The Conversation

Why did Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 have a sealed-off emergency exit in the first place? The answer comes down to money

Written by Amy Fraher, Lecturer in Management, Yale University

The door plug area of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft awaits inspection on Jan. 10, 2024. Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo

The aviation industry is still in shock from a near disaster on Jan. 5, 2024, in which a 60-pound “door plug” blew out from a nearly new Boeing 737 MAX 9 in flight at 16,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole in the...

Conflict over William Penn statue removal in Philadelphia misses a point – Penn himself might have objected to it

Written by Andrew Murphy, Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan

A statue of William Penn stands at Welcome Park in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

The National Park Service’s proposed removal of a statue of William Penn from Philadelphia’s Welcome Park turned out to be short-lived. Announced on Jan. 5, 2024, the proposal was quickly pulled from consideration due to a public firestorm.

The Repub...

US law permits charities to encourage voting and help voters register, making GOP concerns about this assistance unfounded

Written by Philip Hackney, Associate Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh

Volunteers register voters in Santa Fe, N.M. Robert Alexander/Getty Images

U.S. charities aren’t allowed to campaign for or against specific political candidates. But they can legally engage in nonpartisan voter education and candidate-neutral efforts to get out the vote, as well as voter registration drives.

I’m an expert on charitable...

Women presidential candidates like Nikki Haley are more likely to change their positions to reach voters − but this doesn't necessarily pay off

Written by Shawn J. Parry-Giles, Professor of Communication, University of Maryland

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greets supporters on Jan. 3, 2024, at a bar in Londonderry, N.H. Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

While Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has said that she is “very pro-life,” she has also said that abortion is a “personal choice.” Her wording on different...

Not all underwater reefs are made of coral − the US has created artificial reefs from sunken ships, radio towers, boxcars and even voting machines

Written by Avery Paxton, Research Marine Biologist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The bow of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Duane, a decommissioned ship deliberately sunk off Florida to serve as an artificial reef.Stephen Frink via Getty Images

When people hear about underwater reefs, they usually picture colorful gardens created from coral. But some reefs are anchored to much more unusual foundations.

For more than a century,...

Bill Belichick's hidden playbook – the 19th century origins of 'The Patriot Way'

Written by Rich Hanley, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Quinnipiac University

Bill Belichick during his last game as head coach of the New England Patriots.Winslow Townson/Getty Images

To the New England Patriots fans enrolled in my Story of Football class at Quinnipiac University, Bill Belichick is the only Patriots coach they’ve ever known.

The 71-year-old coach and team owner Robert Kraft amicably parted ways after...

What are the principles of civilian immunity in war? A scholar of justice in war explains

Written by J. Toby Reiner, Associate Professor of Political Science, Dickinson College

Palestinians tend to the wounded after an Israeli strike hit a building next to Al-Aqsa Hospital in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 10, 2024.AP Photo/Adel Hana

About 1 in 100 Gazans have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s Jan. 8, 2024, update. More than 24,000 people have died, an...

Nicaragua released imprisoned priests, but repression is unlikely to relent – and the Catholic Church remains a target

Written by Kai M. Thaler, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

A priest and Catholic worshippers pray in front of an image of 'Sangre de Cristo,' burned in a fire on July 2020, at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua.Oswaldo Rivas/AFP via Getty Images

Bad news has been the norm for Catholics in Nicaragua, where clergy and church groups have been frequent targets of a wide-ranging crackdown for years. But on...

Extreme cold still happens in a warming world – in fact climate instability may be disrupting the polar vortex

Written by Mathew Barlow, Professor of Climate Science, UMass Lowell

A blizzard with brutally cold temperatures hit Iowa and neighboring states on Jan. 12, 2024.Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Over the past few days, extremely cold Arctic air and severe winter weather have swept southward into much of the U.S., breaking daily low temperature records from Montana to Texas. Tens of millions of people...

Reining in AI means figuring out which regulation options are feasible, both technically and economically

Written by Saurabh Bagchi, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University

One form of regulating AI is watermarking its output – the equivalent of AI signing its work.R_Type/iStock via Getty Images

Concern about generative artificial intelligence technologies seems to be growing almost as fast as the spread of the technologies themselves. These worries are driven by unease about the possible spread of...