The Conversation

Why bodycam footage might not clear things up

Written by Deryn Strange, Associate Professor of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Police bodycam image of Lamar Wright, who was recovering from surgery when he was pepper-sprayed and zapped with a stun gun by two officers in Euclid, Ohio. AP/Euclid police

Stephon Clark, an African-American man, was killed by Sacramento police in his grandmother’s backyard last month, setting off protests and conflict over the...

A chicken in every backyard: Urban poultry needs more regulation to protect human and animal health

Written by Catherine Brinkley, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Development, University of California, Davis

Ranging free in the yard.thedabblist, CC BY

Colorado has received a lot of attention recently as one of the first states to allow recreational marijuana, but it’s also legalizing other things. Denver, one of the nation’s hottest urban real estate markets, is surrounded by municipalities that allow backyard chicken flocks.

This...

It's not my fault, my brain implant made me do it

Written by Laura Y. Cabrera, Assistant Professor of Neuroethics, Michigan State University

Probes that can transmit electricity inside the skull raise questions about personal autonomy and responsibility.Hellerhoff, CC BY-SA

Mr. B loves Johnny Cash, except when he doesn’t. Mr. X has watched his doctors morph into Italian chefs right before his eyes.

The link between the two? Both Mr. B and Mr. X received deep brain stimulation (DBS),...

Costa Rica looks a little less exceptional after its heated election

Written by Rachel E. Bowen, Associate Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University

Progressive values won in Costa Rica -- for now, at least.AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco

Carlos Alvarado Quesada has won the Costa Rican presidency with 61 percent of the vote, an overwhelming victory for a progressive candidate who entered election day in a dead heat with his conservative rival.

Alvarado Quesada, a 38-year-old former labor minister under...

Statesman, strongman, philosopher, autocrat: China's Xi is a man who contains multitudes

Written by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor of Chinese and World History, University of California, Irvine

Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way to take the oath of office on March 17, 2018 after being formally re-elected to a second term, with no limit on the number of terms he can serve. AP Photo/Andy Wong

What kind of leader is Xi Jinping, who became general secretary of China’s Communist Party in November 2012 and China’s president in...

Trump's military policy overlooks data on why transgender troops are fit to serve

Written by Brandon Hill, Executive Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health, University of Chicago

Transgender U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer Sims lifts her uniform. AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

The Trump administration released a memorandum on March 23 that imposes limits on transgender troops and excludes transgender people from enlistment in the U.S. military.

The policy states that individuals with a history of “gender dysphoria” are now...

Why prime numbers still fascinate mathematicians, 2,300 years later

Written by Martin H. Weissman, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz

Primes still have the power to surprise. Chris-LiveLoveClick/shutterstock.com

On March 20, American-Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands received the Abel Prize, celebrating lifetime achievement in mathematics. Langlands’ research demonstrated how concepts from geometry, algebra and analysis could be brought together by a common link to...

Fabiano Caruana is poised to do what no American has done since Bobby Fischer. Here's the path he took to get there

Written by Daaim Shabazz, Associate Professor of International Business, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

U.S. chess grandmaster Fabiano Caruana is set to vie for the world title.Soeren Stache/dpa via AP

Whenever a glimmer of chess talent is spotted in the United States, people often ask: “Is this the next Bobby Fischer?”

In the early 2000s, a diminutive, bespectacled young boy – who by age 9 was already battling seasoned competitors...

Colleges must confront sexual assault and sexual harassment head on

Written by Tricia Serio, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sexual assault and harassment are prevalent at U.S. colleges and universities.Jason Salmon from www.shutterstock.com

In the past month the National Science Foundation and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators both introduced measures that would require higher education leaders to review and report cases of sexual assault and harassment on their...

FDR's forest army: How the New Deal helped seed the modern environmental movement 85 years ago

Written by Benjamin Alexander, Lecturer in social science, New York City College of Technology, City University of New York

Bridge built by CCC workers, Shady Lake Recreation Area, Arkansas.Jerry Turner, CC BY-SA

Eighty-five years ago, on April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order allocating US$10 million for “Emergency Conservation Work.” This step launched one of the New Deal’s signature relief programs: the Civilian...