The Conversation

Does an anomaly in the Earth's magnetic field portend a coming pole reversal?

Written by John Tarduno, Professor of Geophysics, University of Rochester

What's north would become south.NASA , CC BY

The Earth is blanketed by a magnetic field. It’s what makes compasses point north, and protects our atmosphere from continual bombardment from space by charged particles such as protons. Without a magnetic field, our atmosphere would slowly be stripped away by harmful radiation, and life would...

Uncovering the roots of racist ideas in America

Written by Ibram X. Kendi, Assistant Professor of History, University of Florida

Little Rock protest, 1959 Wikimedia/John T. Bledsoe

Donald Trump proclaimed during his inaugural address, “When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.”

Opening our hearts to patriotism will not solve the problem of racist ideas. Some of the nation’s proudest patriots have also been the nation’s...

Why do conservatives want the government to defund the arts?

Written by Aaron D. Knochel, Assistant Professor of Art Education, Pennsylvania State University

What happens when funding isn't just eroded, but is wiped away?'Erosion' via www.shutterstock.com

Recent reports indicate that Trump administration officials have circulated plans to defund the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), putting this agency on the chopping block – again.

Conservatives have sought to eliminate the NEA since the...

Stories are better than lectures at teaching us about health

Written by Sheila Murphy, Professor of Communication , University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Narratives about health can help change behavior.Girl watching TV via www.shutterstock.com

Humans having been using stories or narratives to transmit crucial information for thousands of years. Despite that, Western medicine largely ignores the use of narrative and instead continues to rely on lists of dos and don’t’s, facts and figures...

Finding the causes of cancer is the first step to prevention

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

Cigarette smoke is a known carcinogen. Women smoking image via www.shutterstock.com.

Big Tobacco is the poster child for how an industry can confuse the experts and the public on the dangers of its product. It delayed any smoking restrictions for decades by employing the subterfuge of demanding “perfect knowledge” for proof of harm....

Understanding genetic differences between breast cancer tumors is key to better treatment

Written by Jonathan Rennhack, Ph.D. Student, Michigan State University

There are genetic difference within and between tumors. DNA sequencing image via www.shutterstock.com.

Breast cancer is not a single disease. It is in fact, a collection of genetic changes that all lead to the same outcome: a tumor in the breast.

This means that breast cancer patients can’t be treated with identical therapies. Instead,...

Immunotherapy: Training the body to fight cancer

Written by Balveen Kaur, Professor, OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University

An oral squamous cancer cell (white) being attacked by two T cells (red), part of a natural immune response. NIH Image Gallery, CC BY-NC

The human immune system is powerful and complex.

It can identify and destroy invaders of nearly infinite variety, yet spare the more than 30 trillion cells of the healthy body.

Unfortunately, the broken cells of...

Ringling Bros. Circus shutdown is a distraction from the real issue: Eating animals

Written by Gary L. Francione, Professor of Law, Rutgers University Newark

Nazim Uddin/Flickr, CC BY

The “Greatest Show On Earth,” the 146-year-old Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, announced in January that it will finally close in May. The circus was simply not sufficiently spectacular to compete with the entertainment wonders offered by smartphones and tablets, or with rock concerts and monster...

Why Brazil is winning its fight against corruption

Written by Paul F. Lagunes, Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Last month, the respected Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki died in a plane crash. He was overseeing the largest corruption investigation in the country’s history.

Even if his recently selected successor, Edson Fachin, rises to the occasion, Zavascki’s death remains a tragic loss and a blow to Brazil’s fight against...

Defining dual-use research: When scientific advances can both help and hurt humanity

Written by Nicholas G. Evans, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Lowell

It's not always obvious where a new technology will end up.NIH Image Gallery, CC BY-NC

Scientific research can change our lives for the better, but it also presents risks – either through deliberate misuse or accident. Think about studying deadly pathogens; that’s how we can learn how to successfully ward them off, but it can be a...