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How the human neck became a locus of power, beauty and frailty

How the human neck became a locus of power, beauty and frailty

I broke its neck. When making a vase at the potter’s wheel, I torqued its slippery neck clear off the pot as I tried to thin it into a graceful...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Kent Dunlap

A boycott campaign fuels tension between Black shoppers and Black-owned brands – evoking the long struggle for ‘consumer citizenship’

A boycott campaign fuels tension between Black shoppers and Black-owned brands – evoking the long struggle for ‘consumer citizenship’

Some Black consumers may be breaking up with Target this February. It all started late last month, when the retailer announced that it was ending...

yesterday 9

The Conversation

Timeka N. Tounsel

Russia’s shrinking world: The war in Ukraine and Moscow’s global reach

Russia’s shrinking world: The war in Ukraine and Moscow’s global reach

Russia President Vladimir Putin sent a guarded message of congratulations to Donald Trump on inauguration day, but then held a long direct call...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Ronald H. Linden

Here’s how researchers are helping AIs get their facts straight

Here’s how researchers are helping AIs get their facts straight

AI has made it easier than ever to find information: Ask ChatGPT almost anything, and the system swiftly delivers an answer. But the large language...

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Lu Wang

Are animals smart? From dolphin language to toolmaking crows, lots of species have obvious intelligence

Are animals smart? From dolphin language to toolmaking crows, lots of species have obvious intelligence

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...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Leticia Fanucchi

Teen girls are facing an increased risk of suicide − and stress related to sexual identity might be contributing to it

Teen girls are facing an increased risk of suicide − and stress related to sexual identity might be contributing to it

The alarming national rise in suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teenage girls has made headlines recently. Experts point to social media,...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Joseph Cimpian

Gut-wrenching love: What a fresh look at the ‘Good Samaritan’ story says for ethics today

Gut-wrenching love: What a fresh look at the ‘Good Samaritan’ story says for ethics today

The Bible story of the Good Samaritan is more than a mainstay of Sunday school courses. “Good samaritan” is the catch-all way to describe a...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Meghan Sullivan

Why the price of your favorite chocolate will continue to rise

Why the price of your favorite chocolate will continue to rise

Valentine’s Day often conjures images of chocolates and romance. But the crop behind this indulgence faces an existential threat. Regions like...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Narcisa Pricope

Poor sleep and addiction go hand in hand − understanding how could lead to new treatments for opioid use disorder

Poor sleep and addiction go hand in hand − understanding how could lead to new treatments for opioid use disorder

A good night’s sleep often sets the stage for a positive day. But for the nearly quarter of American adults struggling with mental illness, a good...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Ryan Logan

If FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response alone?

If FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response alone?

Imagine a world in which a hurricane devastates the Gulf Coast, and the U.S. has no federal agency prepared to quickly send supplies, financial aid...

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Ming Xie

5 premium online research tools all Philly students can use for free

5 premium online research tools all Philly students can use for free

Years ago, as a high school librarian in suburban Philadelphia, I hosted a group of honors students from a high school just across the nearby city...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Joyce Valenza

US sovereign wealth fund: A feasible idea to invest strategically, or a giant opportunity for waste?

US sovereign wealth fund: A feasible idea to invest strategically, or a giant opportunity for waste?

Could the United States soon be joining the likes of Norway, Kuwait and Mongolia in having a national reserve to invest on projects of strategic...

saturday 10

The Conversation

Patrick J. Schena

The illusion of equal opportunity for minority NFL coaches

The illusion of equal opportunity for minority NFL coaches

On the day after the New England Patriots ended their NFL season with a miserable 4-13 record, team owner Robert Kraft fired Jerod Mayo, the team’s...

07.02.2025 3

The Conversation

Joseph N. Cooper

Why does Trump want to abolish the Education Department? An anthropologist who studies MAGA explains 4 reasons

Why does Trump want to abolish the Education Department? An anthropologist who studies MAGA explains 4 reasons

“And one other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education.” President Donald Trump made this...

