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The Conversation

Voters without kids are in the political spotlight – but they’re not all the same

  • Written by Jennifer Watling Neal, Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University
imageAs many as 50 million to 60 million Americans may have decided that they don't want to have kids.Ian Grant/Design Pics via Getty Images

In the 2024 election cycle, voters without children are under the microscope.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance has said that “childless cat ladies” and older adults without kids are...

Read more: Voters without kids are in the political spotlight – but they’re not all the same

Trump and Harris have clashing records on clean energy, but the clean power shift is too broad for any president to control

  • Written by Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
imageIntersect Power’s Oberon Solar + Storage Facility in Riverside, Calif. Michael Slider, U.S. Department of Energy/Flickr, CC BY-ND

Although Vice President Kamala Harris touts clean energy and Donald Trump makes misleading assertionsand false claims about it, neither candidate has set forth a comprehensive energy plan. Even if they do, a...

Read more: Trump and Harris have clashing records on clean energy, but the clean power shift is too broad for...

We studied 19,898 Kickstarter campaigns − and discovered that talking politics hurts fundraising

  • Written by Jeff Chandler, Assistant Professor Of Management, University of North Texas

Divisive political opinions are everywhere these days, but entrepreneurs might be wise to bite their tongues.

In a recent analysis of 19,898 Kickstarter campaigns, we found that budding businesses that expressed political views attracted less funding than ones that stayed apolitical.

As professorswhostudyentrepreneurship, we wanted to understand the...

Read more: We studied 19,898 Kickstarter campaigns − and discovered that talking politics hurts fundraising

Companies keep selling harmful products – but history shows consumers can win in the end

  • Written by Jonathan D. Quick, Adjunct Professor of Global Health, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University
imageA "Cancer Country" sign on a taxi parodies a famous Marlboro ad campaign.Viviane Moos/Corbis via Getty Images

In 2023, 42 state attorneys general sued Meta to remove Instagram features that Meta’s own studies had shown – and independent research had confirmed – are harmful to teenage girls.

The same year, a report from the...

Read more: Companies keep selling harmful products – but history shows consumers can win in the end

In storms like Hurricane Helene, flooded industrial sites and toxic chemical releases are a silent and growing threat

  • Written by James R. Elliott, Professor of Sociology, Rice University
imageAn overturned industrial storage tank in Asheville, N.C., shows the power of fast-moving flood water.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants were in Hurricane Helene’s path as the powerful storm flooded communities across the Southeast in late September 2024.

Near the coast and into Georgia, Helene...

Read more: In storms like Hurricane Helene, flooded industrial sites and toxic chemical releases are a silent...

How the Taliban’s new ‘vice and virtue’ law erases women by justifying violence against them

  • Written by Dyan Mazurana, Research Professor of Global Affairs, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
imageA Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 23, 2023.AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

Since returning to power three years ago, the Taliban have been enforcing oppressive laws that violate people’s freedoms and human rights, especially those of women and...

Read more: How the Taliban’s new ‘vice and virtue’ law erases women by justifying violence against them

Is it bad to listen to music all the time? Here’s how tunes can help or harm

  • Written by Jillian Hubertz, Clinical Assistant Professor in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University
imageKeep the volume of your personal listening device at or below 60%.vm/E+ via Getty Imagesimage

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 curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

I like to listen to music all the time. Are there any negative aspects to this? – Hussein, age 17,...

Read more: Is it bad to listen to music all the time? Here’s how tunes can help or harm

Why trying to protect freedom may work better than campaigning to protect democracy

  • Written by Tarah Williams, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Allegheny College
imageKamala Harris has focused her campaign on freedom.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

When Joe Biden was the Democrats’ candidate for president in 2020 and again in 2024, he staked his candidacy on being the person who would save democracy from the threat Donald Trump posed.

But Kamala Harris has shifted away from that message and toward the idea of...

Read more: Why trying to protect freedom may work better than campaigning to protect democracy

Does Hezbollah represent Lebanon? And what impact will the death of longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah have?

  • Written by Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies & Associate Professor of Francophone & Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Dickinson College
imageA picture of the secretary-general of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah is seen among the rubble following an Israeli air strike.Str-/picture alliance via Getty Images

Israel has killed the leader of the militant group Hezbollah in a airstrike in Beirut, marking a further escalation of hostilities in the region.

The death of Hassan Nasrallah, confirmed by...

Read more: Does Hezbollah represent Lebanon? And what impact will the death of longtime leader Hassan...

Brown bananas, crowded ports, empty shelves: What to expect if there’s a big dockworkers strike in the US

  • Written by Anna Nagurney, Professor and Eugene M. Isenberg Chair in Integrative Studies, UMass Amherst
imageContainer ships could get stuck at the nation's East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, while West Coast ports might be disrupted by rerouted cargo.AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton

Whether you’re buying a can of sardines or a screwdriver, getting products to consumers requires that supply chains function well.

