The Conversation

Nobel Prizes, election outcomes and sports championships – prediction markets try to foresee the future

Written by Daniel O'Leary, Professor of Accounting and Information Systems, University of Southern California

Who will be next to cross this stage and accept a Nobel Prize?Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images News via Getty Images

Who will win Nobel Prizes in 2022? Wikipedia posits a handful of contenders for Physiology or Medicine, about 20 different possible winners for the Peace Prize and several dozen potential winners of the Literature Prize. But since...

Your mighty tendons help you sprint, jump and move – a genetic mutation in one key protein may increase athletic performance

Written by Hiroshi Asahara, Professor of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute

A variant of Piezo1 may boost tendon strength and, subsequently, athletic ability.Yellow Dog Productions/The Image Bank via Getty Images

The ability to move is an essential part of daily life. The locomotor, or musculoskeletal, system of the body consists of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage and other connective tissue. Loss of...

Louis Pasteur's scientific discoveries in the 19th century revolutionized medicine and continue to save the lives of millions today

Written by Rodney E. Rohde, Regents' Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science, Texas State University

Louis Pasteur was a pioneer in chemistry, microbiology, immunology and vaccinology.pictore/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Some of the greatest scientific discoveries haven’t resulted in Nobel Prizes.

Louis Pasteur, who lived from 1822 to 1895, is arguably the world’s best-known microbiologist. He is widely credited for the germ...

Deep brain stimulation can be life-altering for OCD sufferers when other treatment options fall short

Written by Rachel A. Davis, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Deep brain stimulation relies on thin electrodes implanted deep in the brain that deliver electrical currents. Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images

Imagine growing up tormented by fears and life-consuming rituals that make no sense to you or those around you. Then imagine the shame of being told by mental health providers that, because you understand that...

Solar geoengineering might work, but local temperatures could keep rising for years

Written by Patrick W. Keys, Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

Some areas wouldn't see immediate effects, and there could be serious consequences.Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Imagine a future where, despite efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly, parts of the world have become unbearably hot. Some governments might decide to “geoengineer” the planet by spraying substances into the upper...

Hurricane Ian: Older adults have many reasons for not evacuating – here's why it's important to check on aging neighbors

Written by Sue Anne Bell, Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Michigan

Hurricane Ian pounded western Cuba on Sept. 26, 2022, on its way to the Florida coast.AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

As mandatory evacuations for Hurricane Ian began in Florida and the warnings about damaging wind and flooding intensified, I called my aging parents to check in.

Being a disaster researcher, my concern for them was already in high gear, even...

NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid – photos show the last moments of the successful DART mission

Written by David Barnhart, Professor of Astronautics, University of Southern California

Didymos (bottom right) and its smaller moonlet Dimorphos (center) were the targets of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test.NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

In a world first, NASA has crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to push the rocky traveler off its trajectory. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test – or DART – is meant to test...

Ada Limón is a poet laureate for the 21st century, exploring 'what it looks like to have America in the room'

Written by Amy Cannon, Associate Professor of Writing, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Ada Limón is the 24th U.S. poet laureate.Shawn Miller/Library of Congress

“Ada Limón is a poet who connects.” This was how Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden introduced the 24th poet laureate of the United States.

From my perspective as a poet and writing teacher, “a poet who connects” is a perfect encapsulation...

Hurricane hunters are flying through Ian's powerful winds to forecast intensity – here's what happens when the plane plunges into the eyewall of a storm

Written by Jason Dunion, Research Meteorologist, University of Miami

Flying into Hurricane Harvey aboard a a P-3 Hurricane Hunter nicknamed Kermit in 2018.Lt. Kevin Doreumus/NOAA

As Hurricane Ian intensified on its way toward the Florida coast, hurricane hunters were in the sky doing something almost unimaginable: flying through the center of the storm. With each pass, the scientists aboard these planes take...

The same app can pose a bigger security and privacy threat depending on the country where you download it, study finds

Written by Renuka Kumar, Ph.D. student in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan

Same app, same app store, different risks if you download it in, say, Tunisia rather than in Germany.NurPhoto via Getty Images

Google and Apple have removed hundreds of apps from their app stores at the request of governments around the world, creating regional disparities in access to mobile apps at a time when many economies are becoming...