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The Conversation

Sam Smith's ambitious attempt to reshape the Bond song lands with a whimper

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageBritish singer Sam Smith is known for his soaring falsetto.Toby Melville/Reuters

Like most James Bond fans, we couldn’t wait to hear the theme song for Spectre, the 24th installment in the series. And having just spent two years writing a book about Bond songs, we were hoping it’d get people excited about what these songs can do.

But...

Read more: Sam Smith's ambitious attempt to reshape the Bond song lands with a whimper

Delayed or killed, Keystone pipeline will live on as political touchstone

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageRoad to nowhere?shannonpatrick17/flickr, CC BY-SA

The TransCanada Corporation requested on November 2 that the US State Department suspend consideration of its permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline, which would transport crude oil extracted from the Albertan tar sands to US refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast, has been...

Read more: Delayed or killed, Keystone pipeline will live on as political touchstone

If a solar plant uses natural gas, is it still green?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageReal hot: the Ivanpah solar power plant and others like it use mirrors to produce heat to make steam and drive an electricity turbine.BrightSource Energy

The giant Ivanpah solar power plant in the California Mojave Desert recently detailed how much natural gas it burned to generate power when the sun wasn’t sufficient – the equivalent...

Read more: If a solar plant uses natural gas, is it still green?

Lessons from Newark: why school reforms will not work without addressing poverty

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageWho's in charge of America's schools?Rutgers Nursing, CC BY-NC

In 2010, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Cory Booker, Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and Chris Christie, Republican governor of New Jersey. Zuckerberg announced, to cheers and applause, a US$100 million challenge grant to “turn...

Read more: Lessons from Newark: why school reforms will not work without addressing poverty

Wedding bells or single again: psychology predicts where your relationship is headed

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageI'm not feeling a strong commitment to wed.Couple image via www.shutterstock.com.

Is he or she the one? You know… the one to introduce to my parents, the one to move in with, the one to start a family with, the one to marry? At some point in every dating relationship, you ask yourself some version of these questions.

Of course you’re...

Read more: Wedding bells or single again: psychology predicts where your relationship is headed

In the verses of Jordan's most popular poet, the hopes and fears of the Arab world

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageThe Bedouin poet Muhammad Fanatil al-Hajaya.Author provided

Muhammad Fanatil al-Hajaya’s poetry is full of arguments one would hear on the streets of Amman, Riyadh and Cairo, in coffee shops, barber shops and taxis.

Laden with animals, conspiracy theories and apocalyptic rhetoric, his verses reflect how many Arabs – educated and...

Read more: In the verses of Jordan's most popular poet, the hopes and fears of the Arab world

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