The Conversation

Why aren't we curing the world's most curable diseases?

Written by Katherine J. Wu, Ph.D. Candidate in Microbiology, Harvard University

A woman blinded by onchocerciasis, or river blindness, crouches in her hut in northern Ivory Coast. AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju

Once upon a time, the world suffered.

In 1987, 20 million people across the world were plagued by a debilitating, painful and potentially blinding disease called river blindness. This parasitic infection caused pain,...

For cattle farmers in the Brazilian Amazon, money can't buy happiness

Written by Rachael Garrett, Assistant Professor of the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Boston University

Picture the Brazilian Amazon. You probably don’t see a lot of cows in that image. But, in fact, in this rainforested part of South America – home to the world’s most booming tropical agricultural region – ranching has been the most common land use for over four decades.

That’s a major environmental challenge for...

The best way to deal with failure

Written by Selin Malkoc, Associate Professor of Marketing, The Ohio State University

Coca-Cola executives Robert C. Goizueta and Donald R. Keough toast cans of 'New Coke' – a product rollout that's considered one of the biggest business blunders of all time.AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler

Failure is a part of life, and we make mistakes pretty much every day. How do we cope? Or better yet, how should we cope?

Academics and the main...

Will anyone protect the Rohingya?

Written by Vincent A. Auger, Professor of Political Science, Western Illinois University

Since August, the Rohingya, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, has faced what a United Nations official called “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

Recent reports describe a campaign by Myanmar security forces to drive the Rohingya from the country permanently. Hundreds of thousands have fled to camps in neighboring Bangladesh, creatin...

It's not just O'Reilly and Weinstein: Sexual violence is a 'global pandemic'

Written by Valerie Dobiesz, Emergency Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Director of External Programs STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation, Core Faculty Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University

The recent exposure of widespread sexual predation in the American media industry, from Harvey Weinstein to Bill O'Reilly, has elicited shock and sparked debate on violence against women in the United States.

Sexual harassment isn’t the exclusive domain of show biz big shots. It remains alarmingly prevalent nationwide, even as other crimes...

The mental health toll of Puerto Rico's prolonged power outages

Written by Shao Lin, Professor of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York

Plush toys, recovered from a flooded home, hang out to dry on a wrought iron gate in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.Ramon Espinosa/AP

More than a month has passed since Hurricane Maria’s initial landfall in Puerto Rico, but around 80 percent of the island still remains without power.

As residents grapple with the immediate damage, it’s...

Cosmic alchemy: Colliding neutron stars show us how the universe creates gold

Written by Duncan Brown, Professor of Physics, Syracuse University

Illustration of hot, dense, expanding cloud of debris stripped from the neutron stars just before they collided.NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab, CC BY

For thousands of years, humans have searched for a way to turn matter into gold. Ancient alchemists considered this precious metal to be the highest form of matter. As human knowledge...

How companies can learn to root out sexual harassment

Written by Katina Sawyer, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Villanova University

Sexual harassment scandals have altered and cut short many careers, including those of former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly (left), former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (center) and late former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.AP Photo

Fox News renewed its contract with former host Bill O'Reilly earlier this year despite knowing that he had just settled an...

California needs to rethink urban fire risk after wine country tragedy

Written by Max Moritz, Cooperative Extension Specialist, Wildland Fire, University of California, Berkeley

Picking up the pieces after fire devastated the city of Santa Rose, California. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

We recently witnessed the wind-driven Tubbs fire blast its way through densely urbanized neighborhoods in Northern California, causing dozens of fatalities and thousands of home losses. This tragic event easily ranks as the most catastrophic fire in...

A new clue into treatments for triple negative breast cancer, a mean disease

Written by Nikita Wright, Ph.D. Candidate, Biology, Georgia State University

African-American women are about three times more likely to be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. mangostock/Shutterstock.com

When a woman finds a lump in her breast, her doctor’s first move is usually to recommend a biopsy – that is, to remove a small portion of the lump for analysis. If...