The Conversation

A sculptor of wind explains how to make fiber dance far above city streets

Written by Janet Echelman, Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

In 2018, Echelman's sculpture 'Earthtime 1.78 Madrid' premiered in the Spanish capital.GettyImages

Janet Echelman says she never set out to be a sculptor of wind. But if you have ever explored Porto, Portugal, walked the streets of Gwanggyo, South Korea, or passed through West Hollywood, you might have seen her massive iridescent sculptures of...

Women's World Cup will highlight how far other countries have closed the gap with US – but that isn't the only yardstick to measure growth of global game

Written by Adam Beissel, Associate Professor of Sport Leadership and Management, Miami University

The end of the glory years for the U.S. Women's National Team?AP Photo/Claude Paris

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup begins on July 20, 2023, in Australia and New Zealand, and the U.S. enters the soccer tournament in a familiar position: favorites.

The U.S. Women’s National Team, or USWNT, is the reigning back-to-back champion, and many...

Global diabetes cases on pace to soar to 1.3 billion people in the next 3 decades, new study finds

Written by Lauryn Stafford, Fellow in Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington

Aging and obesity are likely to be the two primary drivers of the expected rise in diabetes. fotograzia/Moment via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

The number of people living with diabetes worldwide is on pace to more than double in the next three decades, for a total of 1.3 billion people...

First contact with aliens could end in colonization and genocide if we don't learn from history

Written by David Delgado Shorter, Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, University of California, Los Angeles

SETI has been listening for markers that may indicate alien life -- but is doing so ethical?Donald Giannati via Unsplash

We’re only halfway through 2023, and it feels already like the year of alien contact.

In February, President Joe Biden gave orders to shoot down three unidentified aerial phenomena – NASA’s title for UFOs. Then,...

What is a target letter? 3 things to know about how the Justice Department notifies suspects, like Donald Trump, ahead of possible charges

Written by Gabriel J. Chin, Professor of criminal law, immigration and race and law, University of California, Davis

Former President Donald Trump appears in July 2023 at a re-election campaign event in Florida. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on July 18, 2023, that he had received a letter from the Department of Justice, notifying him that that he was “a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury...

Targeting Trump for prosecution – 4 essential reads on how the Jan. 6 investigation laid the groundwork for the special counsel

Written by Naomi Schalit, Democracy Editor, The Conversation US

Donald Trump, left, may yet face off again in federal court against Jack Smith.Associated Press

With the news on July 18, 2023, that Special Counsel Jack Smith had informed former President Donald Trump that he was a target of the federal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the related Jan. 6, 2021, attack on...

Exercise may or may not help you lose weight and keep it off – here's the evidence for both sides of the debate

Written by Donald M. Lamkin, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

There isn't a debate, however, on the health benefits of regular exercise.Maryna Terletska/Moment via Getty Images

The global fitness industry will generate over US$80 billion in revenue in 2023, estimates suggest. And why not, given the many excellent reasons to exercise? Better cardiovascular health, lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, stronger immune...

Registering refugees using personal information has become the norm – but cybersecurity breaches pose risks to people giving sensitive biometric data

Written by Joseph K. Nwankpa, Associate Professor of Information Systems & Analytics, Miami University

A refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo registers his fingerprints on a biometric machine in Uganda in 2022. Badru Katumba/AFP via Getty Images

The number of refugees worldwide reached record high levels in 2022. More than 108.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of violence or persecution. Meanwhile, governments...

175 years ago, the Seneca Falls Convention kicked off the fight for women's suffrage – an iconic moment deeply shaped by Quaker beliefs on gender and equality

Written by Julie L. Holcomb, Professor of Museum Studies, Baylor University

The Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where on July 19 and 20, 1848, the first women's rights conventions in the U.S. were held.Epics/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

On July 19, 1848, nearly 300 men and women gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, to begin the United States’ first public political meeting regarding women’s rights. The...

Using green banks to solve America’s affordable housing crisis – and climate change at the same time

Written by Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Research Fellow, Climate Policy Lab, Tufts University

Retrofitting apartment buildings for energy efficiency and solar power can boost affordable housing and climate protection.AP Photo/Steven Senne

Green banks are starting to draw attention in the U.S., particularly since the federal government announced its first grant competitions under a national green bank program to bring clean technology and...