The Conversation

Making driverless cars safe for people on foot

Written by Michael Clamann, Senior Research Scientist, Humans and Autonomy Lab, Duke University

Is it safe to cross?Duke Humans and Anatomy Lab, CC BY-ND

Right now, there are two ways to be safe crossing a road: Wait until no cars are close by, so there’s enough time to make it to the other side of the street – or communicate with oncoming drivers. As the number of pedestrian deaths on U.S. roads climbs, up 25 percent since 2010...

Explaining polygamy and its history in the Mormon Church

Written by Joanna Brooks, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, San Diego State University

Polygamy advocate Brady Williams talks with his five wives during an interview at their home in a polygamous community outside Salt Lake City. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File

The arrest of polygamist leader Lyle Jeffs, evictions of polygamist families and new studies on crippling genetic disorders among small ultra-orthodox or...

Curbing climate change: Why it's so hard to act in time

Written by Timothy H. Dixon, Professor, Geology and Geophysics, Natural and human-caused hazards, sea level rise and climate change, University of South Florida

March for Science, Washington, D.C., April 29, 2017.Shutterstock.com

This summer I worked on the Greenland ice sheet, part of a scientific experiment to study surface melting and its contribution to Greenland’s accelerating ice losses. By virtue of its size, elevation and currently frozen state, Greenland has the potential to cause large and...

Is Ryan Kelly's iconic photograph an American 'Guernica'?

Written by Jennifer Wenzel, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University

On August 12, Charlottesville Daily Progress photographer Ryan M. Kelly captured the exact moment that Nazi sympathizer James Alex Fields, Jr. drove his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counterprotesters, injuring 19 and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. It’s probably the most enduring image to emerge from the weekend of “Unite the...

Charlottesville and the politics of fear

Written by David Alpher, Adjunct Professor at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University

Did Trump's rhetoric played a part in radicalizing the far-right protesters in Charlottesville?AP Photo/Steve Helber

I have spent nearly 16 years studying how the risk of violence grows in societies around the world and running programs designed to stem the tide. I have seen toxic rhetoric from political leaders result in violence in countries like...

How ancient cultures explained eclipses

Written by Roger Culver, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Colorado State University

A 1765 painting of Helios, the personification of the sun in Greek mythology.Wikimedia Commons

On August 21, a total solar eclipse will be visible across parts of the United States.

As the Earth and moon sweep through space in their annual journey around the sun, the three bodies align in such a way that the Earth passes into the shadow of the moon....

Why tourists go to sites associated with death and suffering

Written by Daniel B. Bitran, Professor of Psychology, College of the Holy Cross

Students at Ponar Forest in Lithuania, where Nazis massacred many Jews.Daniel B. Bitran, CC BY

On a beautiful summer day in 2016, as I walked with a group of college students along a well-trodden path sprinkled with needles and cones from majestic pine trees, our mood was somber and morose. The chirping of birds and the burning off of the dew on...

Why state-level single-payer health care efforts are doomed

Written by Simon Haeder, Assistant Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at an Aug. 1 press conference, the first he held after the defeat of his health care bill.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

With members of Congress spending the month of August in their home districts, Republican efforts to do away with President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care...

Trump's rejection of national climate report would do more damage than exiting the Paris Agreement

Written by Gary W. Yohe, Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, Wesleyan University

One of the impacts of climate change is an increase in the frequency of heavy rain events. AP Photo/David J. Phillip

A scientific report done every four years has been thrust into the spotlight because its findings directly contradict statements from the president and various Cabinet officials.

If the Trump administration chooses to reject the...

FirstNet for emergency communications: 6 questions answered

Written by Ladimer Nagurney, Professor of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Hartford

FirstNet could relieve emergency workers of having to carry multiple radios and other communications devices.AP Photo/Ric Francis

Editor’s note: In the aftermath of 9/11, public safety officials in New York City and around the country realized that firefighters, police officers and ambulance workers needed to be able to talk to each other at...