The Conversation

Fact-checking may be important, but it won't help Americans learn to disagree better

Written by Taylor Dotson, Associate Professor of Social Science, New Mexico Tech

You're not the only one having trouble discerning the truth.nicoletaionescu/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Entering the new year, Americans are increasingly divided. They clash not only over differing opinions on COVID-19 risk or abortion, but basic facts like election counts and whether vaccines work. Surveying rising political antagonism, journalist...

These machines scrub greenhouse gases from the air – an inventor of direct air capture technology shows how it works

Written by Klaus Lackner, Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Arizona State University

One 'mechanical tree' is about 1,000 times faster at removing carbon dioxide from air than a natural tree. The first is to start operating in Arizona in 2022.Illustration via Arizona State University

Two centuries of burning fossil fuels has put more carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere than nature can remove. As that CO2...

How 'mechanical trees' pull carbon dioxide from the air and lock it away – an inventor of direct air capture tech explains

Written by Klaus Lackner, Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, Arizona State University

One 'mechanical tree' is about 1,000 times faster at removing carbon dioxide from air than a natural tree. The first is to start operating in Arizona in 2022.Illustration via Arizona State University

Two centuries of burning fossil fuels has put more carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere than nature can remove. As that CO2...

Why do plants grow straight?

Written by Beronda L. Montgomery, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology & Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Assistant Vice President of Research & Innovation, Michigan State University

_Allium schoenoprasum_, better known as chives.Andreas Rockstein/Flickr, CC BY-SA

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 plants grow straight? – Sara H., age 5, New Paltz, New York

Have you ever been at a sporting event...

Building machines that work for everyone – how diversity of test subjects is a technology blind spot, and what to do about it

Written by Tahira Reid, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Without a diverse range of test subjects, some new technologies could fail to work as intended for many people.John Paul Van Wert/Rank Studios/Flickr, CC BY-SA

People interact with machines in countless ways every day. In some cases, they actively control a device, like driving a car or using an app on a smartphone. Sometimes people passively...

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.: 5 things I've learned curating the MLK Collection at Morehouse College

Written by Vicki Crawford, Professor of Africana Studies, Morehouse College

Martin Luther King Jr. waves with his children, Yolanda and Martin Luther III, from the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

For the past 11 years, civil rights historian Vicki Crawford has worked as the director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, where she oversees the archive consisting...

What Supreme Court's block of vaccine mandate for large businesses will mean for public health: 4 questions answered

Written by Debbie Kaminer, Professor of Law, Baruch College, CUNY

New York City's vaccine mandates are unaffected by the court ruling.AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13, 2022, blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate, which applied to virtually all private companies with 100 of more employees. But it left in place a narrower mandate that requires health care workers...

Colleges accused of conspiring to make low-income students pay more

Written by Robert Massa, Adjunct Professor, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

A lawsuit claims that 16 elite U.S. universities give preference to children of donors over other applicants in their admissions. Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Sixteen universities – including six in the Ivy League – are accused in a lawsuit of having engaged in price fixing and unfairly limiting financial aid by using a shared...

The #BettyWhiteChallenge highlights the growth of animal philanthropy and the role of rescues

Written by Melissa L. Caldwell, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Betty White had three dogs in 1954, including 'Stormy,' a Saint Bernard.Bettmann/Getty Images

Betty White’s death on Dec. 31, 2021, inspired countless remembrances and celebrations of her life and her brilliant comedic work on television.

The actress also had a lifelong love of animals, especially dogs. She treasured animals as companions and...

What made Bob Saget's Danny Tanner so different from other sitcom dads

Written by Jessica Troilo, Associate Professor of Child Development and Family Studies, West Virginia University

Bob Saget, top left, was affectionately called 'America's Dad' for his role as Danny Tanner in the sitcom 'Full House.'Lorimar Television/Fotos International via Getty Images

Bob Saget, who died on Jan. 9, 2022, is probably best remembered for his role as Danny Tanner on the popular sitcom “Full House,” which aired from 1987 to 1995.

I...