The Conversation

New Zealand wants to tax cow burps – here’s why that’s not the best climate solution

Written by Kevin Trenberth, Distinguished Scholar, NCAR; Affiliate Faculty, University of Auckland

Cows generate methane as they digest their food. It's a potent greenhouse gas.Westend61 via Getty Images

New Zealand, where agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change, is proposing a tax on cow burps. The reason seems simple enough: Cows release methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and New Zealand has a goal of reaching net-zero...

Twitter cutoff in Turkey amid earthquake rescue operations: A social media expert explains the danger of losing the microblogging service in times of disaster

Written by Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University

Rescuers work at a collapsed building in southeastern Turkey.AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili

Twitter was blocked in Turkey on Feb. 8, 2023, according to internet monitoring service NetBlocks. The outage came amid the massive rescue operation and humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria two days earlier....

Spy balloon drama elevates public attention, pressure for the US to confront China

Written by Michael A. Allen, Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

The Chinese spy balloon flies over Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 4, 2023. Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Seven days after a Chinese spy balloon began drifting across the United States, the U.S. military downed it with a single missile.

But the balloon, in a sense, continues its flight through diplomatic circles, complicating U.S.-China...

Adults judge children who tell blunt polite truths more harshly than they do liars

Written by Laure Brimbal, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Texas State University

In practice, adults don't always value truth above all else.Ashley Corbin-Teich/Image Source via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Despite the common lesson that it’s paramount to tell the truth, adults judged children who told blunt polite truths more negatively than they did liars in...

Biden calls for assault weapon ban – but does focus on military-style guns and mass shootings undermine his message?

Written by Melissa K. Merry, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Louisville

President Joe Biden urges lawmakers to ban assault weapons "once and for all."Jacquelyn Martin/AFP via Getty Images

Among those attending the State of Union address on Feb. 7, 2022, was Brandon Tsay. Invited by President Joe Biden, the 26-year-old has been hailed as a hero for disarming a gunman who killed 11 people in a mass shooting in Monterey...

Twitter's new data fees leave scientists scrambling for funding – or cutting research

Written by Jon-Patrick Allem, Assistant Professor of Research in Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California

It's now pay to play if you want access to Twitter's data.The Conversation US, CC BY-ND

Twitter is ending free access to its application programming interface, or API. An API serves as a software “middleman” allowing two applications to talk to each other. An API is an accessible way to collect and share data within and across...

Don’t underestimate Cupid – he’s not the chubby cherub you associate with Valentine’s Day

Written by Debbie Felton, Professor of Classics, UMass Amherst

'Cupid and Psyche' by Italian sculptor Antonio CanovaBettmann via Getty Images

Ah, Valentine’s Day: that Hallmark holiday of greeting cards and chocolates, its bloody origins almost entirely forgotten over the last 2,000 years!

What began as a Christian feast day honoring two or three early Christian martyrs – the original...

What the First Amendment really says – 4 basic principles of free speech in the US

Written by Lynn Greenky, Associate Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Syracuse University

A protection that is, at least in this Philadelphia park, carved in stone.Zakarie Faibis via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Elon Musk has claimed he believes in free speech no matter what. He calls it a bulwark against tyranny in America and promises to reconstruct Twitter, which he now owns, so that its policy on free expression “matches the law...

Cells routinely self-cannibalize to take out their trash, aiding in survival and disease prevention

Written by Åsa Gustafsson, Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego

Illustration of an autophagosome (light blue double-membrane to the right) engulfing cellular material.David S. Goodsell and Daniel Klionsky/RCSB PDB-101, CC BY-SA

Don’t let the textbook diagram of a simplified two-dimensional cell fool you – within this tiny structure of life is a complex universe of molecular machinery that is...

Here's what to do when you encounter people with 'dark personality traits' at work

Written by Cinthia Beccacece Satornino, Research Director at the UNH Sales Center and Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of New Hampshire

Keeping your eyes and ears open can keep you from falling for the antics of a dark personality.Noel Hendrickson/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Have you ever suffered through tales of greatness from a self-absorbed “friend” who reminds you of Michael Scott from “The Office” – and not in a good way? Have you been...