Nearly 70 years ago, astronomer Paul Merrill was watching the sky through a telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California. As he observed the light coming from a distant star, he saw signatures of the element technetium.

Thi...

After a week of political protest in Nicaragua, at least 38 people – and possibly over 60 – are dead. President Daniel Ortega, whose government once seemed unshakable, has emerged weakened in the face of protesters demanding his ouster.

Demonstrations first erupted on April 16 after the government announced social security reforms that...

When Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar 10 years ago, 140,000 lives were lost and 800,000 were displaced. The category 4 storm slammed into Myanmar’s low-lying Irrawaddy Delta, an area that usually escapes major typhoons. High winds and a 12-foot storm surge devastated the area, affecting millions.

I was a senior humanitarian assistance officer...

House speaker Paul Ryan has reinstated Father Patrick Conroy as chaplain of the House of Representatives. Conroy, who resigned last week, later rescinded his resignation, daring the speaker to fire him instead.

We are scholars of religion and American politics who, with Brandeis Ph.D. candidate...

Venezuelans used to be among the happiest people on the planet.

In 2012, they voted themselves into fifth place in a global Gallup survey on happiness. In 2013, this South American country ranked 20th out of the 156 countries included in the United Nations’ annual World Happiness Report, which assesses well-being worldwide based on measures...

Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of stories from The Conversation’s archive.

The Central American migrants whose month-long journey northward across Mexico spurred President Donald Trump to attack them on Twitter have begun to enter the United States.

Some 1,500 Central Americans, most of them Hondurans, began their trip from...

Last week, news reports emerged that House Speaker Paul Ryan had forced Father Patrick Conroy, a Jesuit priest and longtime House chaplain, to resign over what many, including Conroy,have claimed is about the content of his prayer. Speaker Ryan has disputed this account, saying that some members...

Nike’s having its #MeToo moment – and it illustrates plainly what’s still missing from our discussion of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Women at Nike, fed up with the status quo, recently undertook a covert survey asking about sexual harassment and gender discrimination, which eventually reached the CEO of the world’s...

Democrat Jon Tester has made a name for himself by largely not making a national name for himself.

In the last 11 years, the two-term Montana senator has walked an increasingly narrow line – backing many critical partisan initiatives while also...

In response to protests calling for police reform and accountability, some U.S. police departments are partnering with colleges and universities to develop anti-bias training for their employees.

In Washington D.C., for example, officers will take a...