The availability of labor is essential in each...

Read more: Brown bananas, crowded ports, empty shelves: What to expect if there’s a big dockworkers strike in...

More Articles ...

  1. Brown bananas, crowded ports, empty shelves: What to expect with the US dockworkers strike
  2. What White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf can learn from the last team to lose 120 games
  3. Hurricane Helene power outages leave over 4 million in the dark – history shows poorer areas often wait longest for electricity to be restored
  4. Hurricane Helene power outages leave millions in the dark – history shows poorer areas often wait longest for electricity to be restored
  5. Autoworkers, Boeing machinists, cannabis drivers: Labor unions are mobilizing in new and old industries alike
  6. Rising electricity demand could bring Three Mile Island and other prematurely shuttered nuclear plants back to life
  7. Prepare your social media for the election − 3 tips to stay sane and connected without being overwhelmed
  8. Police stop more Black drivers, while speed cameras issue unbiased tickets − new study from Chicago
  9. Why some flowers are so pleasing for Hindu gods and goddesses
  10. Teachers feel most productive when they use AI for teaching strategies
  11. CubeSats, the tiniest of satellites, are changing the way we explore the solar system
  12. Afrofuturism thrives in Philly − 5 artists you should know
  13. The contradictions of ‘Minnesota nice’
  14. Eric Adams indictment: How campaign finance violations often grow into dramatic scandals
  15. Big lithium plans for Imperial Valley, one of California’s poorest regions, raise a bigger question: Who should benefit?
  16. Drug prices improved under Biden-Harris and Trump − but not for everyone, and not enough
  17. Post-election violence is possible in US, political scientist says − and it could be worse than Jan. 6
  18. Grocery stores that donate expiring food − instead of price discounting or discarding − make higher profits
  19. How the US government can stop ‘churches’ from getting treated like real churches by the IRS
  20. Bees have irrational biases when choosing which flowers to feed on − just like human shoppers do
  21. Fungal infections known as valley fever could spike this fall - 3 epidemiologists explain how to protect yourself
  22. Who is Tim Walz? Understanding the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party can help make sense of the VP candidate
  23. The audacity of Kamala Harris’ laughter – and the racist roots of Trump’s derision
  24. Airdropping vaccines to eliminate canine rabies in Texas – two scientists explain the decades of research behind its success
  25. Why do people still back Trump, after everything? 5 things to understand about MAGA supporters’ thinking
  26. Diet-related diseases are the No. 1 cause of death in the US – yet many doctors receive little to no nutrition education in med school
  27. Can you change your personality? Psychology research says yes, by tweaking what you think and do
  28. Local government controls your roads, schools and utilities − but that doesn’t mean the US president doesn’t touch your life in important ways
  29. What is ‘dark money’ political spending, and how does it affect US politics?
  30. Climate change is easier to study when it’s presented as a game
  31. Continuing crackdown on churches and NGOs moves Nicaragua further from democracy to authoritarianism
  32. What America’s history can teach us about debates on religious freedom and its importance for democracy
  33. America is increasingly dependent on foreign doctors − but their path to immigration is getting harder
  34. Lebanese civilians are fleeing the south, fearing an Israeli invasion − a look back at 1982 suggests they have every reason to worry
  35. US home insurance rates are rising fast – hurricanes and wildfires play a big role, but there’s more to it
  36. Why home insurance rates are rising so fast across the US – climate change plays a big role
  37. A brief history of former presidents running for reelection: 3 losses, 1 win and 1 still TBD
  38. No, immigrants aren’t eating dogs and cats – but Trump’s claim is part of an ugly history of myths about immigrant foodways
  39. On the US-Mexico border, the records of Trump and Harris reflect the national mood of less immigration, not more
  40. How to archive your photos in the digital age
  41. Parents with disabilities have faced discrimination for years in the US, but new rules will help ensure that child welfare systems treat them more fairly
  42. Customers like diversity from brands − but can smell hypocrisy a mile away
  43. Sri Lankans throw out old guard in election upset: What nation’s new Marxist-leaning leader means for economy, IMF loans
  44. Can you trust companies that say their plastic products are recyclable? US regulators may crack down on deceptive claims
  45. Mixed emotions – neuroscience is exploring how your brain lets you experience two opposite feelings at once
  46. View politics critically but charitably and with good old common sense: cowboy commentator Will Rogers’ wisdom for 2024
  47. Gun violence in Philadelphia plummeted in 2024 − researchers aren’t sure why, but here are 3 factors at play
  48. How sheriffs define law and order for their counties depends a lot on their views − and most are white Republican men
  49. Here’s how to maintain healthy smartphone habits
  50. Sharks and rays leap out of the water for many reasons, including feeding, courtship and communication