NewsPronto

 

The Conversation

How computers broke science – and what we can do to fix it

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageComputer... or black box for data?US Army

Reproducibility is one of the cornerstones of science. Made popular by British scientist Robert Boyle in the 1660s, the idea is that a discovery should be reproducible before being accepted as scientific knowledge.

In essence, you should be able to produce the same results I did if you follow the method I...

Read more: How computers broke science – and what we can do to fix it

The activists' playbook behind Obama's Keystone rejection

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageGetting out the message: environmental activists seized on the Keystone XL pipeline as a symbol. Light Brigading/flickr, CC BY-NC

Contrary to predictions from energy industry insiders, President Obama has rejected TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the United States-Canada border.

The president downplayed the...

Read more: The activists' playbook behind Obama's Keystone rejection

The Keystone XL pipeline debate is over, but our infrastructure needs are not

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageObama announcing that he has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline – what message does it send on infrastructure? Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline was virtually a foregone conclusion well before he announced it.

Just as the prolonged debate about the pipeline was far more a matter of...

Read more: The Keystone XL pipeline debate is over, but our infrastructure needs are not

Jobs report shows why it's time Speaker Ryan and President Obama sat down for a beer

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageThere's nothing a couple beers can't fix. Reuters

Today’s strong employment report is a cause for celebration, at least for now.

The economy reversed the trend of the past three months by creating 271,000 new jobs. The overall unemployment rate is now at 5%, a seven-year low. Growth was especially strong in the service sector, with...

Read more: Jobs report shows why it's time Speaker Ryan and President Obama sat down for a beer

Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter -- parallels and progress

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageMillions March TexasElizabeth Brossa/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Comparing the 1960s and 1970s Black Panther Party and today’s Black Lives Matter movement reveals parallels and progress.

Stanley Nelson’s recently released film The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution juxtaposes the party’s justice movement against the Black Lives...

Read more: Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter -- parallels and progress

Labor's rank and file still believe in collective bargaining's power to bolster middle class

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageUAW workers are fighting back.Reuters

When members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) approved a new contract with Fiat Chrysler on October 22, they ended a contentious round of negotiations that exposed rank-and-file discontent over a two-tier wage system that one worker described as “at odds with union principles.”

In a rare move just a...

Read more: Labor's rank and file still believe in collective bargaining's power to bolster middle class

Think you're reading the news for free? New research shows you're likely paying with your privacy

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageYou might not know the extent to which news sites are exposing your information to third-party servers.'News' via www.shutterstock.com

You may already know that every time you go online, your browsing history could be exposed to numerous advertisers and data brokers who then send you “targeted” advertisements.

But what about visiting the...

Read more: Think you're reading the news for free? New research shows you're likely paying with your privacy

It's not rocket science: we need a better way to get to space

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageUnmanned rocket explodes moments after launch.NASA/Joel Kowsky, CC BY-NC-ND

Human beings will always be explorers. We’ve pretty well surveyed our planet, our tiny blue dot, for answers and only found more questions. Why are we here? How did we get here? What does it mean?

imageWhat happens when vast numbers of us can leave our tiny blue dot behind?N...

Read more: It's not rocket science: we need a better way to get to space

More Articles ...

  1. Will the Arctic shift from a carbon sink to a carbon source?
  2. 'Powerpoint was not his thing': a poem on teaching and technology
  3. On the 120th anniversary of the X-ray, a look at how it changed our view of the world
  4. Ben Carson: token candidate
  5. How we got to now: why the US and Europe went different ways on GMOs
  6. How do our brains reconstruct the visual world?
  7. Here are some more reasons why liberal arts matter
  8. Labs make new, dangerous synthetic cannabinoid drugs faster than we can ban them
  9. How campaign finance disenfranchises America's silent majority of socialists
  10. Do refugees have a 'right' to hospitality?
  11. Sam Smith's ambitious attempt to reshape the Bond song lands with a whimper
  12. Ted Cruz's birther problem
  13. Delayed or killed, Keystone pipeline will live on as political touchstone
  14. What is the legacy of Yitzhak Rabin?
  15. Ohio strikes blow against gerrymandering
  16. If a solar plant uses natural gas, is it still green?
  17. Lessons from Newark: why school reforms will not work without addressing poverty
  18. Wedding bells or single again: psychology predicts where your relationship is headed
  19. In the verses of Jordan's most popular poet, the hopes and fears of the Arab world
  20. Eleven body fluids we couldn’t live without
  21. Some find redemption on death row, but few find mercy
  22. In our Wi-Fi world, the internet still depends on undersea cables
  23. As US shutters aging nuclear plants, cutting emissions will become more costly
  24. What Grantland's demise says about ESPN's past and future ambitions
  25. Why Asian Americans don't vote Republican
  26. 'Rise' of China's yuan is much ado about little
  27. The biggest sticking point in Paris climate talks: money
  28. Look what is being sold to kids when they are in school
  29. What do the new breast cancer screening guidelines recommend about when to start yearly mammograms?
  30. It turns out clothes really do make the man
  31. Cities are booming but progress is uneven and, to some, too costly
  32. Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human perception
  33. Is one of the largest real estate deals in American history a requiem for middle-class New York?
  34. Why mayors are looking for ideas outside the city limits
  35. Can innovators build a future that's both disruptive and just?
  36. They might sound gross, but intestinal worms can actually be good for you
  37. What gets students motivated to work harder? Not money
  38. Paul Ryan just accepted the worst job in politics
  39. Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism
  40. What should we make of Paul Ryan’s fondness for Ayn Rand?
  41. Evolutionary psychology explains why haunted houses creep us out
  42. Solar power can cut consumers' bills and still be good for utilities
  43. Do liberal arts students learn how to collaborate?
  44. Scholars on the GOP debate: middle-class struggles take center stage as Rubio walks tightrope
  45. How CNBC created a GOP debate for the Twitter age
  46. Why can’t the UN protect civilians in places like Syria?
  47. What are the limits to free speech in schools?
  48. How texting helped fuel the anti-austerity protests roiling Europe
  49. In the fight against anemia, iron fortification is a clutch player
  50. Why aren't more women running for office?