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Could Hurricane Patricia be a harbinger of storms in a warming climate?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageHurricane Patricia as it made landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico.NASA/NOAA, CC BY-SA

Hurricane Patricia drew immediate attention by intensifying from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in a single day. It soon developed the fastest winds ever recorded in a western hemisphere storm. Meteorologists and climate scientists have already...

Read more: Could Hurricane Patricia be a harbinger of storms in a warming climate?

Does 'translating' Shakespeare into modern English diminish its greatness?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageIn a 2005 production of Hamlet, director Haris Pasovic portrayed Hamlet as a Muslim prince at the Ottoman court.Reuters

An uproar ensued after it was reported that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) – southern Oregon’s 80-year-old annual theatrical extravaganza – would be commissioning playwrights to “translate” all...

Read more: Does 'translating' Shakespeare into modern English diminish its greatness?

Why Google's plan to blanket wilderness with Wi-Fi is a bad idea

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageThere's no escape... Texting nature via www.shutterstock.com

Facebook wants to blanket rural India in cheap Wi-Fi. Google is launching balloons to do the same around the globe. Soon, it seems, there won’t be a square inch of Earth or the heavens that isn’t connected.

These ambitious plans beg the question: should there be places in the...

Read more: Why Google's plan to blanket wilderness with Wi-Fi is a bad idea

Sugar isn't just empty, fattening calories -- it's making us sick

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageDon't add sugar.Sugar bowl via www.shutterstock.com

Children are manifesting increased rates of adult diseases like hypertension or high triglycerides. And they are getting diseases that used to be unheard of in children, like Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. So why is this happening?

Everyone assumes this is the result of the obesity...

Read more: Sugar isn't just empty, fattening calories -- it's making us sick

California universities launch experiment to go carbon-neutral 'at scale'

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
image

What does it look like when a university decides to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on climate change? The University of California system – which encompasses 10 university campuses and two national scientific research laboratories – is about to find out.

Two years ago, Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of...

Read more: California universities launch experiment to go carbon-neutral 'at scale'

Tracking American eels on the open sea to crack the mystery of their migration

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageSatellite-tagged eels, ready for release.Martin Castonguay, DFO, CC BY-ND

It’s been one of biology’s greatest enigmas. How do American eels travel many hundreds of miles from the rivers and estuaries they live in as juveniles to their open-ocean spawning grounds?

Their rearing habitat stretches from Southern Greenland to the Gulf of...

Read more: Tracking American eels on the open sea to crack the mystery of their migration

When gang violence goes viral

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageA suspected member of the Crips gang is cuffed in LA.Jonathan Alcorn/REUTERS

Recent gang shootings in Chicago, Los Angeles and other US cities involving high-profile uses of social media have stirred concerns in police and residents alike.

In Los Angeles last summer, gangs took to social media to threaten 100 days and 100 nights of gun violence...

Read more: When gang violence goes viral

The modern, molecular hunt for the world's biodiversity

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageNew forms of life are discovered in high-tech ways that leave yesterday's natural history collections in the dust.Detective image via www.shutterstock.com.

The news is full of announcements about newly discovered forms of life. This fall, we learned of a 30,000-year-old giant virus found in frozen Siberia. Until now, known viruses have contained so...

Read more: The modern, molecular hunt for the world's biodiversity

The humble (ad-free!) origins of the first World Series broadcasts

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageFailed singer Graham McNamee was baseball's first celebrity broadcaster.'Graham McNamee' via www.shutterstock.com

This year, FOX Sports paid Major League Baseball about half a billion dollars for the rights to broadcast the national pastime.

While the package includes some playoff games and regular season contests, the crown jewel is still the World...

Read more: The humble (ad-free!) origins of the first World Series broadcasts

Explainer: what's the debt ceiling and why it's an obsolete way to control spending

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageSometimes it's not a good thing to have a roof over our heads. Dollar ceiling via www.shutterstock.com

The US is once again on the precipice of default on its national debt – not because of a fundamental inability to generate and collect tax revenues (a la Greece), but because of political shenanigans over the country’s debt ceiling.

The...

Read more: Explainer: what's the debt ceiling and why it's an obsolete way to control spending

More Articles ...

  1. Obama calls for limits on school testing. Here's why
  2. Jeb Bush needs a home run in Wednesday's GOP debate
  3. Did El Niño give Hurricane Patricia more kick?
  4. Sometimes less is better – so why don't doctors 'deintensify' medical treatment?
  5. How American schools are making inequality worse
  6. The problems with Big History and turning science into myth
  7. Are we sleep-deprived or just darkness-deprived?
  8. China's economic slowdown threatens African progress
  9. How Playboy skirted the anti-porn crusade of the 1950s
  10. Does 'Twitter Moments' herald the comeback of human beings?
  11. Is your doctor choosing the right IV?
  12. MIT rejects fossil fuel divestment but is still a leader on climate change
  13. Refugee passports could end border delays in the Balkans
  14. Why it's wrong for pediatricians to eliminate daily screen time recommendations
  15. Why we should pay attention to Poland's elections
  16. America's rental affordability crisis is about to go from bad to worse
  17. Benghazi committee grills Clinton for 11 hours, yields zero new facts
  18. Is lagging on climate change a political liability?
  19. Explainer: what it will take to make computer science education available in all schools
  20. The New York Times and Washington Post are ignoring civilians killed by US drone strikes
  21. Are we recycling too much of our trash?
  22. Why your father's Playboy can't compete in today's world of hard-core porn
  23. A gambling expert weighs in: what makes daily fantasy sports so alluring – and dangerous – for young men?
  24. Will 'sew-bots' stitch up a future for American Apparel?
  25. The dark side of free markets
  26. Women preferred for STEM professorships – as long as they’re equal to or better than male candidates
  27. Can it get more absurd? Now music teachers are being tested based on math and reading scores
  28. Canadian election: Scholars on what the rest of the world needs to know
  29. Can we expand solar power dramatically without damaging protected lands?
  30. Trump's wall and the cost-benefit analysis of immigration
  31. In 19 states, it's okay to hit kids with a wooden board
  32. Ruling shows Europe still vexed over NSA spying, leaving US companies in legal limbo
  33. New DNA analysis says your pooch's ancestors were Central Asian wolves
  34. We're hiring!
  35. Milwaukee case could encourage gun stores to reduce illegal sales
  36. Learning from others, Michigan considers best options for future fracking
  37. Does a shorter week help kids with their learning?
  38. Does China care that it was left out of the Trans-Pacific trade club?
  39. When it comes to baseball's ethnic tensions, the problems run deeper than bat flips
  40. Scientist at work: observing termite behaviors, personalities – and souls?
  41. Clinton's anti-drugmaker rhetoric may win votes, but does it threaten our long-term health?
  42. Why do some moms cut ties with their kids?
  43. On global campuses, academic freedom has its limits
  44. Russian cooperation with Iran and Iraq has broader consequences than saving Assad
  45. China's slowdown is a sign of middle-class gains, not a reason for panic
  46. We are entering a new era of migration – and not just for people
  47. How the GOP circus act compromises American Democracy
  48. A 'Royal Rumble' in Syria means yet more chaos for civilians
  49. Why disciplining kids can be so tricky for parents and teachers
  50. US losing its dominance in global higher education market