07.02.2025 4

The Conversation

Alex Hinton

Efficiency − or empire? How Elon Musk’s hostile takeover could end government as we know it

Efficiency − or empire? How Elon Musk’s hostile takeover could end government as we know it

Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, is on the surface a dramatic effort to overhaul the...

07.02.2025 3

The Conversation

Allison Stanger

Seed oils are toxic, says Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – but it’s not so simple

Seed oils are toxic, says Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – but it’s not so simple

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is expected to clear the final hurdles in his confirmation as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, and a host of...

07.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Mary J. Scourboutakos

Map wars in the Middle East: How cartographers charted and helped shape a regional conflict

Map wars in the Middle East: How cartographers charted and helped shape a regional conflict

Maps are ubiquitous – on phones, in-flight and car displays, and in textbooks the world over. While some maps delineate and name territories and...

07.02.2025 4

The Conversation

Christine Leuenberger

Why Americans need well-informed national security decisions – not politicized intelligence analysis

Why Americans need well-informed national security decisions – not politicized intelligence analysis

The United States’ security depends on leaders who make well-informed decisions, including matters ranging from diplomatic relations around the...

07.02.2025 3

The Conversation

Mark S. Chandler

How AI can help in the creative design process

How AI can help in the creative design process

Generative artificial intelligence tools can help design students by making hard tasks easier, cutting down on stress, and allowing the students...

07.02.2025 4

The Conversation

Tilanka Chandrasekera

California wildfires force students to think about the connections between STEM and society

California wildfires force students to think about the connections between STEM and society

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. “STEM & Social Impact:...

07.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Erika Dyson

AI datasets have human values blind spots − new research

AI datasets have human values blind spots − new research

My colleagues and I at Purdue University have uncovered a significant imbalance in the human values embedded in AI systems. The systems were...

06.02.2025 20

The Conversation

Ike Obi

Trump’s offshore wind energy freeze: What states lose if the executive order remains in place

Trump’s offshore wind energy freeze: What states lose if the executive order remains in place

A single wind turbine spinning off the U.S. Northeast coast today can power thousands of homes – without the pollution that comes from fossil fuel...

06.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Barbara Kates-Garnick

US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

In recent months, Americans looking for eggs have faced empty shelves in their grocery stores. The escalating threat of avian flu has forced...

06.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Alexandra M. Lord

How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts

How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts

It’s “the revolution of common sense,” President Donald Trump announced in his second inaugural address. And so it is. The latest installment of...

06.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Dannagal G. Young

5 Super Bowl commercials that deserve places in the advertising hall of shame

5 Super Bowl commercials that deserve places in the advertising hall of shame

What makes something a flop? Not the kind of flop that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is prone to do, but a flop in the world of...

06.02.2025 3

The Conversation

Matthew Pittman

The Eagles and Chiefs have already made Philadelphia and Kansas City economic winners

The Eagles and Chiefs have already made Philadelphia and Kansas City economic winners

If you live in the Philadelphia or Kansas City metro areas, congratulations: The fact that your city made it to the Super Bowl translates to about...

06.02.2025 1

The Conversation

Michael Davis

What Los Angeles-area schools can learn from other districts devastated by natural disasters

What Los Angeles-area schools can learn from other districts devastated by natural disasters

As Los Angeles County students begin returning to school after wildfires devastated the region, it’s worth examining how other U.S. educational...

06.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Lee Ann Rawlins Williams

Religious freedom is routinely curbed in Central Asia – but you won’t often see it making international news

Religious freedom is routinely curbed in Central Asia – but you won’t often see it making international news

Freedom of worship is tenuous around the globe. The Pew Research Center’s latest annual report found “high” or “very high” levels of government...

06.02.2025 1

The Conversation

Eric Freedman

Anti-LGBTQ + policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans

Anti-LGBTQ + policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans

In 2024, state legislatures introduced an all-time record of 533 bills targeting LGBTQ populations. These policies create a patchwork of legal...

06.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Nathaniel Tran

Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

In the September 2024 NFL ad announcing Kendrick Lamar as the halftime performer at Super Bowl 59, the 37-year-old rapper stands before a colossal...

