo/Martin Meissner

Germany is a soccer powerhouse.

Yet only one member of the national team competing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, midfielder Toni Kroos, hails from East Germany.

For a period of over 40 years in the 20th century, Germany was divided into two separate...

En Venezuela puede que no haya un final feliz

Written by Miguel Angel Latouche, Associate Professor, Universidad Central de Venezuela

El gobierno venezolano ha utilizado las fuerzas militares para reprimir a las voces disidentes en las protestas diarias.Efecto Eco / Wikimedia, CC BY

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En Venezuela se ha roto la lógica de funcionamiento de las instituciones republicanas.

Digo esto sabiendo bien que la semana pasada un número importante de venezolanos se...

Furia en Argentina despues del juicio que da indulto a un criminal de la Guerra Sucia

Written by Rut Diamint, Political Science Profesor, Torcuato di Tella University

Luego de la dictadura, los ciudadanos argentinos han vigilado los derechos humanos y defendido la democracia, siempre con el lema de 'Nunca mas'.Ministerio de Cultura de Argentina/flickr

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En el mes de mayo, las calles de las ciudades argentinas se tiñeron de pañuelos blancos, el símbolo de las Madres y Abuelas de...

The US nuclear arsenal: A quick overview

Written by Jeffrey Fields, Associate Professor of the Practice of International Relations, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Warhead-containing nose cone of an inert Minuteman 3 missile.AP Photo/Charlie Riede

Meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un committed to “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

I spent many years working on nuclear nonproliferation at the Department of Defense, the State...

Climate change will make rice less nutritious, putting millions of the world's poor at risk

Written by Kristie Ebi, Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington

Rice farmer in Longsheng, China.kevincure, CC BY

Rice is the primary food source for more than 3 billion people around the world. Many are unable to afford a diverse and nutritious diet that includes complete protein, grains, fruits and vegetables. They rely heavily on more affordable cereal crops, including rice, for most of their calories.

My...