The Conversation

A nutrition report card for Americans: Dark clouds, silver linings

Written by Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University

Largely as a result of school nutrition programs, today's kids are eating more fruits and vegetables.Sol Stock via Getty Images

Many of the latest findings on the American diet are not encouraging. Almost half of U.S. adults, or 46%, have a poor-quality diet, with too little fish, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans, and too much salt,...

Astrocyte cells in the fruit fly brain are an on-off switch that controls when neurons can change and grow

Written by Sarah DeGenova Ackerman, Postdoctoral Fellow, UO Institute of Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Oregon

The colors in this microscope photo of a fruit fly brain show different types of neurons and the cells that surround them in the brain.Sarah DeGenova Ackerman, CC BY-ND

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

The big idea

Neuroplasticity – the ability of neurons to change their structure and function in response to...

Derek Chauvin trial: 3 questions America needs to ask about seeking racial justice in a court of law

Written by Lewis R. Gordon, Professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

A demonstration outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on March 29, 2021, the day Derek Chauvin's trial began on charges he murdered George Floyd. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

There is a difference between enforcing the law and being the law. The world is now witnessing another in a long history of struggles for racial justice...

Northern Ireland, born of strife 100 years ago, again erupts in political violence

Written by James Waller, Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Keene State College

Northern Irish protesters on April 7, 2021, burn the Peace Gate in Belfast, built in the 1990s to separate the city's warring Protestant and Catholic communities.Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Sectarian rioting has returned to the streets of Northern Ireland, just weeks shy of its 100th anniversary as a territory of the United Kingdom.

For several...

How many states and provinces are in the world?

Written by Vasabjit Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Mississippi State University

There are so many different states – and provinces, districts, regions and lander!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.

How many states, or provinces or other divisions, are there in the world? –...

MLB's decision to drop Atlanta highlights the economic power companies can wield over lawmakers – when they choose to

Written by Benjamin Means, Professor of Law, University of South Carolina

The logos may have been printed too soon. AP Photo/John Bazemore

Major League Baseball knows how to exert leverage over local lawmakers.

Over 100 companies, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, reacted to Georgia’s new restrictive voting law by publicly denouncing it. While some executives are discussing doing more – such as halting...

What inspired digital nomads to flee America's big cities may spur legions of remote workers to do the same

Written by Rachael A. Woldoff, Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University

The pandemic has spurred many workers to contemplate their futures – and whether they ever want to return to office life.Edward Hopper, 'Morning Sun' (1952) via hermien_amsterdam/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

If one thing is clear about remote work, it’s this: Many people prefer it and don’t want their bosses to take it away.

When the...

Write ill of the dead? Obits rarely cross that taboo as they look for the positive in people's lives

Written by Janice Hume, Professor of Journalism, University of Georgia

Tributes to Prince Philip have focused on his life of service.AP Photo/Matt Dunham

Capturing a life accurately and sympathetically is a challenge, more so if it is one that lasts nearly a century.

So when a notable person like the Duke of Edinburgh dies, obituary writers face a quandary: What should be highlighted, softened or even ignored?

News...

Proof of new physics from the muon's magnetic moment? Maybe not, according to a new theoretical calculation

Written by Zoltan Fodor, Professor of Physics, Penn State

Two new papers shed light on a longstanding mystery in particle physics.Zmeel/E+ via Getty Images

When the results of an experiment don’t match predictions made by the best theory of the day, something is off.

Fifteen years ago, physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory discovered something perplexing. Muons – a type of subatomic...

Pandemic recovery will take more than soaring growth – to fuel a more equitable economy, countries need to measure the well-being of people, too

Written by Bas van Bavel, Distinguished Professor of Transitions of Economy and Society, Utrecht University

Researchers have long been searching for a more comprehensive way to assess national progress than GDP. erhui1979 via Getty Images

Once a country’s economy reaches a certain level of wealth, gross domestic product – which puts a single dollar value on a country’s total economic output – is no longer a good measure of its...