The Conversation

Take laughter, add tears − the secret recipe for the most-liked Super Bowl ads

Written by Niusha Jones, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Boise State University

Emotions often run high during the Super Bowl -- and that includes during the commercial breaks.Nathan Howard/Associated Press

Viewers gravitate toward Super Bowl commercials that incorporate both happiness and sadness, our 2023 study shows.

On the other hand, advertisements that blend happiness and fear turn people off.

And people are indifferent...

Voters don't always have final say -- state legislatures and governors are increasingly undermining ballot measures that win

Written by Anne Whitesell, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Miami University

Supporters of Issue 1, which would codify reproductive rights, including abortion, in the Ohio Constitution, cheer election results on Nov. 7, 2023.Andrew Spear/Getty Images

Less than half of Americans trust elected officials to act in the public’s interest.

When voters want something done on an issue and their elected officials fail to act,...

I set out to investigate where silky sharks travel − and by chance documented a shark's amazing power to regenerate its sabotaged fin

Written by Chelsea Black, Ph.D. Candidate in Marine Ecosystems and Society, University of Miami

Rather than a tracking tag telling scientists where this shark traveled, its violent removal let them observe an unexpected regeneration process.Josh Schellenberg, CC BY-ND

I made an accidental and astonishing discovery while studying the movements of sharks off the coast of Jupiter, Florida. I set out to record the migration routes of silky...

What Taoism teaches about the body and being healthy

Written by Michael Naparstek, Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Tennessee

Daoism, which emphasizes harmony with nature, can inform individuals on their relationship with the environment.Ma Yuan 'Walking on Path in Spring.' National Palace Museum via Wikimedia Commons

New Year’s resolutions often come with a renewed investment in making our bodies healthier. Many may take to the newest diet plan or sign up for a...

Rabies is an ancient, unpredictable and potentially fatal disease − two rabies researchers explain how to protect yourself

Written by Rodney E. Rohde, Regents' Professor & Chair, Medical Laboratory Science, Texas State University

Rabies virus (red) has an incubation period that can last from days to months.NIAID/Flickr, CC BY

A feral kitten in Omaha, Nebraska, tested positive for rabies in November 2023. It died of the raccoon variant of the virus, which is typically found only in the Appalachian Mountains. Detecting this variant hundreds of miles away in the Midwest raised...

Trump’s arguments for immunity not as hopeless as some claim

Written by Ofer Raban, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Oregon

Donald Trump has claimed that presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts.AP Photo/Toby Brusseau

Former President Donald Trump’s claims of immunity from criminal prosecution will be argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Jan. 9, 2024 – on an interlocutory appeal from his trial for...

What happens to the ocean if we take out all the fish? A marine ecologist explains the complex roles fish play in their ecosystem

Written by Kory Evans, Assistant Professor of BioSciences, Rice University

Fish swim in a reef at Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.AP Photo/Jacob Asher

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

What would happen to the ocean if we took out all the fish? – Reny, age 12

The...

From South Asia to Mexico, from slave to spiritual icon, this woman's life is a snapshot of Spain's colonization – and the Pacific slave trade history that books often leave out

Written by Diego Javier Luis, Assistant Professor of History, Tufts University

Catarina was revered in Puebla, Mexico – but devotion to her attracted Catholic authorities' disapproval after her death.Image from the collections of the Biblioteca Nacional de España

Jan. 5, 2024, marked 336 years since the passing of an extraordinary woman you have probably never heard of: Catarina de San Juan.

Her life reads like an...

South Korea's gender imbalance is bad news for men − outnumbering women, many face bleak marriage prospects

Written by Dudley L. Poston Jr., Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University

In South Korea, there are nor enough young Korean women for young Korean men to marry. RUNSTUDIO/Getty Images

South Korea’s bachelor time bomb is about to really go off. Following a historic 30-year-long imbalance in the male-to-female sex ratio at birth, young men far outnumber young women in the country. As a result, some 700,000 to...

An overlooked and undercounted group of Arab American and Muslim voters may have outsized impact on 2024 presidential election

Written by Youssef Chouhoud, Assistant Professor, Christopher Newport University

People demonstrate in support of Palestinians on Oct. 14, 2023, in Dearborn, Mich.Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

Though domestic issues tend to motivate most U.S. voters, the war in the Middle East may be the dominant issue in mind for an increasingly important voting block: Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas...