The Conversation

The IRS targeting scandal was fake, but IRS budget woes are a real problem

Written by Philip Hackney, James E. & Betty M. Phillips Professor of Law, Louisiana State University

Members of the tea party movement seen rallying outside the Capitol in 2013. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Conservatives have been seething since 2013 over what they say was an unfair and imbalanced effort by the IRS to scrutinize right-leaning organizations more closely than other groups seeking nonprofit status.

As a new report from the Treasury...

Does regulating artificial intelligence save humanity or just stifle innovation?

Written by Jeremy Straub, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, North Dakota State University

Should robots and artificial intelligence face additional restrictions?maxuser/Shutterstock.com

Some people are afraid that heavily armed artificially intelligent robots might take over the world, enslaving humanity – or perhaps exterminating us. These people, including tech-industry billionaire Elon Musk and eminent physicist Stephen...

Is local news on the cusp of a renaissance?

Written by Damian Radcliffe, Caroline S. Chambers Professor in Journalism, University of Oregon

Bridget McPherson

It’s not an easy time to be a journalist in the United States. Since 2000, nearly half of newsroom jobs – more than 20,000 of them – have disappeared.

Rubbing salt into the wounds, CareerCast named “newspaper reporter” the worst of 200 jobs in 2016 for the third successive year. (Pest control worker...

Is marriage obsolete? 4 essential reads

Written by Emily Costello, Senior Editor, Politics + Society, The Conversation

Heart pierced by a rusty nailMarcin Wos/Shutterstock

Editor’s note: On Friday, Oct. 20, “Third Rail with OZY” will ask: Is marriage dead?

This roundup of stories from The Conversation archive explores trends and pressures affecting the institution of marriage around the world.

#1: Fewer ‘I dos’

There’s no doubt:...

Breast cancer risk higher in western parts of time zones; is electric light to blame?

Written by Richard G. "Bugs" Stevens, Professor, School of Medicine, University of Connecticut

There may be a very good reason for not wanting to get up in the morning when it's still dark.Ruigsantos/Shutterstock.com

The 2017 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to three researchers “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.”

The circadian rhythm is an innate, approximately...

Micro solutions for a macro problem: How marine algae could help feed the world

Written by William Moomaw, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy, Tufts University

Microalgae (shown here, _Haematococcus_) convert water and carbon dioxide to oxygen and nutritious biomass in the presence of light. Algaennovation, CC BY

Our planet faces a growing food crisis. According to the United Nations, more than 800 million people are regularly undernourished. By 2050, an additional 2 to 3 billion new guests will join the...

In defense of cash: why we should bring back the $500 note and other big bills

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

The 'war on cash' is slowly eliminating paper currency. Thanatos Media/Shutterstock.com

A world without cash seems wonderful at first glance since it is convenient and fast. You don’t need to withdraw dollars or euros ahead of time. You don’t have to worry about money being lost or stolen. Paying for things with your phone is a breeze.

Ma...

Why bystanders rarely speak up when they witness sexual harassment

Written by George B. Cunningham, Professor of Sport Management, Faculty Affiliate of the Women's and Gender Studies Program, and Director, Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, Texas A&M University

If you see something, say something. Photographee.eu

The uproar over allegations that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sexually abused and harassed dozens of the women he worked with is inspiring countless women (and some men) to share their own personal sexual harassment and assault stories.

With these issues trending on social media with the...

How seeing problems in the brain makes stigma disappear

Written by David Rosenberg, Professor, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Wayne State University

A pair of identical twins. The one on the right has OCD, while the one on the left does not.Brain Imaging Research Division, Wayne State University School of Medicine, CC BY-SA

As a psychiatrist, I find that one of the hardest parts of my job is telling parents and their children that they are not to blame for their illness.

Children with emotional...

I teach ethics at the university where Richard Spencer spoke

Written by Anna L. Peterson, Professor of Religion, University of Florida

Once in a while, life provides us with the kind of dramatic moral dilemma that even the most imaginative ethics textbook writer couldn’t think up.

My community – the University of Florida and the city of Gainesville – faced a dangerous and complicated series of dilemmas as a result of a visit from white supremacist Richard...