The Conversation

The IRS already has all your income tax data – so why do Americans still have to file their taxes?

Written by Beverly Moran, Professor Emerita of Law, Vanderbilt University

The government could toss the 1040 in the trash. Kameleon007iStock via Getty Images

Doing taxes in the U.S. is notoriously complicated and costly. And it gets even worse when there are delays and backlogs, making it especially hard to reach the Internal Revenue Service for assistance.

But to me this raises an important question: Why should taxpayers...

Bad managers, burnout and health fears: Why record numbers of hospitality workers are quitting the industry for good

Written by Andrew Moreo, Assistant Professor of Hospitality Management and Director of Research, Florida International University

Dealing with customers every day can put significant stress on hospitality workers. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

About 3.5 million people have at least temporarily left the U.S. workforce since March 2020. Over one-third of them – 1.2 million – are in the leisure and hospitality industry.

This has created huge problems for restaurants, hotels...

Pope Benedict faulted over sex abuse claims: New report is just one chapter in his – and Catholic Church’s – fraught record

Written by David Gibson, Director, Center on Religion and Culture, Fordham University

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the crowd during an audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct.24, 2007. A January 2022 report faulted his handling of several sex abuse cases.AP Photo/Plinio Lepri

An in-depth report released last week alleges that former Pope Benedict XVI allowed four abusive priests in Munich to remain in ministry. The...

A lunar return, a Jupiter moon, the most powerful rocket ever built and the James Webb Space Telescope – space missions to watch in the coming months

Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona

2022 is set to be humanity's busiest year in space.CSA Images via Getty Images

Space travel is all about momentum.

Rockets turn their fuel into momentum that carries people, satellites and science itself forward into space. 2021 was a year full of records for space programs around the world, and that momentum is carrying forward into 2022.

Last...

Don't pay too much attention to guesses about how US Supreme Court will vote on abortion rights – experts are often wrong

Written by Lawrence Strout, Associate Professor of Communication, Mississippi State University

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will not be handed down until late spring or early summer 2022, when the court typically issues verdicts.

The potentially historic case challenges a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

This case could overturn or uphold the...

Driverless cars won't be good for the environment if they lead to more auto use

Written by Giovanni Circella, Director, 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program, University of California, Davis

Self-driving cars could lead to increased traffic and pollution if they spur more travel by car.Witthaya Prasongsin via Getty Images

For years, self-driving car technology has remained tantalizingly just beyond the horizon. Bold predictions notwithstanding, fully automated vehicles still haven’t appeared in showrooms. But the technology...

New insights from biology can help overcome siloed thinking in cancer clinical trials and treatment

Written by Gerald Denis, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Boston University

Metabolic conditions like obesity and diabetes can influence how cancer develops and responds to treatment.Eric Kitayama/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Rarely does an oncologist closely question a breast cancer patient about their blood glucose, body weight, lipid profile, or medications for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Instead, these issues...

Omicron makes booster shots more critical for medically vulnerable seniors

Written by Laurie Archbald-Pannone, Associate Professor of Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Virginia

With a COVID-19 booster shot, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization goes up to 90%. FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

People are understandably worn out, tired of thinking about COVID-19 and wanting to get back to a true normal.

This so-called “pandemic fatigue” is real. But it’s also contributing to lapses in COVID-19 precauti...

5 tips to help preschoolers with special needs during the pandemic

Written by Michele L. Stites, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Parents say there has been a lack of academic and social learning opportunities for children during the pandemic. SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Four months in reading. Five months in math. That’s how far children are behind where they should be for their grade level, according to a 2021 report that says the COVID-19 pandemic – and...

A new treatment helped frogs regenerate their amputated legs – taking science one step closer to helping people regrow their body parts, too

Written by Michael Levin, Professor of Biology, Tufts University

Reactivating the signals cells use to regenerate could help patients regrow lost limbs and damaged tissue.George Jones/Stockbyte via Getty Images

Our bodies connect us to the world. When people lose parts of their bodies to disease or traumatic injury, they often feel that they’ve lost a part of who they are, even experiencing a grief akin to...