The Conversation

Britney Spears gets free of father's conservatorship – but many others remain shackled by the easily abused legal arrangement

Written by Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of Virginia

Britney Spears' supporters erupted in cheers after her father was removed as conservator.AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Britney Spears finally got her wish: A judge suspended her dad as conservator, about two and a half months after she told the court that he was ruining her life.

During the Sept. 29, 2021, hearing, Spears’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart,...

US Supreme Court gets set to address abortion, guns and religion

Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

As October begins, the Supreme Court opens its new term.AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

The Supreme Court begins its annual term on Oct. 4, 2021, with a packed agenda highlighted by three claims of violations of constitutional rights. One is about religious rights. A second is about gun rights.

And the biggest case this year is a challenge to abortion...

Havana syndrome fits the pattern of psychosomatic illness – but that doesn't mean the symptoms aren't real

Written by Robert Baloh, Professor of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles

In late 2016, people working and living in the embassy district of Havana, including at the U.S. Embassy seen here, began hearing strange sounds before getting sick. AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

In early September 2021, a CIA agent was evacuated from Serbia in the latest case of what the world now knows as “Havana syndrome.”

Like most people,...

As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in

Written by Paul Chinowsky, Professor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder

Climate change means more schools will need to install or upgrade cooling systems.Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure such as water...

50 years ago, the first CT scan let doctors see inside a living skull – thanks to an eccentric engineer at the Beatles' record company

Written by Edmund S. Higgins, Affiliate Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina

Godfrey Hounsfield stands beside the EMI-Scanner in 1972. PA Images via Getty Images

The possibility of precious objects hidden in secret chambers can really ignite the imagination. In the mid-1960s, British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield pondered whether one could detect hidden areas in Egyptian pyramids by capturing cosmic rays that passed through...

Why charter schools are not as 'public' as they claim to be

Written by Kevin Welner, Professor, Education Policy & Law; Director, National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Boulder

Charter school enrollment reportedly grew 7% during the pandemic.FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images

Proponents of charter schools insist that they are public schools “open to all students.” But the truth is more nuanced. As an education policy researcher – and as author of a new book about charter schools I wrote with fellow researcher W...

Who pays and who benefits from a massive expansion of solar power?

Written by Felix Mormann, Professor of Law, Texas A&M University

Aerial view of the 6-megawatt Stanton Solar Farm near Orlando, Fla.Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Electricity generation produces a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. The electric grid also is highly vulnerable to climate change effects, such as more frequent and severe droughts, hurricanes an...

What happened during the last government shutdown: 4 essential reads

Written by Matt Williams, Breaking News Editor

Red sky at night, federal workers take fright? Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The U.S. is (once again) staring down the barrel of a government shutdown.

Barring progress on a spending bill to fund government agencies past Sept. 30, 2021 – and Democrats are busying themselves trying to get such a measure through Congress – federal workers...

SNAP benefits are rising for millions of Americans, thanks to a long-overdue 'Thrifty Food Plan' update

Written by Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

Buying enough groceries with government benefits is getting easier.Katrina Wittkamp/DigitalVision via Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Agriculture adjusts Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits to reflect changes in food prices once a year. The government agency will take two other factors into account when it increases those...

The music of proteins is made audible through a computer program that learns from Chopin

Written by Peng Zhang, Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Biology, The Rockefeller University

Training an algorithm to play proteins like Chopin can produce more melodious songs.Frederic Chopin/Wikimedia Commons

With the right computer program, proteins become pleasant music.

There are many surprising analogies between proteins, the basic building blocks of life, and musical notation. These analogies can be used not only to help advance...