The Conversation

Educators can help make STEM fields diverse – over 25 years, I've identified nudges that can encourage students to stay

Written by Nilanjana Dasgupta, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UMass Amherst

Connecting studies to the real world, mentoring and building community make all the difference.FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images

Jen, a student I taught early in my career, stood head-and-shoulders above her peers academically. I learned she had started off as an engineering major but switched over to psychology. I was surprised and curious.

Was she...

How you can help protect sharks – and what doesn't work

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

Whitetip sharks amid a school of anthias near Jarvis island in the South Pacific.Kelvin Gorospe, NOAA/NMFS/Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Blog/Flickr, CC BY

Sharks are some of the most ecologically important and most threatened animals on Earth. Recent reports show that up to one-third of all known species of sharks and their relatives,...

Barbara Ehrenreich helped make inequality visible – her legacy lives on in a reinvigorated labor movement

Written by Adia Harvey Wingfield, Professor of Sociology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich in a 2005 photo.AP Photo/Andrew Shurtleff

Have you heard of Jaz Brisack, Liz Fong-Jones and Chris Smalls?

Those names might not be familiar to all Americans, but their recent accomplishments amount to a potential sea change in labor rights.

As union organizers or advocates for better work conditions at some of...

How do ants crawl on walls? A biologist explains their sticky, spiky, gravity-defying grip

Written by Deby Cassill, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida

Walking vertically – or even upside down – is a piece of cake for ants.pecchio/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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.

How do ants crawl on walls? – Ethan, age 9, Dallas, Texas

When I...

What is proof-of-stake? A computer scientist explains a new way to make cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverse transactions

Written by Scott Ruoti, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Tennessee

Blockchain transactions are carried in blocks. The amount of energy it takes to add a new block varies widely depending on how it's done.Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

Proof-of-stake is a mechanism for achieving consensus on a blockchain. Blockchain is a technology that records transactions that can’t be deleted or altered. It’s...

Stop using 'Latinx' if you really want to be inclusive

Written by Melissa K. Ochoa, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Saint Louis University

'Latine' is much more adaptable to the Spanish language.Mario Garza, CC BY-SA

Most of the debates on the usage of “Latinx” – pronounced “la-teen-ex” – have taken place in the U.S. But the word has begun to spread into Spanish-speaking countries – where it hasn’t exactly been embraced.

In July 2022,...

Burning Man highlights the primordial human need for ritual

Written by Dimitris Xygalatas, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut

A wooden effigy of a man is erected each year in Nevada's Black Rock Desert and later burned down.AP Photo/Ron Lewis

At the end of each summer, hordes of people flock to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to erect a makeshift city the size of the Italian town of Pisa. They call it Black Rock City. A few days later, they will burn it to the ground,...

La Crosse virus is the second-most common virus in the US spread by mosquitoes – and can cause severe neurological damage in rare cases

Written by Rebecca Trout Fryxell, Associate Professor of Medical and Veterinary Entomology, University of Tennessee

People catch La Crosse disease primarily from the bite of the eastern tree-hole mosquito – although two other species may also carry the virus.Nipol Plobmuang/EyeEm via Getty Images

For the Laudick family of Greensburg, Indiana, life forever changed on Aug. 5, 2013. That was the day 4-year-old Leah Laudick told her mom, Shelly, that she had a...

How Ukraine is adapting the ancient practice of trophy displays for modern propaganda

Written by Anya Free, Ph.D. Candidate in History, University of California, Davis

A Ukrainian inspects a ruined Russian tank displayed on the streets of Kyiv.Thomas O'Neill/NurPhoto via Getty Images

As Ukraine prepared to celebrate its independence day even while its military forces battled a monthslong Russian invasion, government officials assembled a grandiose, yet gruesome, display on Khreshchatyk, the main street of...

Why are some people mosquito magnets and others unbothered? A medical entomologist points to metabolism, body odor and mindset

Written by Jonathan Day, Emeritus Professor of Medical Entomology, University of Florida

Mosquitoes need to feed on blood in order to reproduce. But how do they choose whom to feed on?boonchai wedmakawand/Moment via GettyImages

It’s rare to attend an outdoor party in warm weather without hearing people complain about mosquitoes. They swat away, sit in campfire smoke, cover up with blankets and eventually just give up and go...