The Conversation

Satellites detect no real climate benefit from 10 years of forest carbon offsets in California

Written by Shane Coffield, Postdoctoral Scientist in Biospheric Sciences, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

Redwood forests like this one in California can store large amounts of carbon, but not if they're being cut down.Shane Coffield

Many of the companies promising “net-zero” emissions to protect the climate are relying on vast swaths of forests and what are known as carbon offsets to meet that goal.

On paper, carbon offsets appear to...

Resounding success of 'Black Panther' franchise says little about the dubious state of Black film

Written by Phillip Lamarr Cunningham, Assistant Professor, Media Studies, Wake Forest University

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is one of only three Black films since 2018 to have a production budget exceeding $100 million.Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images

When Marvel Studios released “Black Panther” in February 2018, it marked the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to feature a Black superhero and star a...

Healthy democracy requires trust -- these 3 things could start to restore voters' declining faith in US elections

Written by Sarah Bush, Associate Professor, Political Science, Yale University

Election workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Nov. 9, 2022, in Phoenix. John Moore/Getty Images

The 2022 U.S. midterm elections ran relatively smoothly and faced few consequential accusations of fraud or mismanagement. Yet many Americans don’t trust this essential element of a democracy.

It’s...

Protests in China are not rare -- but the current unrest is significant

Written by Teresa Wright, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Long Beach

Protesters march along a street in Beijing on Nov. 28, 2022.Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Street protests across China have evoked memories of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations that were brutally quashed in 1989. Indeed, foreign media have suggested the current unrest sweeping cities across China is unlike anything seen in the country since...

Ancient DNA from the teeth of 14th-century Ashkenazi Jews in Germany already included genetic variations common in modern Jews

Written by Shai Carmi, Associate Professor of Population and Statistical Genetics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Partial layout of the graves discovered during the excavation at the medieval Jewish cemetery of Erfurt.Thuringian State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology/Karin Sczech + Katharina Bielefeld

About two-thirds of Jews today – or about 10 million people – are Ashkenazi, referring to a recent origin from Eastern and Central...

Oath Keepers convictions shed light on the limits of free speech – and the threat posed by militias

Written by Amy Cooter, Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies

Members of the Oath Keepers stand in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The verdicts in a high-profile, monthslong trial of Oath Keepers militia members were, as one defense lawyer acknowledged, “a mixed bag.” Leader Stewart Rhodes was found guilty on Nov. 29, 2022, of the most serious charge –...

Where Mauna Loa’s lava is coming from – and why Hawaii’s volcanoes are different from most

Written by Gabi Laske, Professor of Geophysics, University of California, San Diego

Magma fountains through a fissure on Mauna Loa, becoming lava, on Nov. 30, 2022. K. Mulliken/USGS

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, began sending up fountains of glowing rock and spilling lava from fissures as its first eruption in nearly four decades began on Nov. 27, 2022.

Where does that molten rock come from?

We...

Pregnancy is a genetic battlefield – how conflicts of interest pit mom's and dad's genes against each other

Written by Jessica D. Ayers, Assistant Professor of Psychological Science, Boise State University

Paternal and maternal genes drive fetal development in different directions.Valentina Kruchinina/iStock via Getty Images

Baby showers. Babymoons. Baby-arrival parties. There are many opportunities to celebrate the 40-week transition to parenthood. Often, these celebrations implicitly assume that pregnancy is cooperative and mutually beneficial to...

What's a polycule? An expert on polyamory explains

Written by Riki Thompson, Associate Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Writing Studies, University of Washington

Given the complexity of polycules, it's important for participants to be on the same page.Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images

With the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the media shined a spotlight on the personal lives of founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his inner circle.

It turns out that Bankman-Fried, his on-and-off...

Beware of 'Shark Week': Scientists watched 202 episodes and found them filled with junk science, misinformation and white male 'experts' named Mike

Written by David Shiffman, Post-Doctoral and Research Scholar in Marine Biology, Arizona State University

Hammerhead sharks schooling near Costa Rica's Cocos Island.John Voo/Flickr, CC BY

The Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week is the longest-running cable television series in history, filling screens with sharky content every summer since 1988. It causes one of the largest temporary increases in U.S. viewers’ attention to any science or...