The Conversation

Why weather forecasters still struggle to get the big storms right

Written by Jeffrey B. Halverson, Professor of Geography & Environmental Systems, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Snow on the ground after a winter storm. NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response

It was March 2017, and a winter storm named Stella promised to deliver up to a foot and a half of snow to New York City and parts of New Jersey. Officials pushed out blizzard warnings, suggesting the city was under imminent snowy siege.

But only 7 inches fell. Then-Gov. Chris...

Coral reefs are in crisis – but scientists are finding effective ways to restore them

Written by Deron Burkepile, Associate Professor of Ecology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Juvenile blue tang sheltering in restored staghorn coral.Mark Ladd, CC BY-ND

These are bleak times for coral reefs. Warming ocean waters, disease outbreaks, pollution, sedimentation, careless scuba divers, destructive fishing practices, and a host of other global and local stressors are decimating coral populations at unprecedented rates.

If there...

Why California gets to write its own auto emissions standards: 5 questions answered

Written by Nicholas Bryner, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, University of California, Los Angeles

Rush hour on the Hollywood Freeway, Los Angeles, September 9, 2016.AP Photo/Richard Vogel

Editor’s note: On April 2, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the Trump administration plans to revise tailpipe emissions standards negotiated by the Obama administration for motor vehicles built between 2022 and...

Paper trails and random audits could secure all elections – don't save them just for recounts in close races

Written by Eugene Vorobeychik, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University

Recounting very close races is not enough to ensure election integrity.AP Photo/Ben Finley

As states begin to receive millions of federal dollars to secure the 2018 primary and general elections, officials around the country will have to decide how to spend it to best protect the integrity of the democratic process. If voters don’t trust the...

Rights of the dead and the living clash when scientists extract DNA from human remains

Written by Chip Colwell, Lecturer on Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver

Who gets to decide for the dead, such as this Egyptian mummy? AP Photo/Ric Feld

The remains of a 6-inch long mummy from Chile are not those of a space alien, according to recently reported research. The tiny body with its strange features – a pointed head, elongated bones – had been the subject of fierce debate over whether a UFO might...

Colombia's murder rate is at an all-time low but its activists keep getting killed

Written by Fabio Andres Diaz, Researcher on Conflict, Peace and Development, International Institute of Social Studies

A 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was supposed to bring peace to this South American country after a 52-year civil war that killed 220,000 people.

Instead, nearly 300 community organizers and activists have been murdered since the accords were signed in...

For many US towns and cities, deciding which streets to name after MLK reflects his unfinished work

Written by Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee

Where Davis meets King.Editor, CC BY-SA

More than 1,000 streets in the world bear the name of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

At least 955 of those streets can be found in the U.S. They’re in 41 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Martin Luther King streets cross a diversity of neighborhoods – rural and...

How to deal with life's risks more rationally

Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Economist and Research Scientist, The Ohio State University

People are bad at weighing risk, which is why so many Americans don't get flu shots. AP Photo/David Goldman

The world is an uncertain and risky place. The news constantly bombards us with scary situations from school shootings to gruesome murders.

Risk is everywhere and associated with everything. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and...

Government fuel economy standards for cars and trucks have worked

Written by James M. Sallee, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley

Customers line up to buy gasoline in San Jose, California, on March 15, 1974, during an Arab oil embargo. The crisis spurred enactment of the first U.S. vehicle fuel economy standards.AP

U.S. cars are twice as fuel-efficient today as they were 40 years ago. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are a major reason why.

These standards are...

Why is it so stressful to talk politics with the other side?

Written by Melanie Green, Associate Professor of Communication, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

The prospect alone can make you want to avoid the person altogether.faber1893/Shutterstock.com

People disagree all the time, but not all disagreements lead to the same levels of stress.

Even though people can be passionate about their favorite sport teams, they can argue about which basketball team is the best without destroying friendships. In the...