The Conversation

Colombian city beset by crime declares 'Black Lives Matter'

Written by Shauna N Gillooly, PhD Candidate, Political Science, University of California, Irvine

A demonstration for peace in Buenaventura, Colombia, where a cartel turf war has left at least 30 people dead since the beginning of this year.Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images

Chaotic and deadly protests have for weeks rocked the Colombian port city of Buenaventura. In mid-May some demonstrators stormed the airport, and riot police responded with...

Teachers in South Central LA who had personal ties to the neighborhood made better connections with students

Written by Julio Angel Alicea, Ph.D. Candidate in Urban Schooling, University of California, Los Angeles

A demonstrator writes a message in chalk at the corner of Florence and Normandy avenues in Los Angeles.Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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

The big idea

One way to examine a teacher’s personal connection to their students’ community is to ask them to...

Some coastal areas are more prone to devastating hurricanes – a meteorologist explains why

Written by Athena Masson, Meteorology instructor, University of Florida

Preparing for a hurricane on North Carolina's vulnerable Outer Banks.Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

Every coastline in the North Atlantic is vulnerable to tropical storms, but some areas are more susceptible to hurricane destruction than others.

To understand why as the region heads into what’s forecast to be another busy hurricane...

Biden’s budget includes a jump in climate spending – here's why investing in innovation is crucial

Written by David M. Hart, Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

Electric vehicles and renewable energy will only get the country so far.AP Photos/Evan Vucci

President Joe Biden is calling for a more than 60% increase in spending to fight climate change in his first federal budget compared to the previous annual budget, with more than $US36 billion in climate-related investments spread across nearly every agency...

Engine No. 1's big win over Exxon shows activist hedge funds joining fight against climate change

Written by Mark DesJardine, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Sustainability, Penn State

Engine No. 1 wants Exxon to focus less on fossil fuels. AP Photo/Matthew Brown

One of the most expensive Wall Street shareholder battles on record could signal a big shift in how hedge funds and other investors view sustainability.

Exxon Mobil Corp. has been fending off a so-called proxy fight from a hedge fund known as Engine No. 1, which blames...

To protect ocean environments, 'good enough' might be the best long-term option

Written by Anastasia Quintana, Postdoctoral Research Fellow of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara

Local support might be the most important factor for a successful marine protected area.Anastasia Quintana, CC BY-ND

The Gulf of California – a sea near the western border of the U.S. and Mexico – is home to some of the world’s most incredible underwater landscapes. It generates 60% of Mexico’s fish catch, but overfishing is...

Anger in Tokyo over the Summer Olympics is just the latest example of how unpopular hosting the games has become

Written by Mark Wilson, Professor, Urban & Regional Planning, School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State University

Protesters speak out against the Olympics in Tokyo on May 17, 2021.AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

The Summer Olympics, postponed in 2020 by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021, in Tokyo. Even though surfing and four other sports will debut at these games, the locals aren’t exactly thrilled.

According to a...

10 hip-hop songs to take you on a voyage into space

Written by A.D. Carson, Assistant Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia

Hip-hop has a long history in referencing space exploration. Taylor Hill/Getty Images for The Meadows Music & Arts Festival

From the earliest days of hip-hop, rap artists have referenced the extraterrestrial to help us escape our earthbound existence.

In “Rapper’s Delight” – the pioneering 1979 rap song by the Sugarhill...

Politicized science drove lunar exploration and Stalinist pseudoscience – but polarized scientific views are worse than ever

Written by Liv Grjebine, Postdoctoral Fellow in History of Science, Harvard University

President Trump frequently and loudly disagreed with scientists. AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File

Last year one of my students in a history of science class commented that “no one knows which doctors to trust because they are politicizing the pandemic, just like politicians are.” The interactions between science and politics are now so...

Colonial Pipeline forked over $4.4M to end cyberattack – but is paying a ransom ever the ethical thing to do?

Written by Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Executive Director, Ostrom Workshop; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University

What would happen if companies stopped paying ransoms?Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

It took little over two hours for hackers to gain control of more than 100 gigabytes of information from Colonial Pipeline on May 7, 2021 – causing the firm to shut down its fuel distribution network and sparking widespread fears of a gasoline shortage. The...