The Conversation

On his 250th birthday, Joseph Fourier's math still makes a difference

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

Fourier's name is inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.philmciver/flickr, CC BY-NC

March 21 marks the 250th birthday of one of the most influential mathematicians in history. He accompanied Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt, revolutionized science’s understanding of heat transfer, developed the mathematical tools used today to create CT and MRI...

Some officials want to ban school suspensions – here's how that could backfire

Written by K. Juree Capers, Assistant Professor of Public Management and Policy, Georgia State University

Efforts to ban school suspensions to reduce racial disparities are on the rise, but experts warn they could backfire.pixelheadphoto digitalskillet/Shutterstock

When it comes to school discipline, the fact that low-income and minority students are more likely to get suspended than students who are white or more well off is nothing new.

In an effort...

Merit matters in US immigration, but agreeing on what 'merit' means is complicated

Written by John Carson, Associate Professor of History, University of Michigan

A naturalization ceremony in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Fierce debate over who deserves to be an immigrant to the United States has drawn on for decades.

Recently, President Donald Trump and hardliner Republicans have proposed overhauling the U.S. immigration system to focus principally on “merit-based” immigration. As they...

Silver nanoparticles in clothing wash out – and may threaten human health and the environment

Written by Sukalyan Sengupta, Professor of Wastewater Treatment, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

There are nanometals in your washing machine.Evgeny Atamanenko

Humans have known since ancient times that silver kills or stops the growth of many microorganisms. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, is said to have used silver preparations for treating ulcers and healing wounds. Until the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, colloidal silver...

Why Denmark dominates the World Happiness Report rankings year after year

Written by Marie Helweg-Larsen, Professor of Psychology, Dickinson College

Okay, we get it, you're happy – no need to rub it in.Very_Very/Shutterstock.com

The new World Happiness Report again ranks Denmark among the top three happiest of 155 countries surveyed – a distinction that the country has earned for seven consecutive years.

The U.S., on the other hand, ranked 18th in this year’s World Happiness...

MS-13 is a street gang, not a drug cartel – and the difference matters

Written by Steven S. Dudley, Senior Fellow, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University

In October 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that pursuing the Mara Salvatrucha, a Salvadoran gang also known as MS-13, was “a priority for our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.”

“Drugs are killing more Americans than ever before, in large part thanks to powerful cartels and international gangs and deadly...

Trump believes he can make an Israeli-Palestinian deal. Don't hold your breath

Written by David Mednicoff, Director, Middle Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Palestinian laborers work at a construction site in an Israeli settlement near Jerusalem in 2017. AP Photo/Oded Balilty

For decades, U.S. presidents have been unable to broker a long-term settlement between Israel and Palestine. Deal-maker Donald Trump would like to accomplish what his predecessors could not in this area, and administration...

Kurdish troops fight for freedom — and women's equality — on battlegrounds across Middle East

Written by Haidar Khezri, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies (CEUS), Indiana University

For years, Kurdish fighters have been partners to the U.S. in the Middle East. From 2003 to 2017, they helped overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein, battled al-Qaida and pushed the Islamic State out of northern Iraq and Syria.

In recent weeks, some of these same fierce fighters have been violently clashing with Turkish troops in the Syrian...

Why Americans are unhappier than ever – and how to fix it

Written by George Ward, PhD Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

shutterstock

March 20 is International Day of Happiness and, as they’ve done every year, the United Nations has published the World Happiness Report. The U.S. ranks 18th among the world’s countries, with an average life satisfaction of around 6.88 on a scale of 10.

While that may be relatively near the top, America’s happiness...

Recent stock market sell-off foreshadows a new Great Recession

Written by Steven Pressman, Professor of Economics, Colorado State University

An ice sculpture titled 'Main Street Meltdown' melts near Wall Street.AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

In early February, concerns about inflation and rising interest rates sent global financial markets into a frenzy, prompting the biggest single-day drop ever in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Stocks have since recovered some of their losses.