06.02.2025 6

The Conversation

Christina L. Myers

Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations that protect government computer systems

Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations that protect government computer systems

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Donald Trump’s special commission tasked with slashing federal spending, continues to...

06.02.2025 70

The Conversation

Richard Forno

This Valentine’s Day, try loving-kindness meditation

This Valentine’s Day, try loving-kindness meditation

Most people love love, but not everyone loves Valentine’s Day. When it was first invented in the 1300s in medieval Europe, this holiday was a...

05.02.2025 6

The Conversation

Jeremy David Engels

Palestinians have long resisted resettlement – Trump’s plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza won’t change that

Palestinians have long resisted resettlement – Trump’s plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza won’t change that

President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should “take over” Gaza, displace its current population and turn the enclave into “the...

05.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Maha Nassar

Why Trump’s rage defies historical and literary comparisons, according to a classics expert

Why Trump’s rage defies historical and literary comparisons, according to a classics expert

The Greek divinity Nemesis, rarely depicted in art, has no place in the Olympian pantheon of a dozen gods and goddesses. But she’s an omnipresent...

05.02.2025 30

The Conversation

Rachel Hadas

As Trump tries to slash US foreign aid, here are 3 common myths many Americans mistakenly believe about it

As Trump tries to slash US foreign aid, here are 3 common myths many Americans mistakenly believe about it

U.S. foreign aid is in disarray. The Trump administration froze most aid disbursements on Jan. 20. According to billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser...

05.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Joannie Tremblay-Boire

Water is the other US-Mexico border crisis, and the supply crunch is getting worse

Water is the other US-Mexico border crisis, and the supply crunch is getting worse

Immigration and border security will be the likely focus of U.S.-Mexico relations under the new Trump administration. But there also is a growing...

05.02.2025 7

The Conversation

Gabriel Eckstein

Friendship, a covenant, romance – no matter what you call it, David’s love for Jonathan is one of the Bible’s most beautiful

Friendship, a covenant, romance – no matter what you call it, David’s love for Jonathan is one of the Bible’s most beautiful

For the idea of love, biblical Hebrew has precious few synonyms. Yet the Hebrew of the Bible can communicate a rich sensation of love: the love of...

05.02.2025 8

The Conversation

Jacob F. Love

Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook

Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook

In his first few days back in office, President Donald Trump engaged in a whirlwind of executive actions, from exiting the World Health...

05.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Zachary Albert

Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival

Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival

Millions of people have been visiting Prayagraj, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to take part in the Maha Kumbh festival – a...

05.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Sudipta Sen

Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space

Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space

There are trillions of charged particles – protons and electrons, the basic building blocks of matter – whizzing around above your head at any...

05.02.2025 1

The Conversation

Lauren Blum

After he reached the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick’s racial justice protests helped expose US views toward sports activism

After he reached the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick’s racial justice protests helped expose US views toward sports activism

Back in 2012, quarterback Colin Kaepernick was one of the NFL’s most popular stars. He led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl and was just a...

05.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Betina Cutaia Wilkinson

Trump’s tariff gambit: As allies prepare to strike back, a costly trade war looms

Trump’s tariff gambit: As allies prepare to strike back, a costly trade war looms

On Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a plan to slap steep tariffs on imports from key American trading partners – 25%...

04.02.2025 20

The Conversation

Bedassa Tadesse

Trump’s opening tariff salvo will hurt US consumers − following through on Canada, Mexico threats will increase the price pain

Trump’s opening tariff salvo will hurt US consumers − following through on Canada, Mexico threats will increase the price pain

If U.S. voters reelected Donald Trump hoping for relief from higher prices, his recent threats to impose tariffs on America’s three largest trade...

04.02.2025 10

The Conversation

Jason Reed

Who are immigrants to the US, where do they come from and where do they live?

Who are immigrants to the US, where do they come from and where do they live?

Undocumented immigration is a key issue in American politics, but it can be hard to nail down the basic facts about who these immigrants are, where...

04.02.2025 2

The Conversation

Jennifer Van Hook