The Conversation

Toshio Mori endured internment camps and overcame discrimination to become the first Japanese American to publish a book of fiction

Written by Alessandro Meregaglia, Assistant Professor and Archivist, Boise State University

In a 1949 photograph, Mori works in his family's nursery in San Leandro, Calif.Courtesy of Steven Y. Mori, CC BY-SA

Eighty years ago, on Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which led to more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the western United States being moved into internment camps.

At the...

How poisonous mercury gets from coal-fired power plants into the fish you eat

Written by Gabriel Filippelli, Chancellor's Professor of Earth Sciences and Executive Director, Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute, IUPUI

Coal-fired power plants are a source of mercury that people can ingest by eating fish.Mark Wilson/Getty Images

People fishing along the banks of the White River as it winds through Indianapolis sometimes pass by ominous signs warning about eating the fish they catch.

One of the risks they have faced is mercury poisoning.

Mercury is a neurotoxic...

Girls still fall behind boys in top scores for AP math exams

Written by Kadir Bahar, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Georgia

Gender gaps in achievement for AP math exams may lead to fewer women in STEM careers. Mint Images/Getty Images

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

The big idea

After decades of growth, the number of high school girls who take Advanced Placement math exams is now almost the same as the number for boys. In 1997, 83 girls...

Trust comes when you admit what you don’t know – lessons from child development research

Written by Tamar Kushnir, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University

Kids figure out who's trustworthy as they learn about the world.Sandro Di Carlo Darsa/PhotoAlto Agency RF Collections via Getty Images

Consider the following situation: Two experts give you advice about whether you should eat or avoid the fat in common cooking oils.

One of them tells you confidently that there are “good” or...

After the FDA issued warnings about antidepressants, youth suicides rose and mental health care dropped

Written by Stephen Soumerai, Professor of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University

The link between antidepressant use and increases in suicidal thoughts or behaviors among treated youth is unproven.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Depression in young people is vastly undertreated. About two-thirds of depressed youth don’t receive any mental health care at all. Of those who do, a significant proportion rely on antidepressant...

How recess helps students learn

Written by William Massey, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University

Giving kids time outside for physical and social activity helps them get ready to learn.Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

As parents and schools seek to support students’ social and emotional needs – and teach them what they need to learn – some education leaders are missing one particularly effective opportunity.

Th...

Why do people get diarrhea?

Written by Hannibal Person, Assistant Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, School of Medicine, University of Washington

No matter its cause, diarrhea is uncomfortable.Rapeepong Puttakumwong/Moment via Getty Images

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.

Why do people get diarrhea? – A.A.A., age 10, Philadelphia

The digestive system breaks down...

Technology is revolutionizing how intelligence is gathered and analyzed – and opening a window onto Russian military activity around Ukraine

Written by Craig Nazareth, Assistant Professor of Practice of Intelligence & Information Operations, University of Arizona

Commercial satellite companies provide views once reserved for governments, like this image of a Russian military training facility in Crimea.Satellite image (c) 2021 Maxar Technologies via Getty Images

The U.S. has been warning for weeks about the possibility of Russia invading Ukraine, and threatening retaliation if it does. Just eight years...

First gene therapy for Tay-Sachs disease successfully given to two children

Written by Miguel Sena-Esteves, Associate Professor of Neurology, UMass Chan Medical School

About 1 in 300 people in the general population carry the Tay-Sachs disease gene.Ray Kachatorian/Stone via Getty Images

Two babies have received the first-ever gene therapy for Tay-Sachs disease after over 14 years of development.

Tay-Sachs is a severe neurological disease caused by a deficiency in an enzyme called HexA. This enzyme breaks down a...

What do students’ beliefs about God have to do with grades and going to college?

Written by Ilana Horwitz, Assistant Professor, Fields-Rayant Chair in Contemporary Jewish Life, Tulane University

How do students' religious lives influence their academic ones?Image Source via Getty Images

In America, the demographic circumstances of a child’s birth substantially shape academic success. Sociologists have spent decades studying how factors beyond students’ control – including the race, wealth and ZIP code of their parents...