The Conversation

What to expect when a college assigns students to random roommates

Written by Bruce Sacerdote, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College

College move-in day at New York University in August 2017. EQRoy/Shutterstock.com

Duke University recently announced that first-year students will now be randomly assigned to their dormmates. The goal is to give students a chance to meet and learn from peers from a completely different background. Is this silly social engineering or smart policy?

Soc...

Does cloud seeding work? Scientists watch ice crystals grow inside clouds to find out

Written by Jeffrey French, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming

A blizzard in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in 2005. Greg Younger, CC BY-SA

Water is a valuable resource that affects nearly all aspects of life on earth. It also is limited, so people use a variety of methods to ensure that supply meets demand.

One such technique is cloud seeding – adding particles to the atmosphere to promote formation of...

Where does the controversial finding that adult human brains don't grow new neurons leave ongoing research?

Written by Janice R. Naegele, Alan M Dachs Professor of Science, Professor of Biology, Neuroscience and Behavior, Wesleyan University

Could it be that a baby has all the brain cells she ever will?Jv Garcia on Unsplash, CC BY

Scientists have known for about two decades that some neurons – the fundamental cells in the brain that transmit signals – are generated throughout life. But now a controversial new study from the University of California, San Francisco, casts...

What the National School Walkout says about schools and free speech

Written by Clay Calvert, Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication, University of Florida

Students from South Plantation High School, carrying placards, protest in support of gun control. Carlos Garcia/Reuters

Thousands of high school students across the nation left their classes March 14 precisely at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes.

The walkout served two purposes: to honor the 17 people – including 14 students – killed exactly one...

Why do gun-makers get special economic protection?

Written by Allen Rostron, Associate Dean for Students and William R. Jacques Constitutional Law Scholar and Professor of Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City

A line of AR-15s are on display at gunmaker Daniel Defense in Georgia.AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane

The gun industry is one of very few industries to have congressionally backed immunity from liabilty.

As a result, it’s been largely shielded from responsibility for the deaths and injuries its products cause, with few exceptions.

How did this...

Could the open government movement shut the door on Freedom of Information?

Written by Suzanne J. Piotrowski, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), Rutgers University Newark

One government transparency movement may now be threatened by the otherShutterstock

For democracy to work, citizens need to know what their government is doing. Then they can hold government officials and institutions accountable.

Over the last 50 years, Freedom of Information – or FOI – laws have been one of the most useful methods for...

How Trump can avoid the setbacks that doomed North Korean nuclear talks in the past

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

Headline of a planned summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump.AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

President Donald Trump is set to become the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a North Korean leader after accepting Kim Jong Un’s invitation for direct nuclear talks.

This will put Trump’s ability as a self-professed deal-maker to the test....

Booze and basketball: Why binge drinking increases during March Madness

Written by Dustin R. White, Assistant Professor of Economics, Business Administration, University of Nebraska Omaha

North Carolina fans react while watching the Tar Heels play in the 2009 Final Four.Gerry Broome/AP

For every tip-off during March Madness, it’s a sure bet that students at the schools playing in the basketball tournament will be tipping up more beer bottles than usual.

This was one of the key findings of an analysis we conducted recently on...

Why bland American beer is here to stay

Written by Ranjit Dighe, Professor of Economics, State University of New York Oswego

Americans tend to prefer beers that have corn or rice 'adjuncts,' or fillers.RetroClipArt/Shutterstock.com

Although craft beer has experienced explosive market growth over the past 25 years, the vast majority of Americans still don’t drink it.

Only about 1 in 8 beers sold in America is a craft beer. For the first time, the three best-selling...

People are stranded in 'transit deserts' in dozens of US cities

Written by Junfeng Jiao, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning and Director, Urban Information Lab, University of Texas at Austin

Where's my bus?www.shutterstock.com

Less than two months after President Donald Trump pledged in his State of the Union Address to “rebuild our crumbling infrastructure,” prospects look dim. The Trump administration is asking Congress for ideas about how to fund trillions of dollars in improvements that experts say are needed. Some...